Anthans' Anecdotes: Issue 2: Steamed Glovables

Are you familiar with the story of the mouse that churned milk into butter? It goes like this.

One day in a barn some mice fell into a churn of milk. They all tried to escape from the churn of milk but it was hopeless. All of the mice gave up after fatigue from swimming and perished: all except for one. 


This one mouse was determined to be freed from his milk prison so he continued to persevere. The odds for his survival were slim, but after a while the mouse had kicked enough milk around that he was able to turn it into butter. Eventually the butter became hard enough to be used as a bridge to the top of the milk churn and so the mouse triumphed.


I have a similar story, but mine involves a glove and steamed vegetables. Have a read.

Due to the oo-yuki 大雪 – which litterally translates as "Big Snow" – we've been having in the countryside of Japan lately I decided to take the bus home from work tonight. I caught it from the shopping mall center and rode it with one of my coworkers. As we chatted along the way in Japanese and English I suddenly noticed that I was only wearing one glove on my hands. "I ain't Michael Jackson!" I said out loud. Where's my other glove?!


I scrambled to find my glove all over the bus, but it was nowhere to be found. Boy, am I dumb" I said to myself, but I'm sure everyone on the bus heard me somehow. I got off the bus near my apartment and ran all the way back to the original bus stop from where I was picked up.


A walk that would have ordinarily taken 25 minutes from my apartment to my work took me only about 10 minutes via running-feet. I ran for most of the way because I was determined to be united with my other glove. Having only one glove in a snowy city would be like having one hand in a clapping contest (do they still have those??).


When I arrived at the shopping center I started to retrace my steps, all the way back to the point before my departure. But I didn't need to go that far back in time, because lo and behold, there my lonely glove sat on the cold winter floor just outside the entrance of the store. I held its mate up to my face just to double check if they were indeed a pair. After closer examination I determined that... [beat 1]... [beat 2]... [beat 3]... it was the OTHER glove!


Now that I was back where I started, out of breath, and down ¥190, I decided to make something positive out of this whole inconvenient sitch'ation. 


I had always been wanting to steam vegetables for home cooking; however, I hadn't found the time or convenience to purchase the means to do it. Oh and I was lazy, too. I found a steamer pot for the right price at the department store I was at and decided to buy it on the spot. Afterwards I went to the adjacent supermarket and purchased a potato, a spear of broccoli, and a carrot. After walking all the way back to my apartment in a snowstorm I began to steam the potato and some of the broccoli. When they finished they had an excellent texture and a fresh taste while simultaneously maintaining many of their nutrients. It was a splendid 12:30 AM snack.

And that's how I turned a missing glove into steamed vegetables.


~Anthans