A night out and about town

Last night we went walking around our nearby town. We parked by the landmark nursery, which features an upscale garden furniture store, and an expresso cafe that also serves fine wine. We followed Lisa through endless aisles of plants, looking for an aloe vera plant. I had an insect bite on my hand that was itching furiously, and Lisa wanted to show me the effectiveness of the aloe, which we found near the succulents.
This plant does not look medicinal at all to me, unless you live on the surface of Mars. It's a fleshy monstrosity with sharp spikes all over it. Little shop of horrors, eat your heart out!

Lisa broke off a stem (commiting us to buying the plant), and squeezed it out on my hand. The itchiness stopped immediately. I was impressed. We left the nursery with the plant to take home and plant in our garden.


We continued our walk to the local Thai restaurant, where we sat and ordered dinner. Common meals in our intentional community tend to be a little on the bland side. The cooks try to cater for most existing community lifestyles/allergies/preferences. This usually means a chicken dish with very little salt, and a vegetarian option on the side. So when we go out, you can't blame us for craving brightly flavored and spiced foods.

We started dinner with Tom Ka Gai soup, made from coconut milk, lemon grass, and ginger. We shared a Crying Tiger salad, with strips of marinated steak, and finished with a Panang curry over rice. By sharing all three dishes and drinking the excellent tap water, we were able to have an extravagant dinner for three for less than twenty dollars.

We finished the evening at one of our five local Starbucks, flagrantly buying fancy coffees with the money we had saved at dinner. This was a so-called theme Starbucks, with a fireplace and overstuffed chairs. We pushed the chairs together in front of the fireplace, then cuddled up with a good game of Cranium, provided free by Starbucks. We'll present the most interesting game question to you below --

What is concealed inside the Matterhorn mountain in Disneyland? Pick one of the four below.

a) An abominable snowman museum.
b) Walt Disney's frozen body.
c) A gourmet restaurant.
d) A basketball court.

Turn your computer upside down! The answer is d) a basketball court.