Country Times: Spiders, Shiso Chicken, Garden

After McCrossens I took Mr. Ass up on his invitation to dinner in the country. When I arrived my car's headlights illuminated this giant spider and spider web. This is a web that, were you to run into it, would easily span one's torso or - even more horrifying - one's face and shoulders. Guh.

I like that spiders eat bugs, but I do not care for running into their webs unannounced. I was just thinking about how if I had a kid I would teach him or her to always walk in the woods with a stick. A stick you should be rhythmically be swinging in front of you in order to prevent any full face to web (or  scrambling spider!) contact. I find it makes the woods far more enjoyable.

Mr Ass. whipped up a tasty meal of grilled chicken, some of which were wrapped in shiso leaves from the garden. Fresh corn was also enjoyed. We ended up going to New Hope for a taste of its nightlife. It's strange there. New Hope is this bustling center of such a strange sprawling country-ish area with plenty of relatively affluent  (and non affluent) folks gather. You'll see bearded men greying beards, leather jackets and blonde lady friends mount their motorcycles and ride off with a growl. You'll also see equally older men with well dressed girlfriends slide into their fancy convertible sport cars and drive off with a vroom. Also in attendance will be a wide range of other folk. A man in academic gown stalking the streets and reeking of weed. Lesbians - butch and femme and all between- asking others if they can pet their dogs. Dogs, happily panting at the end of leashes enjoying the attention of strangers smoking outside bars. Dudes wearing dress shirts and party jeans with wide shoulders, gelled hair and a hit of fake tanner. Bearded buddies dressed down and shooting the shit. I saw one group of women all of whom were very thin and very very short and tight dresses; the kind of dress with missing sleeves and sexy necklines. They looked great, but I just couldn't understand New Hope as a place where one would want or need to dress up in such a fashion. I think this may be out of touch.

The next morning I got up earlier than I strictly meant to but had important life errands to run. Mainly taking care of my car's need for changed oil. This was something I had put off for more time than I'd like to discuss. But before I left I did take a little perusal of the garden in daylight/

Asparagus jungle.