Start Day Minus 1: Retrieving the Blue Frog

In April, Chip came to California and bought a car for me. He loves to buy cars and I do not. He negotiated storage of the car at the dealership, Rydell Chevrolet of Northridge, with Maurice "Mo" Crumby, Senior Sales Consultant. Chip came home to Maine pretty happy with the whole transaction.

Tuesday, July 16, Laura, Sarah, and I went to Rydell to retrieve the car. Mo, a really nice person, is dedicated to customer service. (See him attaching the Maine plates to the car.) He spent a lot of time explaining the features of the car, like the dashboard readouts and the special sticker that lets drivers of 0 emission cars like this Chevy Spark drive in the fast lanes, as well as the Sirius Radio and the On-Star Driving and Road Side (Emergency) support, and we talked about the long drive and life in general. Then Mo gave me the key and we shook hands. I adjusted the seat as far forward as it would go, and we drove off.

We went across town, Laura and I in the Blue Frog and Sarah in her car, to The Grove at Farmer's Market.

When I was a kid in 1960's and 70's, this place was simply the Farmer's Market. As I remember it, we went there only once a year, so my sister and I really looked forward to the visit. It was, and is, a collection of separate shops under heavy canvas green and white stripped awnings, surrounded by a cram of rickety metal chairs and tables. Each shop sells a speciality food (Chinese, Mexican, Jewish deli - these were exotic things to us in the 70's) or market items, like fruits, meats, and miles of sausage. When I was a kid, I always ate the pressed Peking duck from the Chinese stand. In a candy store, a machine pulled taffy. It was fascinating, mesmerizing to watch but I do not remember ever eating any.

I still love the place. I am so glad the developers who updated it did not rip out all the historic parts. Instead, they added a high end shopping area, shi-shi and a bit Disney-esque, next to the old section. Then they actually did a lot to spruce up the original market space without apparently changing it in any way. The peculiar charm lives on.

Laura said going to the Farmers Market was something she especially wanted to do in LA. Warms my heart...