Philadelphia Day four

My last full day in Philly. After lunch with Shannon it was time for a little grocery shopping. As a thank you to my friend Jackson for tossing me the keys to his apartment I cooked dinner for him and his girlfriend. That means shopping and what better way to do that than leisurely strolling the Italian Market. For those not in the know, that’s an old school open air market in South Philly. Fruits and veggies are sold from stalls, anything that needs to stay really cold is in a store. The neighborhood is old and changing to serve the changing demographics. The older Italian groceries don’t sell staples anymore. I’d guess this is because anyone going to an Italian grocer there is looking for specialties and prepared food. Hispanics are moving in and the Mexican markets are fully featured. I had an amazing afternoon wandering from stall to stall picking up my vegetables, bread, cheese, and canned goods.

Jackson picked me up and brought me north to his girlfriend’s place to cook. I wish I could do this sort of thing more often but not everyone has a well provisioned kitchen. Cooking in someone else’s home already feels like walking in boots that don’t fit. It gets a hell of a lot harder when none of the knives are sharp and the one colander is broken. As I’m eating I realize this is the first home cooked meal I’ve had since Santa Barbara. Gobsmacked.

Bread is broken, Wynter needs to sleep, and Jackson and I go out for a small last hurrah. Middle Child is featuring the spirits of a small distillery that is back from the dead and I’ve invited a few people to come by for it. Two rounds there, a little blurry and off to El Bar. Another round and more folks are going home. My friend Branch and I split off to talk more about a recently deceased mutual. Life is complex and there’s a lot to say about someone who is gone and shouldn’t be.

Ollie is hiding on the left. You can see his feet.