I've fallen in love with Trader Joe's again. I had not been during the entire pandemic even though it is near my house. It has the worst parking lot in the world, always full, tiny and shared with a strip mall of other businesses and impossible to drive through. Still, it is a good place to shop if you don't buy any of their meat products. You can, but they are the worst in the world. They get last pick at the meat markets, I am told by a restaurateur friend of mine. Costco, he says, gets first, and indeed they have some of the best meats around. I find that incredible but probably true. But never, ever buy from TJs or Aldis or any of the discount stores. It is the stuff of horror shows.
On the other hand, there is everything else that is edible. Maybe I have certain middle class tastes that I am not aware of or would not own up to. I mean, the layout of this store is not glamorous. It is not spacious. It is like a maxi mini-mart. Maybe it reminds me too much of the place up the street that always sells me milk that has not been kept cool enough owned by "men with mustaches." Maybe it is the freakishness of the people who shop there. Perhaps I have to have my hippie vibe on. I'll own up to just about anything as long as I'm the one pointing the finger.
But yesterday, I went because I am still battling the death smell in the house. It is definitely not a rat. A rat smell would be gone by now. This is either a possum or a raccoon or a dingo or a small human. The smell continues to strengthen just when I think, "Now it has reached its peak." The mightiest warrior I have against the odor is a TJs candle called "Cedar and Balsam." Its fragrance is powerful and wonderful, and mine is all but gone. I would buy many more. And I needed frozen peas and organic milk. It was to be a quick in and out.
Nope. Have I never looked before? Have I never explored the nooks and crannies? I think I breeze by the crowded stacks and multiple layers expeditiously looking for what I need. And now? Yesterday, the store seemed a Cabinet of Curiosities. Maybe I have been sensory deprived. I moved through the aisles an inch or two at a time, irritating other insistent shoppers. It was uncomfortable, but what could I do? It was like exploring a new lovers body for the first time and finding nothing but pleasure.
O.K. Maybe not. But I had to go there, didn't I? Being sensually deprived and all.
Have you ever perused TJs bottled sauces? I hadn't. Are they new? Jesus, there are one or two mainstay sauces for each ethnic cuisine. I needn't make from scratch all the Asian sauces in menus I read about and would like to try. Chile sauces? Galore. Pestos and Mexican dips. Oddly enough, last night Q was touting one to me just hours since I first discovered it. I am late to the game.
And, of course, the cookies and the candies. How does one choose?
In the end, my small shopping cart was full. The cashier waved me forward, and then I remembered that I had come in for a candle.
"I bought a candle here a while back that was wonderful. Where would the candles be?"
"They are seasonal. We don't have any just now. Probably spring."
"What, winter isn't a season?"
She didn't have much of a sense of humor. The bagger chipped in helpfully saying, "Yea, why don't we have a Valentine's candle?" The cashier was unmoved. But she was good at scanning, and in a Texas Second she had me checked out. $35. I shit you not, as my father used to say. My knees crumpled. I was sure the cashier secretly loved me and was just tongue tied about the candle. Either that or she was incompetent. There was no way everything in the cart had been scanned. I looked at the receipt she handed me after checking her stolid face for a glimmer of a smile. Nope. It was all there. Holy smokes! I'd forgotten this part, too. Just another reason to love Trader Joe's.
Having written this, I am thinking of all the places I haven't been this year. I haven't been to the butcher's shop up the street all pandemic long. Nor the fish market. I have just shut down my life post-Ili/mid-pandemic. I've been a zombie, a worn shel of a human being.
That is all changing. Soon. Very soon.
I didn't take today's photo. It was taken from the back of the scooter. I used to ask my "passenger" to shoot with a small camera as we slowly cruised the Boulevard. Yesterday I was going through a hard drive and came to a folder with a label that made me curious. There I was, shot from behind, sitting on my scooter, a little fat but whole, rugged and unbroken. I weeped a bit for that, but went on to work some of the untouched photos from that file and life. The photo is nothing but a reminder of life pre-pandemic, pre-retirement, pre-breakup, pre-accident, when disaster and horror were somewhere distant on the horizon, too far away to even guess at, back when I went to all the markets and the pantry was always fun and always full.
