My kingdom for a butter tart!

"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" uttered Richard III in Shakespeare's iconic drama about the fall of Britain's crown at the Battle of Bosworth Field, fighting to his death on foot after losing his horse in battle. In that moment, the Wars of the Roses nearing its end, his death is a turning point in British history with the victorious Henry Tudor becoming Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs and the founder of their dynasty.

William Shakespeare rose to professional success under Elizabeth I, the final Tudor ruler, penning his drama about the historical king while taking a wide poetic licence with character development. On a related fun factoid, the hastily constructed grave of the monarch was confirmed when it was discovered in 2012 under a Leicester parking lot, DNA of the contents confirming its occupant's identity.

Why tell you all of this?

"A butter tart, a butter tart, my kingdom for a butter tart!" 

I completely empathize with Richard's besieged proclamation, except in my case it's a plea for a most delicious treat, my true Kryptonite if I'm honest. It doesn't quite roll off the lips as poetically as the original, but I do like the sound of it.

In case you were unaware, the local city of Midland, ON, annually hosts a passionate celebration of all things butter tart, and in 2023, it fell on June 10th. A scant 12 hours prior to the day's sunrise, the forecast was for a glorious day, and my good friend Doug Woods (ex BCC & BNC VP, fellow cyclist, and all around great guy) reached out with an invitation to join him in a tour of western Simcoe combined with a visit that would featured my personal ambrosia. 

"Of course I'm in, Woodsy!

The route he configured to arrive at said celebration featured a small tour of Wasaga Beach, a sashay through beaches A through W (Allendwood - Wahnekewaning) to the 13th line of Tiny, and a dash around Midland Point before the area's cycling trails emptied out onto the Midland Harbour, the start of the craziness that consumed the main drag King Street with it's dozens of vendor's tents and long line ups. A quick stop at Grounded Cafe for some java enjoyed, we scanned the available wares, honed in on the chosen prey, and BAZINGA, secured an example of pure ecstasy bundled up in a cup of mouth-watering pastry. 

The poor thing never stood a chance!

As luck would have it, who should appear at the end of the line up for the very same delicacy, but my cousin Bryan Dean and his two treat-seeking friends. Bryan's mom Merle and my mom Andrea were sisters, meaning the four Porter warts spent the bulk of our adolescence getting up to no good with the 3 Dean offspring. Readers of this Blog may recall the post about my Aunt's passing a couple of years back, a tough time for the entire family made worse by our guilt for allowing life to get in the way of continued connections. Despite the regular dose of Social Media's photos, the 7 of us had allowed the responsibilities of raising families, the demands of employment, and the craziness of a pandemic to become obstacles that prevented our long-overdue reacquaintance. 

Bryan and I shared our pertinent family news, made our inquiries about life ups and downs, then bid our goodbyes but not before making a solemn promise to work toward an open invitation to the extended family for a summer reunion. We agreed that we need to set the date and allow all those that can and will to share a meal, a beverage, and warm embrace while we rekindle those childhood "fires". 

With our pancreases in full spasm, Woodsy and I made our way back along the side roads of Tiny, bid our farewells, shared our gratitude for an astounding morning, and went our separate ways, he to his car parked in Elmvale, me to the Beach. While the winds off Georgian Bay howled out of the west making the route home a teeth-gritting affair, there was little decline in my mood, and pulling into the parking lot signalled the sweet conclusion of another amazing cycling experience.

The HUGE smile when I presented Joyce with her own little gem of Canadian deliciousness was just icing on the cake.

#lifeisgood 

#buttertarts 

#getinmybelly