Day 297

my favorite coffee shop in fernie is the organic market. after a long standing, objective appreciation for the three i frequent, the organic market has just pulled out in front.

i went in with no greater expectations than good coffee, reading, and interacting with the chil people who work and own the shop. always a good vibe. the owner cindy had just gotten a vintage chrome mixer to add to the collection of antique food equipment that decorates the shop. she asked me what i thought of the mixer and, as far as mixers go, i figured it was one of the best i'd ever seen. somehow, it reminded me of my grandma's kitchen. her husband, scott, came out from around back and pointed out that it had been made in chicago. nice. i think my grandma eugenia had one of those.

darkness was filling the valley and i watched an indian couple come into the place. the man had a turban and traditional pointed beard. the woman chattered in awe of the decorations of the place but soon it became obvious that she was interested in far more than decorations. they were looking to purchase property and open an indian restaurant in fernie. apparently they already have one in north east calgary and they pointedly asked the owners of the market about business and such. the man looked around the shop as well, speaking not nearly as much as the woman, and came over to my table. we said hello and he asked me about the town and i asked him about himself.

he said he' come over to canada in 1990 and i quietly realized that this was probably the first indian i've really met. he told me a bit about punjab and went back to the counter and ordered three cappuccinos, letting cindy know that the third was for joe.

the woman whom we was with told me that she wished she had time to sit by the window in this coffee shop and read a book in a mountain town like this. "i can tell that you are at peace. i can see it in your face." i wholeheartedly agreed.

the indian couple left and the owners and i continued to chat. sixties radio plays none stop and the beatles were jangling at the moment. apparently there's ten thousand acres in california that will go unseeded of tomatoes this sumer due to draught. they told me about how their organic market and farm had come to be. we talked about localization of food purchasing and how most people don't even think about where their food comes from.

some consumers try to buy food within a one hundred mile radius of production in order to support local growers. i sat by the window and realized that, between this market and, laughably, the convenience store next to our house, i buy most of my food within a one hundred foot radius and which only expands up to a half mile in order to go to one of the two main grocery stores in town.