I need to stock the pantry once again. The pantry must be stocked.
"Pantry" comes from "pain," the French word for "bread," and if you are anything like Vladimir Nabokov the multilingual pun was intentional.
ReplyDeleteThe pain must be stocked. Indeed.
I know it is not fashionable to be compared to Nabokov, but it is also not fashionable to opine about literature in general. Everything associated with what used to be called art is subjected to Groupthink these days, and I have always been inclined to observe the rush of the madding crowd and run far in the opposite direction.
Despite our claims to being a secular society, The Cult of Celebrity is the official national religion of the United States among the deleterious effects of which are the vacuous imbeciles we elevate to its priesthood.
Spring is the most excruciating of all seasons. I stock up vast amounts of pain when the greens are so sharp that they cut the eye.
I do hate the parking lot. If they didn’t carry Moxie in the store I’d never go.
ReplyDeleteOh. I love c.c. He's part of the reason I'm so out of fashion. Yet, incredibly fashionable in the right circles.
:* :* kisses to you dear one.
Trader Joe's is bougie here. The line to get in, since the Plague, has been ridiculous. But they do have people especially staffed to scrub down the shopping carts after every use. I do appreciate that.
I always have Trader Joes naan - both plain and garlic in my freezer. You can make a nice pizza on them - any veggies of choice - arugala - a cheese - meat of choice etc. I also like their frozen Palak Paneer with the rice very much. Everything but the Bagel - necessity.
Frozen Edamame. So. Much. More.
Anyway. It IS one of my favorite shops to peruse for entertaining. You can always find something unique to serve your guests who may not shop there and are simply amazed at the ethic apps you've prepared.
Guests. Remember them??
Aw. That's sweet. You had your girl taking pictures. I like that. Post more.
Were you bossy about it?
T. was very bossy. I liked it.
Every once in a while tho - I'd show up and get out my magic tape. I'd tape his hands together so he couldn't touch me and did very awful things to him. He'd be a bit like a wild animal trying to break free.
It was nice and fun and we laughed and fucked around and ate and slept. Well if you are into that kind of thing it was good. See? I went there but even deeper.
Funny, when I was cleaning out the cottage and hanging out every night with the Boys and assorted neighbors - one night someone found the pink tape and was like "here's some masking tape - it's pink."
I had fun letting them in on the secret that it wasn't "ordinary tape." That's all I said, really and smiled.
They never had a clue what was going on at that little magical hut. Someone recently asked me if I was his caretaker.
Yeah. I suppose so.
*shrug*. true is true.
GUESS WHAT??
I got my first shot today. Holy Shit. Is there some magic in that crap? I had to sit in the chair for 15 minutes to make sure I didn't explode or something - after - but AS SOON AS SHE PUT THAT NEEDLE IN MY ARM - I vibrated and started dreaming about being Somewhere.
It was like a shot of adrenaline. I felt myself in a Paris apartment. In the Bush. At my brother's pool. NYC. California. Montana.
It took me the drive back to work - putting my mask back on going in - to come down from the high.
I have another shot in 4 weeks. Most of America isn't vaccinated yet. We are still wearing masks and doing all sorts of social distancing (our curfew got cut - we can be out all night now). But no, I can't really go to Paris. or Tanzania.
Yet.
President Joe says we might have a Life again in the Fall.
But man - for that 15 minutes - I was flying high.
Okies. I hope you get your pantry stocked. Is that some sort of code word?
Oh. I always forget context. Cause my brain is sometimes going so fast. T was the Boss of Poems in my life. He always told me what wasn’t right with whatever I was writing. Or who I needed to go read. Or study. Or what words to take out.
ReplyDeleteAnd I was wondering if you were bossy about what pictures you wanted your girl to take.
(I did love his bossy nature tho).