When I was a 4 or 5  my Dad’s family lived in Santa Barbara. A couple of times a year we would drive up from Los Angeles to visit. Along the way there were always signs for Andersen’s – the split pea soup Andersen’s. The signs featured Hap-pea the big cook and Pea-wee his helper. Some even showed an elaborate split-pea soup factory. The signs were provocative and intriguing. It wasn’t long before the idea of Hap-pea, Pea-wee and a soup factory became as real as the car I was trapped in. I could see just how it looked. And if I scrunched up my face and thought really hard I could even hear and smell it. (more…)