A marketing day

Ana was coming to dinner today, and I had, with precision, planned my shopping and cooking out to the minute. I woke up at 0730 ready for action, fed the vermin, took Margaret for her walkies, had a cup or two of tea, did the crossword, and then closed my eyes for a moment. Next thing, it was three hours later and my plan of action was in serious disarray. Hours behind schedule, I scurried to the library and then to my second favorite grocery store, the Promenade Red Apple, which was nearby. I needed tapioca, and I knew that my favorite grocery store wouldn’t have it. My second favorite is fairly near our house, but in the direction we seldom go. While it is within walking distance, it’s far enough, that anything more weighty than a bag of potato chips is too much to carry. So going there is infrequent, and rather a treat. The clientele is largely Mexican, African American, and actual African, and thus they have exotic foods not found in your run of the mill grocery store. There are always unusual vegetables, (I was hoping to show you some cactus, but this seems not to be cactus season) and our favorite section, the Mexican pastries. There is a rather festive atmosphere which I always enjoy, and also some fun memories. One Christmas, Rebecca was making scalloped potatoes to take to our family dinner at my Aunt’s house. She was just starting her preparations when she discovered that they (the potatoes) were nowhere to be found. Frantic, we searched everywhere, pleaded with St. Anthony, but to no avail. So Tom and I were sent on a mission to find potatoes on Christmas Day. Tom was instructed to select the potatoes because Rebecca had no faith in my potato selection capabilities. We drove from store to store, but none were open. Finally, in desperation, we drove to the Red Apple and it was not only open, but it had potatoes. Saved! This last Christmas, my aunt was in Hawaii visiting one of her children, so we had to prepare our own Christmas dinner. Once again, due to my incredible flibbitigibbitiness, the Red Apple saved the day. You can read about that here. Oh, and about the missing potatoes – they turned up several days later in the laundry basket!