Me, i’m for Bernie. Hillary would be just slightly less of the same.
I’ve been living in Petaluma since mid-September and have found it a warm and friendly town. That said, i had not actually made a friend here until a couple of weeks ago when my nice upstairs neighbor called to the attention of a fellow occupant of this complex that i rode a Segway.
That man was Christian St. Claire, born in Belgium but living in this country much of his adult life, a mechanical genius and a fascinating man who, among other interests is keen on electric vehicles. He owns electric mopeds, skateboards, hoverboards, and unicycles. Not to mention several Segways. Yep, there are two of us in Petaluma. He’s the one who wears a cowboy hat instead of a helmet, and i’m already on his case about that.
So we’ve hit it off, and he’s proving to be an inexhaustible source of information about Petaluma. For example, the other day he took me into Skippy’s Egg Store, 951 Transport Way, off N. McDowell. Despite the name, it does not limit itself to eggs although it does specialize in them. Unfortunately for Skippy, i have recently discovered that a vendor at the Petaluma Farmers’ Market sells duck eggs, which i love even more than chicken eggs, so i’m no longer in the market for chicken eggs. Skippy’s is a small market with a limited selection, but what draws me is Costcovian prices for dairy products, including Strauss milk and cream in returnable glass bottles as well as Clover milk.
Christian has introduced me to his teenage son, who lives with him, and his friend Jo Ann, who doesn’t. Actually, he’s socially voracious, seems to know half the population here, and enjoys taking me in places he knows and introducing me to everyone. Great fun. And through a process of osmosis, chunks of my French are returning.
Here’s a Calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) at Jo Ann’s place. She’s a gifted gardener and has an astonishing variety of flowering plants as well as a good range of edibles. The more i see of her, the more i enjoy her.
Christian has also taken me to the truck farm of a friend of his, Mikel, a man from whom i’d already bought produce at the Petaluma Farmers’ Market. Small world. I’ve been after him to bring me in some fresh green garlic, and now that i’ve seen him growing it with mine own eyes, he’s committed to bring some for me next Tuesday.
He and Christian are planning to buy a couple of kids at the auction next week to barbecue since it’s the season and the males are cheap. I mentioned that i’d love to get involved with this because i’d never dressed a mammal larger than a rabbit. Christian intuited my hidden agenda and casually mentioned that he’d already laid claim to the brains. Aaargh, foiled again, but at least we got to trade brain recipes. Watch for headlines about the breakout of the world’s first cases of Mad Goat Disease, centered on Petaluma, California, and luckily so far confined to only two victims.
Meanwhile, here’s some fava beans (Vicia faba) in the truck garden.
8 Comments
Glad you found Chris, and loooove the cala lily and fava been photos. Amazing lighting and dew drops on the cala lily blossom.
I got really lucky with the photos that day. Just love it when i look down and there’s a photo screaming “Take me now!” Never dreamed fava beans could look so good blooming. Again, i just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
I’m for Bernie too, but Hillary would be a whole lot less than Bernie. No reforms with Hill, continued support of the military industrial complex including the NSA.
Her support of the military industrial complex is, IMHO, her worst aspect.
I had no idea Fava bean flowers are that pretty. The only legumes I’ve ever had in my garden are ornamental peas (sweet peas and perennial peas). Several years back, I tried to grow peanut plants indoors and ended up with the world’s smallest peanuts. 🙁
BTW: The photo of Joann’s Calla is indeed beautiful.
You’re not alone. Several people have got back to me with the same observation about the fava flowers. I’d never seen favas growing and was astonished at the beauty of the flowers. Shoulda got a closeup of one flower.
Since I’m not American and have never even set foot on North-American soil, I don’t get to vote in U.S. elections, but I’m for Jill Stein …and yes, I do realize she doesn’t stand a chance and that few Americans know about her or the Green Party.
Despite being Dutch, I’m following the Republican Party presidential primaries with great interest. It’s sad to see a waffling, narcissistic populist get the attention he craves, but there is a silver lining; Trump’s popularity among primary voters is likely to become an insurmountable problem for the Republican Party at the July convention. Whoever becomes the Republican presidential nominee, the nomination will likely alienate a huge section of potential GOP-voters (for a while). Or at least, that’s what I hope will happen. 😉
It is always a joy to see ourselves as others see us, to get a foreign take on our internal affairs. I find Trump fascinating because he’s the first far-right populist who has made a serious run for President in a major political party, so the Europeans have more experience with this sort of man since they’ve seen Jean-Marie Le Pen, Jörg Haider, and Geert Wilders in operation. I have to agree with your prediction that Trump’s popularity will become an insurmountable problem for the Republican Party with one caveat: unless he wins.