[lit-ideas] Re: Footnotes to My Sunday
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2004 09:14:01 -0700
I began to write to someone off-list when it occurred to me that others
would like to know, for example, that the line "with fries" is not as
whimsical as it may seem. The standard chalkboard item outside restaurants
in Calais is moules/ frites, mussels and french fries. Whether this is a
dish concocted specially for British tourists I don't know. It's certainly
possible; the "chips with everything" mindset stretches in Scotland to chips
with lasagne. But there again, as the fellow in Silly Wizard once
explained, the Scots used to offer vegetables to people at the end of
battles; when the English took advantage of their generosity, they resolved
to give up eating vegetables altogether.
>
Our local supply of mussels was erratic until someone opened a mussel farm
in the San Juan islands, growing mussels on ropes and harvesting them with a
machine of some sort. Since then, the supply itself has been good. The
problem, as with good beer, is training people how to handle and sell the
product. Some people here persist in trying to sell well-made best bitter
in a frosted mug. And someone has hit on the "bright" idea of confining
mussels in tight bags, with the harvest date hidden inside.
We used to have real fishmongers in town, but now I know of none; gone the
way of the butcher, and soon to be followed by the cobbler. Baking, thank
goodness, is undergoing a local revival.
I have wired President Bush, asking if we can annex Vancouver's Granville
Island. It's got everything I need--art school, beer, fresh produce and
fish. With my cunning plan, I think we could manage the annexation with a
Russian submarine... and a couple of pipers. "Everyone for to leave
street..." Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
Oops. Now I need to give footnotes to my footnotes.
On, con brio.
David Ritchie
Portland, Oregon
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