~ 
Tom White - March 15, 2024
photo by Styrous®
I brought and used the hat Tom's wearing in the photo with me when I took his ashes to Menorca a month ago.
On most Friday's Tom and I would go to the farmer's market in Old Oakland. He loved going through the stalls to select the produce that was in season at the moment and planning how and what he would cook with it. What ever it might happen to be, it was always a knock-out!
I spent last Friday going to the market as a remembrance homage to Tom and those lovely peaceful times I'll never forget.
A place we would always go to on those lovely days was Cafe 817 run by Scott and Emily. Tom thought it was the closest thing to actually being in Europe. Unfortunately, they got hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and they never really got back on their feet and closed on November 11, 2023. Both Cafe 817 and Tom are gone now. There's a sushi bar where the cafe was . . .
. . . but the tree in front is still there.
I looked for any of the people we had known at the market but only saw two. The produce stand run by Lupe was being tended by her daughter who had taken over when Lupe was ill a few years back.
I saw the woman who sold our wedding rings to us but she was busy whenever I stopped so I didn't get a chance to say hello to her.
I stopped by the flower stand, Tom's very favorite stall at the market. I would have bought some flowers but they didn't have white ones; Tom loved white flowers, lilies, begonias, paper whites. etc., so I didn't buy any.
The tree across from the stand is still doing well.
The market looks pretty much the way it always has . . .
The old Swan's's building now houses several food vendors of meat, fish, even cupcakes and a couple of restaurants.
it was a gorgeous day. . .
. . . of course, shot myself by accident . . .
My cousin Anita and I had lunch at La Guerrera’s Kitchen for some delicious Mexican food which included horchata . . .
The tree in front of Swan's is doing quite well
Although it's not the same anymore (what is?) we stopped for a coffee at Ratto's Deli trying to get our Cafe 817 fix.
Parking for the market is a BITCH, to say the least, so, Tom would wait for me on a bench while I brought the car to the corner at the entrance.
jAll in all, it was with very wonderful memories relived with a mixture of bittter-sweet and sad feelings I felt.
I have no doubt Tom was quite happy with the event!
Happy shopping, Tom!
Net links:
Lowney Architecture ~ Swan's Market
Net Archive ~ Oakland: Dark Star in an Expanding Universe
Oakland Side ~ Cafe 817 closing
Youtube links:
Styrous® ~ Friday, October 10, 2026
Market
