Recipe for Success

Inside one of our kitchen cupboards, the one next to the stove, where we keep a collection of mismatched drinking mugs and Brian’s commemorative Prince Charles and Princess Diana porcelain teacup from 1981—the same year as our wedding anniversary—there are three recipes, yellow with age, scotch-taped to the inside of the door. The first two are for cold remedies: hot lemonade made with two whole lemons; and ginger lemonade with honey and cayenne pepper. The third recipe is titled “Pedialyte Formula for Possums.” Should you ever come upon a litter of baby possums, as our daughter Jamie did while training for her high school track meet, you must handle them very carefully (like raccoons, they may be rabid), and keep them warm. They require a feeding every three hours, so be prepared to set your alarm clock several times during the night.

Pedialyte Formula for Possums

1 ½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. baking soda

2 Tbsp. sugar

4 cups boiling water

Footnote: All three baby possums survived their ordeal in the Woods’s house, and were handed over to a possum rehabilitator (they really do exist), who later released them in the wild.