Family Transport

The white bike is an e-bike as it should be with seats for two in front. This seems like a much better placement of the seats rather than in the back where the driver can't see them at all. The little fellow in the background photobombed several of my shots, but I didn't mind because he was literally dancing to the music drifting from further down the parking lot. 

There were a lot more stalls this morning and with Dana's help I was able to get the last bag of pea shoots which I love. The lettuce was testament to the weather we've been having and will need to be thoroughly washed as they were full of dirt and showing other effects of all the rain. I picked off a tiny slug as I waited to pay, and thought about a friends' son who almost died of some awful neurological illness resulting from eating tiny slugs that were hiding out in the produce from their own garden near Hilo, Hawaii.  

I seem to be developing quite a sweet tooth as I hovered around several wonderful bakery stalls, succumbing to chocolate espresso cookies, pistachio shortbread, some of my favorite granola and even, heaven help me, a peanut butter chocolate pie....the individual size showing just a modicum of restraint.

Dana and Jim came back yesterday and had wonderful stories to tell about their adventures in Patagonia. Best of all was their guide, Diego, who took them to some extraordinary places and had access to many areas that are privately owned. Considering that they stayed in six cities in two countries and had some very long flights with connections in other cities, Jim said the whole trip was flawless. Every flight was on time, every driver was on hand to take them across borders, and every accommodation was excellent. And they only had two days of rain on days when it didn't matter. The wind blows constantly in Patagonia and they both said that if it didn't blow you off your feet, it was considered not too bad. In fact,, they said they thought they had better weather than we did at home.

There is a woman at the farmers' market who goes to Oaxaca every year and buys beautiful hand painted pots and silver jewelry. When I joined Dana she was arranging to go with her as her 'assistant' on her next trip in October. The girl has definitely got the travel bug. I've put a picture  with Dana's future travel companion,  some jewelry and one of a couple of extraordinary hand painted pots in extras.

We are going to San Diego to visit my brother in a couple of weeks , a Christmas gift from Jim and Dana who clearly thought it was time to pry us out of hibernation. They even agreed to look after Spike. Our original dates were in January but I just felt that it was too soon. As it turned out, the day we were scheduled to fly was also one of the worst storms in California history and also the day my brother contracted Covid. Prescience rather than reticence, I decided.

Now I'm off to heat up our delectable looking farmers' market chicken pies for dinner....