Turkey sandwich and a soft serv swirl cone

I finished the end of my turkey sandwich just as the train pulled into the aquarium stop and applauded my good, full timing. I hustled out and after some dithering at the admissions counter over the 4D Planet Earth show combo value ticket (Do you want the total experience? asked the woman at the counter. The answer was yes.) I hurried in and grabbed a soft serv cone at the snack bar to eat while watching the walrus feeding. Unlike me, these second-largest pinnapeds eat 70 pounds of fish a day.

 

Veggie burger, chips, and a cup of chocolate ice cream

We rounded the corner after dropping off B.’s cap and gown  and practically ran right smack into Ashford of Ashford & Simpson. Thank you so much for everything I said as I grabbed his hand and shook it really hard. I’m not sure what I meant by everything–he’d mostly just stood up and smiled while receiving his honorary degree. (Flashback: The time I met Cesar Chavez and took his hand and looked into his eyes and said, I love you. Jesus. What is wrong with me?) Dizzy with the pleasures of commencement, my hand newly touched by Nickolas Ashford’s hand, I wandered over to one of the hamburger and hot dog stations and loaded up, joining B., P., and our Dean at a table to eat fast so we could turn the table over to a hovering graduate-plus-extended-family group. B. nabbed us a couple dishes of chocolate ice cream so I ate that too, wandering out to watch the celebratory steel drum band, great day, great day.

 

Faux turkey and cheese sandwich, a banana, and an ice cream cookie sandwich

I met MBWF (turkey and coleslaw on a roll) at the entrance of the park and we walked in looking for a dappled spot where we could sit down, lay out our spreads, and catch up on a month of lunches. We had much to chatter on about but kept getting distracted by a pair making SoapNet-quality public love about thirty yards from us. I’d start to get something meaningful and reflective about life as I’m coming to know it out from around my sandwich and we’d both be afflicted by suddenly dropped jaws. Squeezing and rubbing and disappearing hands! Get a room! When we couldn’t stand it anymore we packed up our garbage and strolled along the reservoir, stopping at a cart to pick up a couple of ice cream cookie sandwiches, wandering around and looking at dogs and watching the rest of the city moving through the green space on this deservedly beautiful day.

 

Spicy chickpeas over rice, plus ice cream

Laundry in the dryer, a whole entire paragraph spewed onto a Word file, and J.’s meditations on Wall-E in mind, I broke for lunch. I ate my reheated chickpeas while watching more and more Olympics: women’s doubles badminton and men’s individual archery, both totally emotional gold medal rounds. Archery is apparently a sport you can play wearing mirrored sunglasses and a popped collar, making it a prime contender to join golf and thoroughbred racing as a site of my indulgent fantasies of extreme wealth. And then I ate ice cream directly out of the pint with a spoon while flat on my back on the couch until the clock on the dryer ran out.

 

A taco and ice cream

When I got to the fountain, C. came running toward me saying, “I am so happy today! I am so happy it is summer, I am so happy to be outside, and I am so happy to see you! I want a milkshake!” Who could say no to that? I needed something savory first so we hung a right and I grabbed a rice-and-bean taco and ate it on the bench outside while listening to C.’s gently South African-inflected talk of all the cooking he’s been doing lately–tuh-MAH-toes, collie-flower, bah-sil. Then we walked over to Union and I got a scoop of chocolate and peanut butter and C. got a chocolate shake and we each finished before we even got to the playground. We sat down anyway on a bench in the shade and watched a black plastic bag carve arcs like a kite up in the air and made plans for brunch in August sometime. He’s going to make these Georgian walnut-and-cauliflower omelettes he just discovered, and I’ll go ahead and try them.

 

Pizza and ice cream

On our way into the Cross County parking lot to try slices at the newly-reopened Pizza Mania, we passed the Haagen-Dasz and struck a deal that if we each had one slice, we could have ice cream too. So we each had a white slice with spinach (vegetable!) and then scoops in cups, me with the brownies and cream, MBWF the belgian chocolate chocolate. Since we were already at the mall there was nothing to do but walk over to the Macy’s and look at rack after rack of handbags. While we were grazing, the Man Behind the Curtain was revealed–a manager announced the storewide savings on a little handheld device just steps away from us, his voice reverbing because we were so close. On our way back to the car we were drawn to the toy store by an outdoor display of battery powered stuffed dogs chuffing and barking in tight circles along with a pink snorting pig. They come in boxes with the disturbingly adult proclamation, My leash is also a remote control!