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| Buttermilk Fine Waffles: Day and Night, 330 17th Avenue, SW. I waffled, and ended up ordering the basic butter-and-syrup...it was good, but...... |
Another hot weekend morning, and I have no intention of
making my own breakfast.
So I know I’m
going to go out for a bite…but where to go? I’m having a hard time deciding.
I know that there are a couple of fantastic exhibits on at
the city’s Glenbow Museum. One is called “North of Ordinary”, and it’s
an exhibit of photos taken by the husband-and-wife team of Geraldine and
Douglas Moodie of life in the far north; the catch is these images were taken
more than 110 years ago (and I later discover they are absolutely amazing).
The second, equally powerful exhibit is a project curated by
Cree artist Kent Monkman. It’s called
“Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience”.
It was commissioned as part of #Canada150 celebrations; it’s broken into
nine distinct chapters that portray the path the Indigenous people of Canada
have had to walk for the past 300 years or so (since European explorers started
to visit and eventually colonize, this part of the world). It’s uncomfortable, sad, shocking, and
sometimes even amusing, in an awkward sort of way (for me, at least). It’s certainly something people should take
the time to see, and it’s a travelling exhibit, so if it comes to a space near
you, try to catch it.
I figure I might as well walk over in the direction of the
Glenbow, which is probably a 20 minute stroll at most, and I’m sure I’ll find a
place for a bite on my way. I’m thinking breakfast or brunch, but should I have
eggs and bacon or an omelette, pancakes or some other sweet treat? I’m really not sure.
Still undecided, with the visuals of breakfast platters spread out on the Formica of a diner table rolling around in my head, I cross 4th Street, SW. Just east, I pass a place called Buttermilk Fine Waffles, Day and Night.
That'll work.
It’s a pretty simple place: a couple dozen tables that have
that Ikea look to them, a counter where a diner orders a meal from the board
overhead, and then the waffle-makers’ station, where you can watch the orders
being made (if you like); I don’t necessarily care to, but I do notice an order
being made that looks fabulous—A layer of ham already covering the top of a
crispy, brown waffle, the cook sprinkling some white cheese on the
surface (Gouda, Emmental, cheddar? I
dunno; doesn’t matter...it just looks great).
I’m sure it’s headed for the broiler and as I step up to the counter,
I’m really conflicted.
I had my mind set on ordering a waffle, plain and simple,
but now I see this savoury creation, and I just don’t know what I want.
Could it be…am I waffling over waffles?
The thought strikes me here.
Have I been waffling all morning….or even longer than that?
I end up ordering the plain waffle with my standard (with
sweet breakfasts) container of milk and a cup of coffee. It comes just like that, a waffle on a plate,
melted butter and syrup on it and the lightest dusting of powdered sugar. It’s fine, but over before I know it. Yes, I
was still thinking about the possibility of the ham and cheese, but I'm full, so it's good.
As I head off to the Glenbow, I'm still thinking about
waffling, but I'm pretty sure I don't waffle for the rest of the day: I saw the exhibits, took the
train down to a mall, got my eyebrows
waxed, hit a big box hardware store for a light bulb, and another big box for
some cat litter(isn't my life exciting??); took the train back downtown and the bus to the apartment…and
when asked by my dear friend Myrna to join her family for a barbeque out in the
foothills, I didn't take long to say yes right away—it was great, btw).
So when I got home from Myrna’s gathering, I looked up the
word, used as a verb:
In North America, to waffle means “a failure to make up
one’s mind”. I’d like to think it was
only the choice of breakfast with which I was struggling. But I suppose most of
us waffle a lot of the time, over a lot of things.
In UK English, the definition is different: "to speak or write, especially at great length, without saying anything important or useful."
And with that, I shall end today's entry, and leave you to decide which way I waffled today.
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