Sunday, April 22, 2007

Butcher Bad Moods

When I feel myself falling into the pit of despair, the best thing I can do is get my sorry self on the bike and hit the beach path. I did my usual route, and then decided to stop in Semaphore to pick up a few movies at the video store. After locking up my bike, I noticed an organic produce shop just down the block and decided to stop in. It didn’t take me long to fill my cart with vine ripened tomatoes, sweet onions, round eggplants, baby squashes, radishes almost as stunning as those recently encountered in Provence, and little tins of broad beans in tomato sauce and stuffed grape leaves. Deciding that I wasn’t ready to go back to the house just yet, I continued down the block and ducked into a butcher whose window display simply stopped me in my tracks. Gorgeous porterhouses and ribeyes, lamb racks and the largest chicken breasts I’ve ever seen lined the window. Inside, I discovered marinated kebobs, stuffed pork loins, a myriad of other prepared foods, and rows and rows of sausages. I heard a friendly “How you going?” and turned to find the butcher and his wife gazing at me with some amusement. It appears I had been muttering sweet nothings to the sausages. We made introductions, and they were amazed to hear that someone from Hawaii had made her way to Semaphore. They told me a bit about the town, asked extremely intelligent questions about my masters program, informed me that Semaphore/Larg’s Bay is the only place I’d ever want to be in South Australia, and told me not to be a stranger. I won’t be.

P.S. Spicy Italian, chicken with pine nuts, and metwurst.

P.P.S. “The Good Girl”. Jennifer Aniston was actually very good. Season 1 of Hamish Macbeth, which just made me think of Kim and Leia.