Sidewalk Scenes March 2025
*** Sunday Brunch 2025 Recipes Coming Up on April 11th *** Bear’s Garlic Season in Full Swing *** New ‘Grains of Truth’ Report Available *** Closing in on the First Edition of 2025 *** Two New Episodes of Salty & Cara: Plant Light District 3+4 ***
*** Next post on Friday April 11th *** No post on Friday April 18th ***
Here’s the Outlook:
- The Sunday Brunch 2025 recipes are coming up on April 11th. This time my dear friend Dawn from California is contributing a delicious recipe to the brunch. Be sure to try it.
- In the northern hemisphere, bear’s garlic (also known as Bärlauch, ramps or ramsons) season is in full swing. Get a bite of this healthy spring food. For more background, see my post [‘Who’s Seen the Bear?’] from last March.
- The new Grains of Truth 2024 report by EAT and GlobeScan (see eatforum.org and globescan.com) has recently been released. EAT is a non-profit organization based in Oslo, Sweden, and their vision is to help build a “fair and sustainable global food system for healthy people and planet – leaving no one behind”. They also launched the Planetary Health Diet, which I mentioned in the additional [InfoByteSized] info with my post [‘Think Oval’].
- As this quarter is coming to an end, we will take a short break. As usual. The next post will be on the second Friday in April (April 11th). There will also be some technical and design improvements to the site. So there might be a short break at the beginning of April. And as you know by now, I am also offline for the holidays. So no posts over the Easter weekend. I need some time to prepare and share this year’s Sunday Brunch with friends and family (recipe coming on April 11th) 😉
- Below are two new episodes of Salty & Cara. A double feature and my holiday treat for you. As always: A juicy fable set in a world inhabited by fruits and vegetables. Love and crime uncooked, but served hot. Don’t know, what’s cooking? Check [Salty & Cara Info Page, Overview and Table of Contents]
By Mag M. Schaper
Salty & Cara – Plant Light District 3
Fourth story, third episode: Cara is in a real tight spot. Can she get out?
A Kind of Honor
Cara was still assessing her options when she saw three figures drop out of the shadows.
A melodious voice sounded, strangely unexpected: “You must excuse us, Lady Mabola. But it seems we have a contract to kill you.”
” Yeah, kill you. Huray yihihi. We’re gonna smash you. Juice you good …. “
Another refined voice, considerably deeper this time, interrupted the tirade: “Yes, Smasher, I think she got it by now.” A handsome and well-dressed Kiwi stepped into the dim streetlight and bowed: “I am so sorry to have to eliminate a member of the royal court of Big Valley, Milady. But unfortunately, this is what pays my way these days. I assume you won’t hold any grudges.” And with that, he made a quick, elegant, but dangerously sharp move in Cara’s direction.
Then everything went from slow motion to fast forward. A hand came out of the shade and pulled Cara back behind a wall. “Stay here,” the owner of the hand commanded, and a cloaked figure slid out onto the square beside her. “Wow, if it isn’t the famous Mincing Five. What an honor. I take it you are here as well, Lady Sue and Lord Veggiano?”
The shadows did not answer, but the three attackers now began to move around the masked figure. They made various moves in his direction, brandishing various weapons, but he never let them get close.
After a short while, another voice came from the darkness, aged and with an unpleasant piercing quality: “Step aside, you fools. You cannot touch him. But I can.” And after the big eggplant in a dark gray robe had stepped into the circle with the other three retreating, he added: “Let’s see what he’s taught him.”
The fight was fast and furious, but no single blow managed to do much damage. Then the Aubergine drew a sword.
The masked figure sighed and reached behind him to retrieve two blades. He began to set them in motion. A swishing sound like an upcoming wind arose and turned into a loud roar. Then the second blade began to move and the fighter was soon covered by a shimmering sphere that looked like a translucent mirror of water.
“Woah, what’s that? I want one of those,” the small figure who had been addressed as Smasher asked.
No one paid him any attention. The large eggplant stepped back from the fight, bowed deeply, and turned to leave. “Let’s go.”
“You’re not going to fight him, Cutter? Isn’t that your job? You could fight him, couldn’t you? You could even beat him, right?” a female voice demanded to know.
The eggplant ignored her and walked on with a determined stride.
“He will not fight him because he knows Vegetarian Martial Arts,” the Kiwi explained. “It’s a code. They do not fight each other.”
