Footnotes to a Conversation, February 14, 2022
This week’s edition of Footnotes to a Conversation moves from the bathroom to the kitchen to the workplace. But first, I’ve discovered a surprising way to bring a moment of joy into other people’s lives. I went shopping yesterday morning and was delighted to be able to buy a bunch of daffodils. As I walked home along the water, the people who passed me kept smiling and I realized the daffodils in my hand made them happy. Such a simple thing, but a shared love of flowers made the world, at least momentarily, a happier place.
People’s passions can lead them in weird and wonderful directions. Take, for example, a life-sized bathroom made entirely of wool. It’s the details that amuse me the most – the half-full bag of toilet paper rolls, the Dixie cup dispenser, the tube of toothpaste, and the container of cleaner. [CBC]
If you imagined that Worcestershire sauce was a strictly British phenomenon, think again. Salsa inglesa is hugely popular in Mexico and other Latin American countries. As the author says, “It struck me as an interesting anomaly: a brown British condiment holding its own in the land of colourful salsas. Yet it doesn’t feel like an intruder; more like a fully integrated expat.” [Vittles]
I think it’s great that the city of Winchester, UK, has installed a statue of a female Jewish moneylender. Licoricia opened her business in Winchester in 1234 at a time when very few professions were open to Jewish people. The monument is intended “to act as an inspiration to women of today and also promote tolerance and understanding in our society”. [The Guardian]
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West’s Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces. And don’t miss the article about burrowing owls, Vancouver Island marmots, butterflies, and hippos on EcoFriendly West.
