Ritual

My husband and I use to live next to the Granville Island Public market, rarely a day would go by that we did not visit for one reason or another. For work, for play, for school for shopping it was our Island, we use to joke about not leaving the "Island". So when we moved a away a couple of years ago, we were like fish out of water and did not settle into a new home for a  good long time (7 moves in fact). 

There are so many rituals, even our mundane daily chores that we call routines are rituals.... We do them in a certain order, at the same time, with ritualistic objects (brushing our teeth comes to mind, we do it for hygiene, for beautification, we use a toothbrush and toothpaste at a ceramic basin and in front of a mirror)... So every Week (usually Wednesday) I make it a ritual to go to Granville Island and get my weekly ingredients plus all the makings for Pizza on friday nights. 


Even the way I move through the market is ritual. First I go to Terra Breads and get my weeks worth of biscotti for my ritualistic morning latte.  Then other various baked goods- one loaf of sour dough bread, and two orange shortbread cookies; the two short bread cookies are bribery- I use then to distract the twins and allow me to shop. Then to Oyama Sausage Co. for 100g finocchiona salami, various snacking cheeses (The Farmhouse's St George is a favourite) and a few gyulai, for my husband's lunch (that he never eats but I buy anyway because he asks for them week after week). Then onto Duso's to get fresh mozzarella. If I am lucky and depending on season I go to Garden Back to Eden Organic for my tomatoes and basil.


When I am done I pack my groceries into the car, drive away from my place of sanctuary and say good-bye to the "Island" for another week.


Photo by me.