Spotlight on Crepuscular Meadows: Julia LIndstrom, cook extraordinaire
Created | Updated Jul 2, 2020
Julia Lindstrom, dining room employee at Clematis Station
In the later years of its life as a railway station, a really first-rate landscape gardener had planted Clematis along the exterior of the place. Not just two or three plants, but a lot of them. Eventually, the station closed altogether, and the developers began planning for its metamorphosis into a gated community where elderly folks would be living. Lots and lots of elderly folks. naturally, the station wasn't nearly big enough to house all of them, but the station was kept intact as an entryway into the much bigger building where there would be apartments and condos. The clematis was left unscathed. Indeed, more clematis was planted around the other buildings, and it took over as it had before.
As you passed through the entryway, you found yourself with a reading room on the left and the front desk on the right. Straight ahead you could see an elegant dining room. Sometimes it was full of white-haired residents who seemed to be enjoying the food, with a bit of conversation thrown in. Appearances were not deceiving. The residents *loved* the food here.
And a major part of the reason for this was Julia Lindstrom, a second-generation Swedish-American. You can be forgiven for thinking that she was named after Julia Child, but actually her parents were enthusiastic about ancient Roman history and mores.
Lots of women in the Julius Caesar family were named Julia. Maybe the Lindstroms were descended from that family. Or maybe not. Julia was a pretty name in any event.
Her name was pretty, but some people would not call her pretty. Unlike the stereotype of thing, blonde Swedish women, Julia was short, fat, and dark-haired, with gray highlights that befitted a woman in her early fifties. She could be called handsome, though, and her smile was her best feature.
Today was meatloaf day. Wait, meatloaf you say? Why would that be something the residents looked forward to? Well, there's meatloaf and then there's meatloaf. To take the example of one celebrity chef, such as Paul Prudhomme, a generous mix of the right spices can turn meatloaf into gourmet fare. Julia didn't use Prudhomme's exact spice mix, but she was aware of it, and had managed to improve on it if anything.
It was a quarter to five. People were already taking seats in the dining room. Stosh, who did most of the heavy lifting in the kitchen, had arrived fifteen minutes late, but had caught up nicely by now. Stosh is short for Stanislaw, and Stosh was indeed mostly Polish-American. Stosh was tall, thin, blond, and a favorite of many a white-haired resident.
Just goes to show that it's not wise to stereotype people...
In the later years of its life as a railway station, a really first-rate landscape gardener had planted Clematis along the exterior of the place. Not just two or three plants, but a lot of them. Eventually, the station closed altogether, and the developers began planning for its metamorphosis into a gated community where elderly folks would be living. Lots and lots of elderly folks. naturally, the station wasn't nearly big enough to house all of them, but the station was kept intact as an entryway into the much bigger building where there would be apartments and condos. The clematis was left unscathed. Indeed, more clematis was planted around the other buildings, and it took over as it had before.
As you passed through the entryway, you found yourself with a reading room on the left and the front desk on the right. Straight ahead you could see an elegant dining room. Sometimes it was full of white-haired residents who seemed to be enjoying the food, with a bit of conversation thrown in. Appearances were not deceiving. The residents *loved* the food here.
And a major part of the reason for this was Julia Lindstrom, a second-generation Swedish-American. You can be forgiven for thinking that she was named after Julia Child, but actually her parents were enthusiastic about ancient Roman history and mores.
Lots of women in the Julius Caesar family were named Julia. Maybe the Lindstroms were descended from that family. Or maybe not. Julia was a pretty name in any event.
Her name was pretty, but some people would not call her pretty. Unlike the stereotype of thing, blonde Swedish women, Julia was short, fat, and dark-haired, with gray highlights that befitted a woman in her early fifties. She could be called handsome, though, and her smile was her best feature.
Today was meatloaf day. Wait, meatloaf you say? Why would that be something the residents looked forward to? Well, there's meatloaf and then there's meatloaf. To take the example of one celebrity chef, such as Paul Prudhomme, a generous mix of the right spices can turn meatloaf into gourmet fare. Julia didn't use Prudhomme's exact spice mix, but she was aware of it, and had managed to improve on it if anything.
It was a quarter to five. People were already taking seats in the dining room. Stosh, who did most of the heavy lifting in the kitchen, had arrived fifteen minutes late, but had caught up nicely by now. Stosh is short for Stanislaw, and Stosh was indeed mostly Polish-American. Stosh was tall, thin, blond, and a favorite of many a white-haired resident.
Just goes to show that it's not wise to stereotype people...
