Getting Dicey for Fox Here

Joe Knittig, Philippines

Things are solid here in the Philippines, except for 2 things. One serious; one funny.

One: Typhoon Juan, a nasty one with 200 mph winds, is raging through. Fortunately, it’s north of us right now. We’re praying that it’s far enough north that it shouldn’t devastate the Philippines. Join us in praying for that.

Two: Durian. Durian’s a nasty “fruit” here in the Philippines. You pull it off a tree in a hard, spikey rind that could be a lethal weapon. You gotta pierce through that shell to get at the fruit. When you get inside, it smells like rank feet after a day of tromping through sewer water. Awful. At some point in history, somebody fought through the spikes and the smell, decided to eat that mess, and declared it good. A lot of people here love it. I don’t. I gave it a little taste last night. Didn’t taste too bad. About 3 seconds later, the aftertaste kicked in and I realized: Durian tastes like it smells.

Durian was a bigger problem for Mike. The smell threw Foxy into near epileptic fits. So severe is his mania that the sight, smell or mere name of durian shuts him down clean. Like Pavlov’s dogs and meat powder. Only different. Please pray for Durian Mike. Poor guy’s struggling.