I snipped the basil from L.’s backyard garden and it was already wilting by the time L. snatched the bouquet from my hands and plunged it into a glass of water. Thing about actual fresh non-wax-sealed vegetables is that you have to eat them fast or they go bad. Who knew! After a fruitful trip to the Fairway, L. set up a plate of caprese, poured beers into a pair of frosty mugs, and we ate in front of a movie on the television. It was a little Italian for such a go-go-America day, I’ll admit. But L. made a flag cake for later, so that compensates a bit for this salute to our Italian immigrant heritage.