Sunday, May 17, 2009

Week Nineteen / Day One

A trip to the South Melbourne Market

Yesterday, I did some shopping. 

There is a strong "marketplace" presence, here in Melbourne. While there are stores and shopping centers and districts throughout the city; there are two places that are well-known as offering the best in fresh produce, meats, baked goods, processed meats and cheeses, exotic and local oils, sauces, condiments, savories and sweets...PLUS flowers, furniture, clothes, haircuts, massages, tools, hardware, books and records...all surrounded with small cafe's and food stalls.

It doesn't look that way from the outside, but the South Melbourne Market - smaller than the more famous Victoria Markets, though much closer to my home - shelters all of the above and far more under its nondescript and inner wall-free superstructure.

A city block wide and about four blocks long, this place is a cornucopia of condiments, a maelstrom of munchables, a whirlwind of wearables, a..... you get the picture...

From wherever one enters, the aisleways stretch into the distance, lined with stall after packed-to-the-rafters stall of everything from the exotic to the mundane. From shirts or pants that one wouldn't be caught dead wearing to tourist-targeted tschotchkes, then from the most mouth-watering pesto gnocchi to the hottest pepperoncini...

One never knows who's gonna be hangin' around...

Meditation Aids...
Couture...
Books and recordings...
Foods and spices to rival an Egyptian Bazaar...
...and the people are at least as interesting as the wares, on sale...
Fantastic Deli counters, end-on-end...
Probably ten or so, lush seafood counters...

...and, easily twice that many fresh and prepared meat and poultry displays...
...with nearly every conceivable nationality represented....
By the time I got through this aisleway, my hands were full: I had sixteen chicken breasts to bring home and cook for the week (US$44.00 - and the guy threw in a dozen organic eggs just because I'm new in town), a new, handmade laundry hamper (US$15), a stick of old-spice deodorant (US$4 - one can't find Mennen Speed Stick in Australia!), two pounds of pesto gnocchi (US$8 and don't tell my trainer!), and two-dozen long-stemmed Stargazer Lilies (US$18), the first cut flowers I've bought since arrival.
So, I didn't even make it to the produce sections or past the cafe's; something I didn't realize until I began to gather these shots for the blog, this morning. So, just imagine a few mountains of produce, nut shops, bakeries and cafes and multiply all this by about ten and you'll have a sense of this place. 

Now, I'm home; having used my brand-new vacuum and placed the lilies in a big, blue vase. I've begun hanging pictures on my walls - a few at a time. The place looks good, smells good and I feel good as I write this, looking out over the park to the water and sky. 

I know how I'd LIKE to spend the rest of the day... But, as he's in NYC, I think I'll go to the movies...

--------------------------------

One night, last week, I simply couldn't sleep. As I lay in bed, watching the lights outside my window, the litany of cringeworthy moments from my entire life began cycling through my mind. For hours, really, I re-lived scores of moments I'd prefer to have handled differently.

Moments when I may have been too candid with someone, times when I have thoughtlessly hurt or offended, bad decisions made, times when I should have spoken rather than written, times when I should simply have kept my mouth shut, oversights, some egregiously misconceived speeches (I've given some good speeches and presentations...but there are a couple of times I've spoken before audiences, back there, that make me CRINGE!!!). Each time I'd come to a pause in the stream, I'd think, "...that's it, Kile; enough -- what are you doing to yourself..." But, then another awful memory would rear it's embarrassing head.

By dawn, I was ready to go on a wrong-righting quest to seek out the army of people I've hurt or offended in my life and find ways to make it right. There are so many; the sheer magnitude of error I've been able to accumulate in over 50 years is just daunting. 

I have done some good things in my life, and have been able to make positive difference, now and again. But lest I ever start to eyeball any pedestals; I'll have to climb over a mountain of mistake to even get close. 

My psychic has told me that this is my last life: that I will not be returning here, after this one. Although, if we do return to this life to work out mistakes made in past lives; I think I'm due for several more trips through this plane...

Holy Cow.