Hello, ladies. Hello, gentler men.
As we enter September, we near the close of our vicarious vacation/local eating week. Tomorrow will be the project’s two month mark! That means we are 2/13 through, as far as I can gather. But my math is only at a 5th grade level, so I might be wrong. This calculation required me to close my eyes & count on my fingers, while whispering aloud how many times two goes into fifty-two & so forth.
Today was a long, lazy day– one of the first I’ve had in ages! Allyson’s schedule for the day was remarkably lenient: her only stipulation was that I 1. eat a local diet &, of course, 2. post one reason why people should eat locally at the end of the day. Well, I managed. Will manage!
I stayed in bed for ages. AGES! Till noon! I had a bunch of tedious tasks ahead of me, like paying bills & returning videos, & I didn’t want to do any of them. So I put it off by sleeping an incredible amount. I’ll have you know, none of my chores got done. But I did dream of Allyson, this week’s puppetmaster!
After I arose, I ate a salami sandwich– the first of many throughout the day. Very simple (& local!), my sandwich consisted of 3. venison salami, 4. butter, 5. organic fantain bread. The breakfast of champions indeed! Spent the next several hours tooling around facebook, catching up on blogs & so forth I haven’t read since I began this project, & playing a lot of Word Challenge. I also 6. snacked on blueberries.
Then I ate some leftover spring rolls from my fridge. I’d intended to give away my leftovers, but Allyson, in a comment below, informed me that:
Eating what you already have in the cupboard, particularly condiments is more than acceptable! It is the RIGHT thing to do. [...]When I started my local eating project with my own family…we ate through what existed in our pantry until it was gone…that included a lot of non-local foods, but wasting would have been the greater offense.
So I did the right thing.
Then I went to bed to read The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which is, by the way, much more interesting now that I’m not nineteen, & take a nap before doing my chores. Well, I napped through the chore-doing window. But I feel little remorse, if much dread for the future & my credit score.
After waking, lazed around some more. Ate another salami sandwich (I believe this was my third). This time I added 7. tomato, 8. goat cheese, & 9. romaine lettuce.
The tomato is in hiding, but it was delicious.
Much better than soggy leftover non-local spring roll.
Made an album on facebook & continued to play Word Challenge. Despite my fondest efforts, I have yet to beat my high score of 37,945. (I am ranked as an Anagram Cyborg, the highest possible level. But how I yearn for more points!)
Then I dared to 10. eat a peach.
I am, by nature, lazy & indolent. I enjoyed myself immensely today, as such laziness is a rare privilege these days, but did feel a little guilty that I wasn’t hunting out exciting local food challenges all over the city. Future participants should perhaps be forewarned that, if I have no real orders in a day I will likely stay in my pajamas reading till nightfall. I take direction like a real pro & have never missed a deadline in my life. But without direction & deadlines? I’m a slug-a-bed.
Things would have continued much in this vein (ie. nothing to write home about about which to write home, as you can see) if it weren’t for Olivia who called me to save the day! She & her sisters, Magali & Cat, have great plans for me for Week 9. My presence was requested at Magali’s new apartment, where I would drink some wine & pick up some supplies for the coming week.
Here's a hint.
After dressing myself (around 7:00pm) & receiving a phone call from our friend TD (who saw a whale in Maine), I headed over Magali’s way. I picked up a bottle of 11. local wine, since I didn’t know what they’d be drinking.
Glad I did! Their wine was from Argentina (very good, from the sounds of it). I happily opened my bottle. They also had snacks– some of which I could actually eat! The pita bread, olives, hummus, & celery sticks were verboten. But there were also some local 12. blueberries & 13. carrot sticks. I felt a little annoying when I had to ask Are you SURE these are local? But it was heartening that they knew for sure. “The carrots are definitely local,” said Jamie (?), Magali’s roommate, “I bought them myself!”
Welcome to the love snack.
I normally don’t know where the food I buy comes from. Now, of course, I’m much more conscious of it. So there was something very nice (& humbling) about the idea that other people, people who don’t spend all their time thinking of eating locally, are aware of where the food they eat is produced!
After discussing local diets & the impending Week 9, we settled into a nice long chat about love & marriage & all those sort of things. I may have scarred poor Olivia for life. How I miss the innocence of youth! It’s tough being a world-weary, hardened 25. But you try spending two years in a graduate program at the University of Michigan & see if you still walk out believing in love as they sell it to you.
Magali & ... Jamie? I really liked her, even if I'm not quite sure of her name...
All good things must come to, etc. & I left with Olivia shortly before midnight. We spent some time pondering the tallest building in Vancouver. Walked her to her bus stop, then headed home. Energized by this past week & looking forward to next one.
Once home, I 14. ate a carrot. Tried to get a picture, but my Mac (the old one) was not very co-operative.
Then took Bella for her walk. They’re filming on our street right now, & she’s not too sure about that. Also she’s still mourning the loss of TD.
Now I’m home, writing to you lovely people. There’s a man playing guitar on the balcony across the street. It’s nice when men earnestly strum guitars if they’re not in your living room. He’s much more pleasant to “be around” now that he broke up with his girlfriend. How do I know this? I’m a very unashamed voyeur. If you’re here with me now, you know how it is.
Anyway, I have a reason why you should eat locally. It’s inevitably much healthier. When your food options are severely limited, you delight in finding things that you might otherwise find boring. Not only are processed foods, sodas, etc. off the horizon, but suddenly, potatoes & green beans become exciting! I assume this would be particularly good for people with children. The “hunting & gathering” effect that local eating simulates makes food feel like a reward for careful labor, instead of something you take for granted.
Happy September, everyone. New bios & schedule will be up tomorrow. You’ll also witness me plan & execute a small local foods dinner party!
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