“He not only ‘knows’ Vegetarian martial arts, he is a Master. And Vegetarian Masters do not fight each other.”
“How you know he’s a master? Could be an intern…”
“You stupid vegetable! I know he was a Master because he could do the Ball of Sighs. When you master this technique, you automatically become a Vegetarian Master. And there are no students who would fight with a Master. Because a student is either always accompanied by his Master, or he is dead.”
“Dead?”
“Yes, dead. When you become the apprentice of a Vegetarian Master, you either succeed or he has to kill you to fulfill the code.”
“Well, if it is all so honorable, you could have asked him who he is working for.”
“A Vegetarian Master cannot be employed by anyone. A Vegetarian Master chooses his missions carefully. If the cause is not a just one, he must kill those who have betrayed him, and he cannot take on any more tasks for a long time, for he must meditate until he fully understands the nature of his error.”
“Are there any female Vegetarian Masters?”
The arrogant aubergine fell silent, then answered in a much lower voice: “There were ….”
Back in the square, Cara ventured out from behind the wall where she had been sheltered from the battle. The masked figure was about to remove his cloak and turned to her with a friendly smile: “Hello Cara. Glad I was in town.”
It was Joe Bas, Hanano’s trusted friend and former colleague in Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Cara was still upset that she had been fooled so easily. She started to form an answer, but then she just ran over to Joe and hugged him.
“Wow, this is the welcome I was hoping for. And by the way: Quentin sends his regards. I’m afraid I can’t pass along the kiss he sent as well.”
Cara had already composed herself a bit: “Well, you could kiss me, but then I would have to kill you.”
They both burst out laughing.
“Let’s get out of here,” the burly banana suggested, “you never know what might be lurking around these corners.
“I am so sorry to have to eliminate a member of the royal court of Big Valley, Milady. But unfortunately, this is what pays my way these days. I assume you won’t hold any grudges.”
Salty & Cara – Plant Light District 4
Fourth story, fourth episode: Unexpected help has arrived. But also some strange guests.
Never Trust Unexpected Gifts
“Uncle Joe!” Beta exclaimed, running to the sturdy banana who hugged her, picked her up, and swung her around lightly as if she were still a small fruit.
“Why is she calling him ‘uncle’?” Cara wanted to know, “They obviously cannot be related.”
“They have known each other for some time now, since Beta has been working with Hanano for quite a while. Not officially of course.” Alpha had a concentrated look on his face.
“Does Joe have a mate?”
“No, not really. He has traveled a lot, you know.” He still seemed to be carefully monitoring the pear and banana’s interaction with each other, laughing a lot.
“I see,” Cara could imagine the life of a secret agent, but somehow she did not feel like getting into the details now that her lover was in the same business.
They gathered in the central room of the apartment and had just sat down for some nourishment and an update on the day’s events when suddenly the entry signal chimed.
“Again?” Alpha stood up and carefully opened the door.
When he came back, he was carrying a box and had a very determined look on his face. “I think we should destroy this immediately. After what you just told us, it probably contains some kind of lethal mechanism. We should do it right away.”
“If you think this is a bomb, why did you carry it in the first place?” the box replied. “I think we may have been delivered to the wrong space, Pete. There is no intelligent life down here.”
The box began to open itself from the inside, a small knife cutting along the tape lines until it finally flapped open. Inside were a small berry and a large ant.
Both the berry and the ant were wearing the Ant Society’s standard short-sleeved overalls. Only in the case of the berry, the top was cut like a fancy vest. He wore a hat with it and had an open coat over his arm on one side. And he looked adorable.
Beta gasped and ran into another room where she burst out laughing. Then you could hear a few deep breaths and she kept muttering ‘distant cousin, distant cousin’ as she came back into the room with the others. There she managed to keep her composure even as the berry fell over trying to climb out of the box. The ant simply bent down on all six legs and quickly climbed up the sides until he reached the table where Alpha had placed the strange delivery.
“A little help here … ? The berry glared at the bystanders impatiently.
Cara finally picked up a small plate and offered it to the berry to put him out of his misery. Then she spoke to the berry in a friendly tone: “Good day, sir. My name is Cara Mabola. You are an interpreter, are you not? What’s your name, and to what do we owe the honor of your visit?”
