"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.'' - Oscar Wilde

Last Friday I discovered that it is nearly impossible to go out to a late supper in Maine. After attending a concert in the city, we wandered for at least an hour - looking for an open restaurant that was not a bar or a club. After an hour we realized that we had no options - nothing was open; we drove home hungry and ate sandwhiches in bed with tea and oranges. It was delicious, but disappointing - we had intended to go out on the town, and we both enjoy late-night dining.

The experience made me wonder about the new attitude towards meal-times. We generally have four in our home: breakfast, lunch, tea, and dinner. Breakfast is early - as we both wake up before dawn - and simple: toast and tea, coffee and oatmeal, fruit and yogurt. Lunch is the meal I generally miss, my husband eats his at work and I often forget. Tea is our new addition, its lovely to have a specific time to refresh the Zakuska fresh food, hot tea, and little things to munch while planning dinner. Sometimes we have a cup of soup at tea, but generally it's just whatever is out for zakuska. We eat dinner late - usually sometime after seven, and when we're not waking early we often eat after nine, so it was suprising when at ten on a Friday night, no decent restaurant was serving. Why are our mealtimes so limited - I'm hoping this is only a local issue, I miss the freedom I remember having, to go to a show and follow it with a long, late dinner, drinks, and conversation.