For the shade it provides throughout Arkansas’ blazing summer months, I am obliged to a huge oak tree that lives beside and above our house. As with each of us who is blessed with a deciduous tree, my part of the implied bargain is kept in spring, when I sweep catkins for weeks, and in autumn, when I rake and bag dead leaves. While a minority of the leaves have yet to fall, I raked and bagged all afternoon yesterday. I feared that, if I were to wait any longer, Madeline, our cairn terrier, might get lost in a pile of leaves during one of her late night trips to answer the call of nature.
Regardless, I mention it now to say that, while I wouldn’t exactly call the work fun, it was definitely rewarding. Last night, as I was falling asleep around 8:30 with an Annie Dillard book propped on my chest, it was nice to know that I had earned my exhaustion honestly. Today, my sore muscles are a reminder of my accomplishment. But the real payoff came today when I drove home for lunch, parked on the street adjacent to our house, and admired our leaf free front yard. It looked great, especially next to the messy yards of our neighbors. I just find it too bad that it won’t last and I’ll have to repeat the work in a couple of weeks.
On another note, yesterday morning, I went to Fresh Market to buy a few items, like Fage, not available at Kroger. As I carried my basket to an available cashier, I vaguely noticed a woman talking to an adjacent cashier. After my cashier, a teenage-ish girl, scanned a couple of my yogurts she asked, “What’d she want?” Assuming she was talking to me, I started to tell her that I had no clue why she was asking such a question. But when the other cashier answered with, “Miso paste,” I realized that she was simply prying. My cashier followed up with, “What’s that?” The other answered, “I don’t have a clue. She said it’s Japanese.” Then, my cashier surprised and amused me by saying, “Oh, I wouldn’t know what it is then. I only eat American foods.”
I smiled and thought about asking, “So you only eat corn and antelope?” I know there are a few more dishes that originated in the U.S. than that, but seriously? Instead, I just explained to her what miso paste is. She said, “Oh, well I do drink soy milk.”
Down There by the Train 