It glistened while it spattered. A dangerous smell had already filled the second-floor apartment. What in the world was I to do? The Weinsteins had moved from an elm-lined, tulip-strewn street in Midwood, Brooklyn -- two-family houses built in the 1920s -- to a "development" in Howard Beach, Queens, the year before I would have graduated from eighth grade in Public School 238. I was confused about being uprooted, which sounds like a common U.S. story, of army brats and kids of World War II parents looking for postwar jobs. I'm not claiming I … [Read more...]
Artichokes, Hearts
[contextly_auto_sidebar] A while back I read that some folks were plucking artichokes from farm borders off the roads in California, apparently to sell. One doesn't immediately think that these green aardvarks are sustenance, although, indirectly, they may certainly serve. Are they delicate or rugged? All my life I've eaten them, but have no idea. False duality, anyway. Delicacy and ruggedness are not opposites at all. The artichoke embodies mystery, and that's because it's not an obvious temptation. The cooking-eating part of … [Read more...]