the return of the market

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i am officially only employed at the green grocer giving me saturdays and sundays off till the end of the eternity. this means that i not only get two consecutive days off in a row every week, but also that i get to go to the saturday market as well as the sunday flea market every week of my choosing. AND. now, that my schedule will be monday through friday, 8am-4pm, i can go to the friday founders night market as well. brilliance.

with my first beautiful saturday off, a few notable events occurred.

a. i think i witnessed my second nelson street performance art. there was a hippie-like girl playing the accordion wonderfully (something like amelie music) and then totally separate (it turns out) but only 10 feet away from her was this older woman clothed in floral, red red lipstick, white leather handbag, and a ministool. you can imagine the way the accordion playinger and the older woman worked together marvelously. the older woman spoke only in russian (i suspect) and seemed to be giving a demonstration on the correct way to fold up a plastic shopping bag. in addition, she seemed to be showing its appearance when unfolded as well. also, the way in which the bag and her skirt blew in the wind. she totally seemed crazy and was written off as so by most passerbys but she was actually a brilliant, captivating clown. man, i could've watched her for hours. unfortunately, after she seemed to run through her material, she moved on to a different section of town. highlight of her walking away: while crossing the pedestrian crosswalk, she placed her ministool in the middle of it and stood and waved to the waiting car. then, continued on.

b. i took myself on a bike ride to founders park which is this recreated (in the 1980s) nelson town center equipped with town post office, bank, bakery, grocer, barber, railroad etc. i happened to go after park closing so it was basically just me perusing around this strange, fake, old-timey town all locked up with no one else in it. almost felt like being in some sort of alter world or never never land. would be scary, i suspect, at night with only a flashlight. surreal.

c. after my founders park rendezvous, i abandoned my bike and walked up this hill to find a beautiful, old cemetery atop. all of the graves are highhigh up with million dollar views of the nelson coastline and sand. strange sensation walking through such a beautiful cemetery. of course, sad and contemplative. but, if one must be buried somewhere for all eternity, that's certainly the way to go. it was huge, winding up and down hills, too many paths to walk down, too many names to take in and honor. overwhelming. and there was a hebrew section! which was actually too small for me to find even when looking for it.

only two and a half weeks till i live in the apartment above the grocer, own a dog, and am responsible for the economic well-being and account paying of the organic green grocer.

today, i made cinnamon raisin scones that are more like scone cookies but still quite delicious and healthy.

and for the last afterthought, in a place with a total lack of jewishness, i'm actually feeling the loss. i have been fortunate to always live in a place with an abundance of synagogues and jews. it never occurred to me that i could live in a town without a synagogue. SO. i am going to try to observe shabbat every friday night and use the year to perhaps learn more about judaism, the holidays, the recipes. create some sense of jewish community within me, eh?

yesterday was my second shabbat here. the first was with two tealights and two jewish girls from israel. last night was with me, two white birthday candles stuck in a bowl of stones, a half drunk glass of organic grape juice, and a corner of a multigrain loaf of bread. i have higher hopes for future shabbats.

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