This weekend I found myself jilted for an appointment and subsequently had time to kill in Henderson, the town next to Vegas, which, when my parents were growing up, was nicknamed Hooterville, on account of the rednecks that densely populated the city, but has now come to be all gentrified and now calls itself Green Valley, even though the envelopes still need to be labeled Henderson in order to get to anyone of import.
Aaaaanyway, there I was, poking around the Trader Joe’s in Henderson. Trader Joe’s is great, decently priced, and NOWHERE near my house. I took advantage of my jilted-ness and relished the thought of visiting a Trader Joe’s that happened to be right across the street from where I happened to be on Sunday. I was thinking to myself: “Hey- (I often start my inner monologues with interjections, I don’t know why.) Susan lives in Henderson, and shops at Trader Joe’s. I wonder if she’s here. That would be cool if she were.”
I haven’t seen Susan in the flesh in a long time, although I read her blog every day. I enjoy her company, though, and STILL haven’t been invited over to see her new (now old) kitchen countertops. Ahem.
So I’m padding around the aisles at TJs, and I find a can of tofu-studded organic, free range, fair trade, hormone-free, massaged daily chili. I catch myself thinking “Hey – I remember that Susan said that she makes tofu dogs and veggie chili from Trader Joe’s stuff. Gee, I miss Susan. I wonder what she’s up to.”
Susan wasn’t in the store, but it would have been cool if she were. But Susan, if you’re reading this, a can of hippie chili made me think of you this weekend.