Charmed Life
The other morning, I discovered a bee in the bunch of fresh greens I’d bought at the Waverly market. I scooped it up on a wooden spoon and nudged it outside, but not before relishing the fact that the bee was….well…alive. And that means my greens hadn’t been too long out of the field before they got into my rowhouse kitchen.
That kind of thinking is on my mind since reading (okay, skimming) Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, which I read originally as a New York Times Magazine article (and, in my opinion, could have remained an article, though my husband strongly disagrees and thinks I’m immoral for not reading the book word for word). Anyway, some folks in town may have caught Pollan’s talk earlier this Spring at the Pratt, but even if you didn’t, his message is pretty simple: Eat Real Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Greens. And Stay Away from Things with More Than Five Ingredients. Or Things with Unpronounceable Ingredients.
Since reading the book, my husband is now prone to picking up items I’ve brought home from the Safeway—.e.g. a nice loaf of whole-grain bread—reading the ingredients then saying, “This is shit,” and throwing it down. He is also more dedicated than ever to giving our one-year-old fresh greens, which take her about 2 hours to chew (not to mention, digest). She has two teeth.
Anyway, as it is summer, I am relishing the bounty at the Waverly market (especially the falafels from B-more Alive!) at the same time feeling like it’s just too damn crowded there, even at 8 a.m.. And that’s got me thinking of the pros and cons of my summer life in Baltimore. Pro: lots of kids at the Abell Open Space, swinging and playing (there’s even a little kiddie pool set up). Last night I chatted with a fellow from L.A. who’s in town so his wife can work on a documentary. He’s a sound editor and worked on the latest “Terminator” film (he specializes in dialogue and said there wasn’t much in the film—no surprises there). I also saw Carmen, one of the owners of Red Tree in Hampden walking her dog. Pro: eating outside on the terrace at Gertrude’s during their Tuesday night specials (although a rat decided to join us on the terrace after dessert last night!). Pro: looooong days. Con: near-constant surveillance by Foxtrot, the beloved police helicopter. It started circling in the afternoon yesterday, causing lots of folks to walk about with their heads alternately tilted to the sky and scanning the streets for whatever ill-behavior Foxtrot was pursuing. Cons: the trash in those garbage cans on the corner, which are meant to help clean up the area but instead cook all day in the heat and smells horrific. Con: the humidity (though this year, I should just say: the rain.)
All in all, I love summer in Baltimore. It’s not Nantucket, sure. But it’s not Wichita, either (I lived in Kansas for a while, so I’m allowed to slander it). If you simply must get out of town, check the July issue of Style for all our beach tips.
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