Beta knew Cara well enough to see that she was teasing the berry, but she was still impressed. Of course, the berry would be an interpreter. Aronias were the only enlightened fruit among the berries. They were quite intelligent and had a talent for figuring out language systems. That was why they were often used as interpreters. Her father had one in his service. And of course the Ant Society did too. The question was: What were an ant interpreter and an engineering ant doing in their home in Turnip Town? They usually stayed up and around the Anthill Towers.
“I know what you are wondering,” said the aronia, casting an angry glance at Beta, “why would an ant interpreter and an engineering ant be caught in Turnip Town? Especially under these circumstances?” And then he turned to Cara and bowed: “Excuse me, milady, where are my manners? My name is Lano Kasimir Carpa. And this is Pete. One of the finest engineers Anthill has ever seen.”
The ant made some noises and a pungent scent filled the air.
“I am sorry, my friend. You are the chief engineer of a group of amazing inventors.”
More noises and another less aggressive smell.
“You’re right, old pal. We are in a hurry. And someone is trying to kill us. So this could get dangerous.”
Joe came forward, took a chair, and leaned down a little so that he was almost at the same level as the aronia and the ant on the table.
“My name is Joe Bas. I work with Sir Lanceolato. And we are glad that you made it here. You are safe now. And we are going to get you out of here. Don’t worry. Have you got the plans with you?”
The ant got down on all six again and crawled back into the box, from which he retrieved another box, smaller than the transport vehicle, but still of considerable size. Being an ant, he had no trouble getting the object, which was much larger than himself, out of the box and placing it on the table in front of Joe.
“The plans for the core are in there. Also some new plans for additional units to improve the interfaces with Turnip Town’s infrastructure system. We were on our way to meet Rocko Ourbeck. He thought meeting during the festival would be safe because everyone would be distracted. Unfortunately, that part turned out to be only partially true,” Lano explained.
Pete made a series of staccato sounds.
“By the time we heard about the murder and left our hotel, someone had already broken into the place. So we got into a messenger office and sent ourselves here.”
“How did you know this address?” Alpha inquired cautiously.
“Rocko Ourbeck gave it to us. He said, ‘If things go sideways, go there.’ I guess you could say things did go sideways. He was such a nice guy. And he was going to give us money for the invention so that we – the group of engineers and me as their representative – could start our own business here in Turnip Town. Anthill gets a little annoying after a while.”
More sharp noises, a sudden movement and a sour smell from the ant.
“Yes, they also do not let you make use of your own intellectual property. That means whatever brilliant idea you come up with, they exploit it as their own and you never see an extra Swallowtail flying your way.”
Joe nodded, “Yes, I know. Rocko Ourbeck also informed us of the transaction. The team we sent here was found dead just before the parade started. I managed to sneak in through the old tunnels, but I was too late. Still, there is a plan for how to proceed. After we get you out of here. Which has already been arranged. We just need a distraction to get those five freaks off your back.”
“I might be able to help with that.” Cara smiled.
“I think we should destroy this immediately. After what you just told us, it probably contains some kind of lethal mechanism. We should do it right away.”
“If you think this is a bomb, why did you carry it in the first place?” the box replied. “I think we may have been delivered to the wrong space, Pete. There is no intelligent life down here.”
Side Notes:
- Aronia berries are a member of the large botanical family of roses. So are pears and apples. Look at the buds and blossoms and you will see the resemblance. This is what Beta is referring to when she is having a laugh about the cute berry.
- The ‘Ball of Sighs’ has already been introduced in the mountain battle between Hanano and the thugs accompanying Gio when he escaped [Salty & Cara – Purple Peak 4: When the Winds Rise]. And yes, as you may have guessed: Hanano is not only Joe Bas’ friend and former boss as a secret agent, but he also taught him the Vegetarian Martial Arts as his master. Joe is retired now, but Hanano – due to the fact that he ages very slowly – can still do the moves just as well as his formerly younger colleague.
- You want to know, what happens next? You’ ll find out at the end of April in the ‘Sidewalk Scenes’ (last post of the month).
- You have no idea what is going on? Well, maybe take a look at the [Salty and Cara – Info Page], the [Salty and Cara – Who is Who] page or the [Salty and Cara – How About] page.
Needless to say, the stories about Salty and Cara are pure figments of my imagination. No resemblance to any person or place – present or past – is intended. But I am sure you have already figured that out 😉