Thai Sisters

Today...was a great day...

I tried sea kayaking for the first time ever and had the most wonderful time! I loved being in the ocean, getting hit by waves, being covered in salt. We saw three bald eagles up close. I took a little disposable film camera with me in the kayak (remember those?!) and I haven't gotten the pics developed yet.

After the trip, the guide, a local, recommended I go see the Thai Sisters. The Thai Sisters run a "restaurant" of sorts. On Thursdays and Fridays only, they rent out a kitchen basement in a little hole in the wall, out the way place that only the island locals know about. It's not listed, and there's no sign. But there are cars lining both sides of the dirt road...It sounded just perfect to me. I sat at a counter all by myself and watched a team of 5 people, led by the 2 Thai Sisters run the fastest moving, most seamless, kitchen I have ever seen - preparing dinner for just about every local on the island it seemed. I had the best seat in the house - right over all the pots cooking on the stove. This woman, the main cook, was just amazing to watch. She cooked everything from scratch, used her ladle to dip quickly into different stocks and seasonings, and pour herself a taste of every meal before she served it - just to be sure. She never stopped moving. I asked if she minded if I photographed her and she was very pleased - she said she felt like she was on tv. Sure, I could have frozen her motion with the camera - but it wouldn't be the same as it was to watch in real life.

It made me think that if sometimes, just a bit more often, we could watch people who loved what they were doing prepare our meals for us, we would appreciate it all the more.