Cats & Dogs

During my market days, it is rare that I see a cat. Occasionally someone might have one in a stroller, every now and again, one on a leash, and the oddest sight I've seen is an owner walking around with a cat on his shoulder. Dogs, now that's altogether a different breed. Oh my, the dogs come out! Little ones and big ones, those in "clothes" and those without, huge pit bulls, and tiny dancers. Oh, wait make that dachshunds! Saturday, a fellow came into my tent with the tinest Yorkie trotting alongside him. Although he looked just like Baxter, he weighs six pounds less!

Note just how large his hand looks on the four pound dog! He weighs less than a bag of flour! So, a lady comes up with a Siberian Husky wanting to know if the wee one likes other dogs.

You can well imagine the guys response! Turns out he was the dog sitter for a professional athlete traveling in Europe, giving him all the more reason to protect his charge! What I've come to discover is that many dog owners are completely oblivious to others. Not all mind you, but plenty of them. I wish someone could remind me just how this dog craze got started. There was a time, not so long ago, when dogs were kept in back yards, played with by the children and, horror of all horrors, slept in a dog house! Apparently dog houses have gone the way of snail mail?

On Sunday, a man was walking a dog so big I was tempted to call it a Shetland Pony. How about this for a size difference?

The one is so big a person could get run over by it, whereas the other is so small someone could step on it! Because I snuck this photo in while chatting with folks in my booth, I did not have the opportunity to discover just what kind of dog stands probably 4 feet tall. The summer crowds are thin enough that neither probably would happen, but just wait until the Fall when the crowds are so thick it is hard to walk! Speaking of which, I'm now in counting weeks mode, as in how many left of the heat. We're at 10 right now. Weeks just seems easier than months....

Cats, on the other hand, are the domain of residential driveways and sidewalks. At one time we had a darling little kitty who looked just like this one:

This black kitty in the same driveway, rather than run from me, just seemed to want to stare me down.

On a street near my home, I came across this older Siamese chilling in the driveway before the sun got too bright.

My parents Siamese, "Boy" got browner and browner as the years passed. That was a good cat, so good that, when my Father was found dead on the floor in their house, Boy was curled up on him as if to protect him. Now, that's a bittersweet memory.

Just this morning I came across this pretty kitty:

There is no mistaking the blue eyes of a Siamese, even though this cat looks like there's a little something else mixed in. Do you think there will come a time soon when more people insist on taking their cats everywhere? Which reminds me of something I forgot to tell you about the tiny Yorkie. The fellow told me he has been taking "Capone" everywhere, including all stores where he tells the management that Capone is a "service dog." Make them stop!!!

During the great recipe clear out I put together a notebook of vegan recipes, including this new one I tried late last week which was SO GOOD, I was sure you would want to try it for yourself. Spaghettini with Garlic and Lemon was easy and fantastic. Have I led you wrong in the past? Do not delay as I'm pretty sure you've got all the ingredients on hand. Ignore the three fork review, it deserves four! Appearing in Gourmet magazine in 2001, it sat in my cupboard far too long without a trial.

It seems as if my June sales funk has eased a bit. I need not tell you that is a relief! Saturday the humidity was so horrible I was dying! Sunday was fine with no rain. Because I have my wind machine with me on Sundays, I set it on high and forget all about the high temperature outside my tent.

Matt posted a link to a series of photos taken on the London tube for over thirty years from one photographer. It got me thinking I have my own series going what with the thousands of market photos I've taken over the last six years. Here's one of my favorites from Sunday:

Taken at Winter Garden on Saturday, the baby's expression is priceless!

The American flag hangs from the British food truck:

No people in this one, but there's something about these less than perfect tomatoes in this basket that I like:

Dana spends less and less time at the market, leaving most of the managing to her son Cole, who does a fantastic job. Just the same, she visited for a little while yesterday, and while we were chatting, she said it seemed slow. I had to disagree with her; frankly I was surprised at the amount of people braving the heat. All this has got me to thinking about going back in time on my market photos to see how things have progressed. I'd say more than we can rightly remember without photographic evidence. Isn't photography wonderful? As with most things in life we take it for granted. I was telling someone yesterday that if I live another twenty years I will probably never again get some of the shots I have been fortunate enough to take. I, for one, LOVE it, and folks seem to sense that when they are chatting with me. They claim I am passionate. Can you believe it?