Speaking of food...The hot & sour soup at the Harvest Moon on Rancho Vistoso road is the best...unless you don't like chewing on someone else's finger nails. Yes, the little pre-Valentine's romantic interlude with my wife of 20 plus years was punctuated by a hard and sharp article of indescribable consistency. I almost used it as an impromptu toothpick before I realised it shouldn't have been in my mouth in the first place. Seems the cook had some down time before the lunch rush and needed to clip his nails in case the health inspector showed up unannounced. Can't have them pesky officials snooping around and finding fault with every little thing - like my other favorite Asian eatery that has the best Dim Sum in town...recently cited for cockroaches breeding on the serving carts. Apart from the exotic flavors and aromas, I find the local ethnic eating establishments to be entertaining as well. Last Saturday the waitress at Carlota's Mexican Diner explained to me in her best Spanglish how her brothers and cousins always go to the Chinese Buffet restaurants and eat all they can - how they get up and walk around to make more room to stuff themselves. Kind of funny but wait till I tell you what happened at the Shanghai Buffet last time we were there. As we prepared to leave we noticed a small but growing commotion around the cash register. A man was gesticulating wildly and as we made our way towards the door we could hear his Speedy Gonzales English contrasting interestingly with the sing-song accent of the oriental host. A beautiful picture of racial harmony it was till we got close enough to understand their words. "Hey man" said the customer, "I could feel the rudeness on the back of my neck". "I know you all were talking about us and took the shrimp away 'cause we are Mexicans and we was eating all of it". Cheech and Chong could not have come up with a better skit. Our sides hurt as we laughed all the way home. Now, whenever anyone here feels slighted by a family member we just say..."I can feel your rudeness on the back of my neck." What do we learn from all this? Well, for one, anger and metaphor don't mix well especially if your speaking an acquired language. And, just be glad that cooked stuff generally can't hurt you...too bad. This painting is as easy on the eyes as hot soup is to the belly. Being offered here on auction.
