Eat, Pray, Love

This blog post is not actually about "Eat, Pray, Love" the book or the movie or the cultural phenomenon -- I have many things to say about all three and all of those things would fall under the heading of "vile invective" and all of them have been sad much more artfully by Stephen Metcalf (@ minute 7:10).

This is, instead, a pure joyrant about my city, San Francisco. If I were with it enough to tag my blog entries, I would tag this one with words like "joy," "wonder," and, yes, "love." I will attempt to cut the sweetness of the subject matter with the cold, brittleness of bullet points by simply recounting the series of interactions I have had since leaving the office at 5:00 and arriving in the Mission to run errands on my way home.

-purchased plump triangular carrots (a kind I have never tried before), arugula, and three pints of strawberries at the Mission Community Market from a pure charmer

-while looking for asparagus, ran into someone from the SF Environment organization (I think this is a city organization -- not sure what part of government it fits into) who gave me a FREE TOTEBAG MADE OUT OF SCRAP CLOTH in exchange for MY IDEAS OF HOW TO MAKE THE CITY GREENER. really. this happened. to contribute your ideas, go to www.ideas4sf.org.

-went to buy fish at the market where L buys fish every day; the man who works there asked why i wasn't getting what luke always gets and smiled -- because he knows us! this still amazes me.

-went to Mission Pie to buy bread from Josey who remembered me from when i bought bread yesterday (there are reasons i need a lot of bread, i'm not going into it) and he is ALSO a pure and total charmer

-went to Rose's market to buy asparagus; Rose told me, in confidence, that i should have a baby to keep L -- maybe not the best advice, but it came from a place of love

-in my stairway, ran into a neighbor who has lived in this building for THIRTY YEARS and had a lovely talk, really lovely, and i am going to go visit her to hear all about the history of the building

It is not about the amazing food, although, yes, the food is amazing. Food is a part of it, though, because we have to eat, every day, and so eating becomes part of our routine and eating is also about nourishment, sustenance -- one of the clearest ways to receive and express love. And so eating feeds connections between people and connected people reach out, radiate warmth, laugh with kindness, and wear the sunshine on their faces. I live somewhere, in a place, where people know me, and L, and we see them every day or every week and they make us smile. What else is there in this world other than that?