A Sweet Mostly Palatable Friday

Friday.

My parents were here (they left this morning) so they watched Luci with Darren while I was able to have an adventure with a friend. My friend Virginia, who is a foodie, led me on a tour through Chinatown as we both set out to find really yummy chinese food. Ginny had it all planned out so it was a pleasure for me to just relax, have some good conversation, and enjoy the secrets of Chinatown. We ate a little bit here and there but the highlights were a chocolate covered something we shared from a bakery , and the shrimp and leek dumplings we ate as we shared dim sum at the Great Eastern Restaurant, I think. (I will be sure to make a clear identifications so I can obtain these foods in the future.) Wow--only a few months to enjoy what I've been missing all these years. The antithesis to this enjoyment was walking into some meat/poultry shops and seeing the rotund frogs sitting in a bucket and the game birds crammed so there is no room to move in their cages, this to precede the hacking off of their heads for the viewers and purchasers. This might be bad to see but not so bad for the animals who would endure brief pain after days of terrible containment. I don't think it takes an animal lover such as myself to feel compassion. And as we walked out I said to Ginny, "I'm sure glad God is a God of justice because it is apparent that ALL of creation is suffering." She said,"It's true, we're all suffering and then we make each other suffer." We proceeded to the best fish store ever that I am definitely taking my kids back to and we awed at most of God's creation reserving "That's gross!" for the slithery eels. This was a journey to be replayed, and perhaps edited, next time around. Thanks Gin and my parents and husband for giving me this opportunity!

I disembarked from my journey at the 24th Street BART station and jumped into a van with my family (this includes Grandma, Grandpa, and Peanut) to head up to our farm for strawberry picking. It was a long journey which we will never do again to the best strawberries I have ever tasted. I really never knew they could taste so good. Eating each one warm from the sun was like eating strawberry pie. I ate more strawberries than I ever had and wish I had eaten more because it did not make me sick. The kids showed surprising restraint as they bent down underneath their sunhats and accumulated berries in their baskets. After about a half hour they sat under the tent at the picnic tables and partook. It was nice because nobody else was picking at that time. So it was a peaceful family and nature time. Also a great opportunity to show my parents the Eatwell Farm that we always talk proudly about. We even saw the hens that lay our eggs and Jesse screamed "Cock-a-doodle--doo!" into the roosters' faces.