Different sides of the street - which side do you walk?

One of the things I have loved about living in different countries is the writing and books you discover.  America was a classic case, I arrived there in 2002 convinced on the basis of loving Alison Lurie, that I knew all about American writers and of course had my arrogance and naivety immediately blown away by the talent and wonder of Barbara Kingsolver, Wally Lamb, Ann Patchett and Anne Tyler to name just a few contemporary American authors.  I can still remember sitting in the Rye Free Reading Room, reading Wally Lamb’s “I Know This Much Is True.” and just going ‘WOW’.

Likewise Australia has been a delight in terms of introducing me to authors such as Tim Winton, Kate Grenville, Peter Temple and Craig Silvey. 

However it is not just novels that one discovers, great realms of poetry appear, and in America I came back to Robert Frost, via one of the children’s school books, and some of his lines do just stay with me, in particular these lines from “The Road Not Taken”.

“I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

I am a creature of habit, I have walked the same road, every morning at about 6 a.m. with small adjustments for light and downpours, same dog, same route, same coffee stop at Arena’s Deli at 7 a.m. every morning where I nod to the other regulars and then last week I decided to take the road less travelled by, and I walked up the other side of the street and discovered the joy of a new view, a fabulous new bakery that I had never realised existed  - (it’s been there for a least a year apparently so spot the woman with her finger on the pulse) – La Banette, purveyors of baguettes, hot from the oven at that time of the morning, conjuring up the taste of France via Vietnam. 

La Banette

Having decided stepping out of the groove is good for the soul – if not the waistline, (baguette with butter and jam anyone?) I then followed the bakery detour up with a visit to the Night Noodle Markets that set up in Sydney’s Hyde Park during Sydney’s Good Food Month.  Fabulous idea, set up 40 stalls selling every variety of Asian street food, add in chairs and tables, open up at 5pm every night and wait for the masses to roll in.  Colour for the eye, tongue and the all important soul and I am coming to the conclusion I should be setting myself a goal, were it not for the fact that my goal keeping record is pretty abysmal, but anyway one can only aspire - so here goes for a goal.   I should be either a) doing something I’ve never done before, b) reading an new author or c) taking the other side of the road as it were, every week.

Sydney's Night Noodle Markets