On the way home Tuesday, I stopped at Casa de Fruta, a collection of entertainingly named buildings ("Casa de Sweets", "Casa de Wine", etc.) that house tasty local produce and foodthings (as well as some non-local items). Had to get me some fresh plums, an artichoke, and some ripe peaches for Mom (also ended up with some California olives, and a couple of bottles of white zinfandel that probably came from the vineyards I had been passing on the road a few miles previous). I remember several years ago when 152 was being enlarged, our Casa de Coffee waitress worried that it might hurt their business -- it's a more freeway-like road now with two lanes in each direction, instead of one lane each running right past the fruit stands/coffee shop/RV park. But they seemed to be doing OK on Tuesday.

I also saw a bold blackbird -- too bad my camera was stashed in my satchel at the time. He flew into the produce stand, landed on a ladder suspended from the roof, and eyed me as I stood at the end of the nut aisle. Deciding I was far enough away and/or not hostile, he hopped along to the far end of the ladder, took another look around, then quick as lightning jumped down to a barrel, up to the edge of the mixed nut bin, snatched a nut, and blasted off for the safety of outdoors so quickly that I half expected to see a little cartoon "poof" and fluttering feathers left behind.

yup, absolutely everyone loves fresh local produce. Sweet juicy plums, not hard, not squishy, just ripe. Careful not to dribble down your chin -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but you'd hate to lose any of the tastiness. Very hard to beat a really good plum. mmmmmmmmmmmm....

copyright 2003 carrie lynn king.