Lemonade

Another thing I did in a hot summer afternoon was to make my own iced lemonade.

There is, of course, nothing complicated. You just need some fresh lemon, sugar, and water. However, it was over 15 years since I last (had the mood to) make some by my own.

You know what. I had taken the trouble to do several experiments: to try lemon juice instead of sliced whole lemon, to make use of leftover from the fridge (used as smell absorbent), or to use lukewarm rather than boiling water.

What did I find ? For sure the orthodox method (i.e. sliced whole lemon and hot water, followed by sugar and ice) gives the best result - there's quite a bit of science behind which I shall not elaborate. The lessons are:

1. Every incomprehensible minor detail of a traditional teaching is probably based on wisdom and experience. Many a time an innovative method is merely another way that people did try and fail previously.
2. "Know why" is a cut higher than "know how", but the former is usually a result of multiple failures.

As Oscar Wilde said: Good judgement comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgement.

PS. The sobering truth is this simple fact is not appreciated by many of our extra-terrestrial educationalists.