Better than Farm to Table

Farm at table. In New York City from August 26-30.


(Photo not mine.)

Within A Square Block

Poem Interlude (Draft)

The Voice on WNYC Says

“I find that extremely moving.

Julie Andrews and Ben Kingsley,
‘Shall We Dance?’”
                            It’s amazing
they find their way through space
at all, the radio waves, dodging
raindrops today, not to mention
a flowerpot on the windowsill,
a bowl of apples, me –
                                  all to sing
from the white box on top of
the refrigerator. They’re there
all the time, of course, waiting
for the moment when we call
them,
         like applying an iron

to a love letter written in milk.

Happiness Just Before (More) Rain

Where does it come from? I realized tonight, in my attic/roof, looking out over North Brooklyn into glittering Manhattan, that I love living here. I've always lived near and been drawn to rivers: the Mississippi, the Liffey, the de la Plata of Buenos Aires, Glasgow's Clyde, Montgomery's Tallapoosa. In my eight years in this city, I've overlooked the Hudson's George Washington and the Harlem River Ship Canal, followed freight trains bound from Long Island as they streaked across Hell Gate, and now found the East again, her Manhattan Bridge strung along the twilight. The luckiness of here, though, is that I can turn my head and also see the distinct green of the road, in the I278 sign over the BQE, linking me to all the waterless rivers of the country.

Rain, Rain, Come and Stay

I love this weather. Two summers ago, the rainy days in Dublin held for most of the summer, and even there, where people are accustomed to the gray, last-minute holidays were being planned to Malta and the like, anywhere with sun.

I biked to pick up vegetables (arugula, sweet Japanese turnips, rainbow chard, napa cabbage, lettuce...)


(Drawing by talented high schooler.)

The McCarren market then called, as I haven't had Ronnybrook milk for a while. And rhubarb caught my eye, which then evolved as follows:











And what says happiness as much as impossibly curly scapes?


(Note the cat paw in the bottom left corner.)

Or as much as the cat himself, radio waves, coffee, and the rain, still.

What Will They Think Up Next

Just when you thought the likes of Wonder Showzen would never be seen again, along comes Food Party. Thanks, G.

"Food Party is a mind-bending, non-reality cooking show with Thu Tran as your hostess, a cast of unruly puppets as culinary aides, and a cavalcade of fictitious celebrities as surprise dinner guests. Shot on location in a technicolor cardboard kitchen as well as other foreign and exotic cardboard locations, each episode will or will not instruct you on how to prepare wild gourmet multi-course meals with ingredients you probably have on hand in your kitchen already, such as pretzel rods, eggs, narwhal lungs, bizarre plot twists, secret ingredients, and pizza. After all, you never know who might show up for dinner."

But Wonder Showzen, I still miss you.

Menagerie

We're going to hear The Dodos this afternoon, part of the today-concluding Northside Festival. North Brooklyn has as many festivals as mimes have unanswered calls.

"And the stance that we take isn't much to bear
Yeah, we leave things to change on their time."

And speaking of animals, here are some from places that can seem nearly extinct amidst these streets and buildings and furtive stares.


Buffalo near Sioux Falls, South Dakota.


Squirrel in Deadwood, South Dakota.


Geese near East Glacier, Montana.


Cat in Missoula, Montana.


Elk in Packwood, Washington.


Human in Alberta.