The Canister
A bag of grain seeds arrives in Lapwai, Idaho, at eleven at night. It has traveled four hundred miles from a storage facility that's losing its cold, carried by a woman who wasn't sure whether to run the heater. The man receiving it has a dead walk-in cooler and the parts to fix it, but no way to know if the seeds are still alive until he sacrifices some of them to find out. Two people on opposite ends of an unauthorized trade wait for an answer that paper towels on a water heater may or may not provide.
The Canister
A bag of grain seeds arrives in Lapwai, Idaho, at eleven at night. It has traveled four hundred miles from a storage facility that's losing its cold, carried by a woman who wasn't sure whether to run the heater. The man receiving it has a dead walk-in cooler and the parts to fix it, but no way to know if the seeds are still alive until he sacrifices some of them to find out. Two people on opposite ends of an unauthorized trade wait for an answer that paper towels on a water heater may or may not provide.
Minutes of the Saguaro Ranch Estates Homeowners Association Regular Monthly Meeting, October 13, 2035
It's 4:30 in the morning in a Phoenix suburb, October 2035, and the Saguaro Ranch Estates Homeowners Association has a quorum. The backup cooling unit is working. On the agenda: a tree that planted itself and now needs retroactive permission to exist, a noise complaint about a 3:45 a.m. cannonball contest, and shoes coming apart on the walkway. The contract secretary is writing all of it down. She has opinions about all of it. Only one version goes in the official record.
Minutes of the Saguaro Ranch Estates Homeowners Association Regular Monthly Meeting, October 13, 2035
It's 4:30 in the morning in a Phoenix suburb, October 2035, and the Saguaro Ranch Estates Homeowners Association has a quorum. The backup cooling unit is working. On the agenda: a tree that planted itself and now needs retroactive permission to exist, a noise complaint about a 3:45 a.m. cannonball contest, and shoes coming apart on the walkway. The contract secretary is writing all of it down. She has opinions about all of it. Only one version goes in the official record.
The Second Floor
New Orleans, 2034. A grandmother's house was raised after flooding, so her kitchen is on the second floor now, eighteen steps up from the garden where she grows lemongrass and mint. Her granddaughter comes down for a long weekend to learn the family dishes: a spicy beef noodle soup, fried rolls, a dark caramel sauce for braised fish. The grandmother is exact about all of it. The broth has to stay clear. The wrappers can't split. Some of the ingredients have changed, though neither of them says so.
The Second Floor
New Orleans, 2034. A grandmother's house was raised after flooding, so her kitchen is on the second floor now, eighteen steps up from the garden where she grows lemongrass and mint. Her granddaughter comes down for a long weekend to learn the family dishes: a spicy beef noodle soup, fried rolls, a dark caramel sauce for braised fish. The grandmother is exact about all of it. The broth has to stay clear. The wrappers can't split. Some of the ingredients have changed, though neither of them says so.
The Recipe Card
Sweet Potato Bake
- 5 big sweet potatoes from the farm stand on Route 9. Boil till soft.
- 1 stick butter (real butter, not margarine)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup brown sugar, more if the potatoes are dry
- Splash of vanilla. The good kind.
- Pinch of salt
Mash it all together. Put it in the big pan (9 x 13 inches).
Topping: big handful of pecans, chopped small. ½ cup brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, ½ stick butter. Work it with your fingers till it looks like crumbs.
Bake at 350°F till the middle barely wobbles. Don't be stingy. Use plenty.
Nov. 2024. Walnuts. Pecans were $7.99 a pound at Kroger. Same amount. Nobody could tell. —K
Nov. 2029. The stand on Route 9 closed. Sign's still up. Store potatoes run smaller, so it took 8. Told Mom they came from the stand. —K
Nov. 2034. Walnuts again. Half batch, small pan (8 x 8). —L
