Elina gave me this little Pilveke candy bar she had brought it back with her from Estonia. I asked her what it was and she assured me she did not know, but that she had eaten them since childhood. I asked if it had meat in it and she said it did not. With some trepidation I peeled open the baby blue wrapper. Regrettably I did not take a picture, but the thing inside (which you might call “candy”) looked like a piece of ghostly chalk. I gave it an exploratory sniff. It had no discernible smell. Gingerly I took a bite. It had a strange sandy texture. I could not determine what its flavor was . . . it was dead center between Something and Nothing. Just this utterly neutral and probably edible thing. I guessed it was made of milk dust and some chemical emulsifier. It was certainly something you could chew on for a few seconds. Upon finishing it, I felt unmoored from reality . . . I had forgotten my entire life. The feeling has mercifully persisted. Hopefully this Pilveke bar has given me permanent brain damage.

Now it is 6:40 am and I am going to sleep. They say a huge snowstorm will hit Berlin later today. I think it will be full-blown blizzard’ing when I wake up in the afternoon. Well, there’s only one way to find out . . .

☆彡