Days like today make for writer’s block.
Rain, housecleaning, laundry, room painting projects and errands didn’t provide any exciting or interesting fodder for discussion or comment. Productive, but flat and uneventful.
I did accomplish a long list of errands and felt good about tackling the list when I got home. That is until I realized I skipped five items on my grocery list. Instead of jumping back in the car, I decided to brave the wind, rain and blustery weather and walk the five blocks to our nearest market to pick up the forgotten groceries. Other than my three fingers on my left hand freezing because they are not in the cast I’m sporting and because I can’t wear a glove or put my hand in my pocket because of the same cast (thank you squirrels), the trip to the store was just a stroll in wild weather.
At the market I grabbed the five items I needed and headed toward the front of the store. I was stopped in my tracks by this sign posted in the meat department:
Just when I thought my day was ho-hum, lo and behold a sign of intrigue.
The first line is Russian, the third line is Slavic and English is the fourth line. What language is the second line? Or are the second and third line together?
Once I appreciated the diversity of my neighborhood, I paused to reflect on the sign’s message. Hog casing, defined, are the cleaned small intestine of a hog used to make sausage. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to know or think about what hot dogs are made out of, what sausages are cased in or any related fine print. Make something delicious and eat it, let’s not discuss point of origin.
Yet here, right in my face, at my local market, hog casings are available. Not only was this sign the high point of my day, it was also the low point. As I’m checking out the languages on the handmade sign, getting the willies over the topic at hand, a part of my brain goes right into action and starts thinking that I should make some summer sausage. At this moment, I want to slap myself in the face. Not only do I have enough projects to keep me busy for quite some time (with deadlines quickly approaching), I do not need to be planning ways to use or eat hog casing.
I took the photo, checked out and walked home. No squirrels, no additional injuries.
My husband was sleeping on the couch having snoring wars with the dog asleep on the floor when I got home. The boys were absorbed in video games. No one had interest in my photo or my story.
That’s what I love about this blog, my stories get told and just maybe, someone (like you) is reading. Thank you. Hog casing?
PS – This was my first post that had no detectable writing errors found by wordpress. Fistpump.
multi-hyphenated-me 