Pleasures

Well there is Marrakesh and all of the associated sentient triggers there. Sounds, textures, and colors in the souks. Those great kilim and other colorful textiles house slippers that seem like just the right things when you are there—only to get them home and declare “now where the hell will I ever wear these things again”. And the smells…some not so good and most others really great.

But there was also Skeets Barbecue near Darlington South Carolina. Their sweet tea that after my being gone from the South for over twenty-five years throws me into a diabetic swirl after one glass. But the vinegar based barbecue cuts that filmy sugar right out of your mouth. Nice.

Then of course there’s boiled peanuts and my mother’s homemade sourdough bread fresh out of the oven. Hot. With my aunt Kat’s plum preserves comingled with melted butter. And there was Tant’s in Birmingham Alabama and cocktails and red meat at Rule’s on Maiden Lane in London—preferably in the room upstairs—the private one where Bertie, Prince of Wales entertained his paramour Lily Langtry.

A Kir Royale or a French 75 in Paris after traipsing through Musee Carnivalet. And dinner at Le Grand Colbert is appealing again, too. Now since the booth that Jack Nicholson and Dianne Keaton occupied during the filming of Something’s Gotta Give has been requested over the last decade by a thousand tourists and thus thankfully the crowds have moderated. Roast chicken there but also chicken from a roadside stand on a dodgy side street in San Juan—eaten without utensils and washed down with a cold beer. All while standing.

Maybe I’ll wear my funny house slippers…maybe a different one on each foot. Then I’ll be like a Marrakesh bazaar. You won’t know what to look at first.