Why I Love: Grocery Shopping

IT’S THE ANTICIPATORY PROCESS OF scrawling ingredients on a shopping list. It’s the simple pleasure of browsing a well-stocked and -stacked produce display. It’s the ritual of interacting with the people at the butcher/fish/cheese counters. It’s the Dad-inspired satisfaction of saving a few nickels here and there. It’s the smell of the various aisles — even the one with laundry and dishwashing products. It’s browsing three different stores: Safeway for staples and housekeeping supplies; Sonoma Market for meat and produce; Whole Foods for croissants, frozen fruits and spices. It’s the structure it gives to my days. It’s the triumphant thrill of buying inexpensive house brands or frequent-shopper specials. It’s running into friends (some not seen for years!) and having a leisurely mid-aisle chat. It’s getting there at or before 7 a.m. to avoid the crowds and get the good parking space. (It’s also avoiding the self-checkout lanes in order to help checkers keep their jobs.) It’s ferrying the cloth bags to and from the store, and using the Whole Foods bag at “WoFo,” the Sonoma Market bag at “SoMa,”and the three Point Reyes Bird Observatory bags (it’s a long story) at Safeway. And it’s the quiet joy of unpacking those bags and stocking the fridge, freezer and pantry.