Informative Strangers

Today on Beaker’s Brain our special is a selection of random encounters each of which resulted in me learning something totally useless.

 

Let me guess, PCP?

One Sunday morning as I was pulling weeds in the front garden, two men walked by on the sidewalk. I caught only a bit of the their conversation as they walked by. It went something like…

… I was so drunk and so high, that I bit through the leather and bit into my arm. They said I pulled out all my IVs too…

It sounds like a fun night, I’m sorry I missed it.

 

Friendly Duffer

On the short trip from house to car I passed a guy on the sidewalk. He stopped me and shook hands, so he could inform me that he was going golfing later. Ummm.. good for you? He asked if I golf (I don’t) and then walked away. He didn’t look like the golfing sort, but who am I to judge?

 

Real Bread!

Since most of my ridiculous encounters occur on sidewalks I never expected one in the freezer aisle at Whole Foods. As I searched for the least expensive frozen dinners another shopper asked “Do you want to know what’s some great bread?” I’ve learned from all my past encounters, so I actually said “No” and didn’t slow down. Undeterred, he blocked my path with a freezer door and retrieved a frozen loaf of gluten-free wheat-free organic blueberry bread (at Whole Foods everything has more adjectives). Having turned me into a captive audience he gushed his praise for the baked good. (Parentheticals are my thoughts – I couldn’t find an opening to actually say anything.)

This is just the best stuff, way better than that fluff in the bakery. This is real bread! (Funny, I thought sourdough was real bread. Whatever.) Two pieces is a meal. It’s real heavy, this little loaf is a pound and a half. (So it’s the same density as granite. Scrumptious, give me two. Wait, don’t, I can’t carry that much weight. ) It’s made with rice you know. (Is that how they made it without wheat? Fascinating. Yawn.)

At that point he flipped it over and started reading me the ingredients list. This guy must be great at a party. Halfway through the list I got desperate enough to push past him and walk away. I think he snared another shopper, but I was afraid to look back in case he made eye contact. Sorry other shopper, it’s every man for himself at Whole Foods.

Road Trip

Lost Creek Wilderness

Went for a 6 hour hike in the Lost Creek Wilderness area today. It's quite pretty, even during torrential, bone drenching thunderstorms. My legs may not forgive me for a few days though.

Baaaah. Humbug.

Rain and Shine

Sometimes I do things completely backwards. Saturday was cloudy all day, and raining in areas. No tornados for once, but still, a good day to spend inside. Instead I drove to where it was raining more and went for a hike. Yeah, I’m smart like that. But it was actually very pleasant, there wasn’t too much rain and the park was nearly deserted. Plus I didn’t have to drag along a water spritzer to get those cool water droplets on the flowers.

 

 

Sunday, on the other hand was a bright, sunshiney day. I got up bright and early, thanks to the cats who yowl when they’re lonely. (Aside: Not cool, cats! That’s how you end up on the receiving end of an airborne pillow). Anyway, a perfect day for a hike. So naturally I went to botanic gardens and then sat around inside all day. Makes perfect sense, right?

 

 

Ah well, at least I snapped a few photos. And they’re not chalk art, which is a nice change of pace. Speaking of chalk art, I’ll probably be getting back to that soon – Wendy’s got some good ones I want to post.

Smile Guy

Gravity Well

The chalk artist did a great job of giving this depth.

Beginning of the Rainbow

Hairstyle

Chalk Art 2009

I think I may have become an “artie,” if not actually an art snob. I’ve been to enough of the annual art shows that I’ve started to recognize the art. Wendy and I went through the last festival in twenty minutes of “I remember him” and “seen that.”

That’s part of the reason I like the annual chalk art show. Last year’s art was washed away, this years is completely new, so you always get to see something new.

The other reason is that the artists themselves are out there all weekend. Most of them are quite gregarious. That may have something to do with sitting in the middle of the street for an entire weekend. But regardless, it’s unusual to get a chance to talk to the artist while they’re creating the art. Plus it makes a great photographic subject, which never hurts in my book.

Wendy & I got quite a few photos again this year, probably over 700 between us. It’ll take a little while to go through, but they should start showing up soon. In the meantime, I uploaded a few more to last year’s gallery.