A Man of the Tablecloth

Stewart Voegtlin has been hoisted around here on a number of occasions. His writing is ballsy, introspective, straight shooting and damned funny. We have a lot in common. I wish I could say it was our writing but it's more like our waist size and inseam. He did an interview with film maker Joe York for Oxford American Magazine and you can catch it along with some of Joe's short films here. Above, I posted a nice little film about a Thanksgiving squirrel hunt.

I'm not big on squirrel but this takes me back to 1968 and North Carolina. My mother's family'd set out a long table of food in the kitchen every Sunday. They'd cover it with a table cloth and as folks came and went during the day, they'd lift a plaid corner and help themselves to a spoonful of sweet potatoes, slices of cold country ham or, my favorite, a big wet slop of banana pudding.

In Stewart's interview, York explains the connection of food and how it relates us to a place. All of us. Regardless of where we're from. It's a wonderful contrast to sitting in a Starbucks, sucking on a latte, picking at a cardboard scone and reading this on your iPad while ignoring everyone around you.

That's not a criticism. I do it too.  It's just how it is, but it helps to believe that no matter how bad shit gets with increasing isolation in our world,  food is our savior. Instead of kneeling in a pew on a Sunday -- I'd rather lift a table cloth with Voegtlin.