Help with the Cheese

Note: this is the third article in a series, which began at http://leadheadpencils.blogspot.com/2014/11/before-lone-horseman.html.

Carol Strain only comes to two shows each year – Chicago and Ohio. Until a few years ago, most of us knew her as the purple lady, since she is ever dressed in her favorite color.   A couple years ago, that reputation was eclipsed by one of Carol’s other passions: she’s become for many of us "the cheese lady."

A few shows ago, Carol brought a couple chunks of quality cheese to one our late night scotch-and-cigar sociables.  I believe that first time she did so, the collective amount of liquid appetizers the group had consumed made us a voracious bunch, and we quickly gobbled down everything she brought.   Ever since, her contributions have steadily increased, and these days she comes fully prepared with cutting boards, knives, crackers and yes . . . lots of cheese.

This year, as a bunch of us hung around and talked at the hotel bar Saturday night at the Ohio Show, Carol’s presence in our midst made it inevitable that the conversation was destined to turn to . . . cheese.  At long last (none of us were trying to look to anxious about it), Carol announced it was time.   Given the rate at which Carol’s portable buffet has grown, I calculated that it would be physically impossible for Carol to bring everything down in one trip (unless she had added a wagon and a few mules to the production since last May).  So I offered to help her bring the cheese down from her room, an offer which she was glad to accept.

At her room, while Carol fished bag after bag of cheese from the refrigerator, I noticed a boxed pen set sitting on the desk, and I momentarily forgot the mission at hand.   Like a moth to the flame and with a "oooo, what’s that," I paused to open the box to see what was inside. I then had to see what was inside what was inside. And once I did, I had an answer I’ve been trying to find. For years.

I asked Carol if the set was hers, and she said she was thinking about buying it. I said (1) she had to and (2) she had to let me photograph it. She did both.

Here’s Carol’s set, on the right, shown next to the Blue Ribbon set I had found just a day earlier (see yesterday’s article):

To learn more, this full article is included in The Leadhead's Pencil Blog Volume 3, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and everywhere else you buy books, or you can order a copy signed by yours truly through the Legendary Lead Company HERE.