Escape

I had done many of the things I intended to, yesterday: at Los Paisanos I bought chicken livers to turn into sweetfern and cognac-mousses, bought cream, ditto. At Tony's Hardware I got two cans of silver paint for the roof, plus roller, and spray bottles - one for Neem oil which I still needed to find, and one for all-purpose household soap (Caldrea - orange and vetiver, I love it) that I spritz with abandon on washable surfaces. Then I journeyed to Izumi's backroom salon in the East Village to have my hair cut (and to enjoy her lightning-fast and delicious shoulder massage), and found the galvanized watering can I've been looking for, across the road at Jamali's, on 1st and East 7th. And Neem oil for the roses. And the seeds you see above. I found various useful items at Wholefoods on East Houston. Little gifts for catsitters, for instance. 

What I had not intended doing, when I was at Los Paisanos, was throwing over (imagine classic slow motion roar: ....N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o.....!...!...), a tall stack of shopping baskets obstructing the chicken liver fridge door. The baskets toppled into a shelf of Pellegrino bottles. With which they made contact. Forcefully. The bottles cascaded to the hard tile floor and shattered, spectacularly. 

It seemed to last forever. Bing, bang, blat, zappo, whammo, zlits, splatter, schrunch, bloot, clammer, shplitter, yammo, clattzo, %^**%$ ...N-n-n-n-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o.

Drip.

Silence. 

Then, Mazeltov! from the woman waiting to be served. And... Marie? Are you OK? from Pedro, invisible behind the parmesan cheese the high counter

I was, kind of. 

They were very kind. A young butcher mopped it up. Mike the owner walked in and gazed at the lake of water and glass. I needed to clean the floor, he said.

So last night it was a relief to get to the roof. I wanted to spend some time with the cat, who had not eaten all day, but who seemed game for a rooftop walk. He gardened with me as I found some early grass for him to chew. We worked together for a while. Nothing feels better than gardening with a furry friend, really. Even one that glows.

I picked a bowlful of greens to go with our supper, and poked tomato seeds and nasturtiums into likely pots. I swore not to plant anything for summer but I can't help it. I love these home grown tomatoes and if they survive while we are gone I'll enjoy them in July. Last year's fallen tomatoes are producing seedlings and I see groundcherries popping up, too. 

I cancelled a foraging trip today to stay home with the cat, who is still not eating much and who is very thin. I am very worried about him, and will be helicoptering around him all day.

And maybe throwing over some more Pellegrino bottles.

** By the way, the glass in the first photo? I love it. It is one of four I found the other day at a genuine thrift store. By genuine I mean that when I Googled it just now, I typed "junk store." I meant it in a good way. It is run by a lady from the neighbourhood, not by a plad-wearing and bearded person in owl glasses. The prices reflect that. The glasses were $3 each, and they are perfect. I also found pretty little plates with nasturtiums painted on them, also $3. Made in the USA. Now that's collectable. I may go back for the ones I left behind.

Once Again Thrift Shop, 114 Smith Street

Cash only