easy busy day, visit with realtor early, chef salad at choices to wander through mid-day, visit to the craft market as Coleen wrestles a chaise lounge and then a little shopping for the perfect table cloth at Sonoma for my parents 60th wedding anniversary ( I don't know all the words to describe the processes but the stitching and cut out patterns combined with gorgeous cloth choices make the not made in Jamaica table cloths with 12 napkins in the 100 U.S. range fantastic gifts) then we drop by Valu Master for one of the major purchases of the trip, that 24 grand I picked up at the ATM is going to take a heavy hit.
I have an admission Coleen and I have a rum cream and coffee on cold winter weekend mornings monkey on our back. Baily's is O.K., I've tried some rum creams made by U.S. and Irish distillers but,,,,,,, man oh man nothing let's your mind float back to trade wind memories on snow falling mornings like Sangsters Rum Cream. Hence bubble pack in our luggage surrounding gifts on the way down engulfs maybe a touch more than allowed volume on the way home,,,,, hey there's some flower tortilla's, wonder what the pear (avocado) situation looks like.
1/2 way around round a bout and up past Tastee Patti, but wait where are the fruit stands, some cat in a large truck, looks like gunny sacks from a big market feels very transactional not even in the same league as the guys in the small pick ups with scales hanging off home made bracketts that run the small restaurant and resorts route,,,,,, I hurt I love those small veggie stands with the ladies and their soft sells pitch, their offerings follow the seasons and many tubers have hints of that mornings moist soil still clinging to their sides,,,,,, I have my turn signal on I might as well run up the lane to turn around out of traffics bustle,,,, hey there they are, they have moved them up under the shade trees, new plywood - must have happened recently, share the commerce, 6 tomatos here, scallions and thyme there, peppers next, we are good on limes and then a young aggresive lady pushes in front of a quiet bent old grandmother to offer me her wares, but my eyes and grandmothers have met and I may have the buy of the day, it's a pear the size of a small watermelon, grandmother shakes it and I can hear the nut rattleing around inside - hmm doesn't seem right but grandmother holds it up like a prize and I'm buying consequences of a bad pear be damned, the reward is in the sparkle in grandmothers eye as I over pay by telling her to keep the change. Back at Mariposa we run into Vivian and I shake the pear asking if it should rattle and she assures the rattle is a sign of a perfectly ripe pear.
Clouds rolling in signal no sunset tonight, the rattle of the rain drops on the palms and the i-pod murmering tunes in the background signals an invitation to lull a night away away from the maddening crowds in the warm comfort of the patio, a phone call invite to cuz, need rum - no, coke - covered, ice - we're ok, scallions thyme avocado tomatos - check, pasta - in the bag, wine - have 1/2 kraf left from last night,,,,,,, well then we'll have Kevin drop us off and we're bringing more wine and hitting a jerk barrel, taht's a big 10-4,,,,,
so as Coleen showers I sit at the patio table, resting my arms on the chair arms occasionally. rum and coke steaming in the dusk heat, smoke from a Craven A curling in the breeze, knife slicing through the makings of a great guacomola, juice gathering in the gutters of the cutting board, anticipating the slow frying of tortilla's, the boiling of pasta, an improptu bruchetti made from left over diced veggies on toasted harddough bread married with island spice jerk seasoning, all enjoyed in the the loose clothed barefoot candle lit company of good friends,,,,,, this should only take oh about 4 hours,,,,, and I bet that if my cuz asks me just right I'll run him up to the round a bout for some rum raisen ice cream and people watching on their ride home
And that's what supper feels like in Jmamaica
If you love Jamaica let me see your hands
