Monday, May 03, 2010

Corn and Gyro c/o Earth Day at Centennial Park

Nashville celebrated Earth Day on the 17th, or the Saturday before the 22nd, whichever one makes chronological sense. This celebration was held at Centennial Park, which was very close by the hospital at which my mother was residing. When the lunch time hour came around I went on over to have a look. There were a number of farm stands and booths on display, but staying at a hotel with no kitchen led me to shy away from produce and meat envy. In other words, I did not go and touch what they were selling. I did, however, take a walk along the main food stall area, observing what was offered before deciding on what I would actually eat (funnel cake you tempted me greatly). There were towering stacks of fresh fried potato chips...I passed. And huge drumsticks for those who wanted to feel like they were at a Renaissance fair...I did not want to feel that way.
But roasted corn? Oh man did I want some of that action, even though where the corn came from is clearly going against the whole point of Earth Day. I found it funny how much of the food made no effort to be at all sustainable. I mean, am I crazy? Could they have local corn in late April? I really don't think so, which means it was shipped some crazy long distance just to be eaten at an event purportedly geared towards everything that is not agri-business. I don't know enough to be knowledgeable about this sort of thing, but I do know just enough to be righteous about it.
That said, I bought an ear of corn and sprinkled parmesan cheese and old bay spices on it...would have been so much better if they had mayo and limes but, alas, they did not. Hypocrisy!
Still a little hungry, I stopped and ordered a gyro pita from the Greek restaurant stand. It was unwieldy and overstuffed, but I would prefer my food generous to withholding. Just like I like my men. Ha. Ha. No, it's true.
It's strange, the dichotomy of my time in Nashville. While I continue to have little interest in discussing the recent and important events of my life in any detail, it must be clear to those of you who read the blog regularly (or know me in real life) that the whole reason that I'm in Nashville is rather serious. And yet here I am: still eating, still making the jokes, still providing my half-assed commentary on food that no one really cares about. The fact that I'm almost two weeks behind my real life is also interesting. Even if it is only through meals, I get just the tiniest bit of reflection and insight on the events that I cover here, which I might have otherwise missed. I have long considered this blog a sort of place holder for larger, more expansive and smart-fancy-pantsy writing projects. But perhaps it is fine for them to simply be the markers. Will I get rich and famous? No. Will the blog ever become anything more than what it is right now? Probably not. But I find great comfort in its chronicles. Of course I do, it's my life. This will end the philosophical part, and the entirety, of this post.

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