It was bigger than usual with goods spread from the sidewalk out front, along the driveway and into part of the backyard. On the little back porch, people were standing in line. I asked the fellow in front of me if this was the line to pay. Yes, he said, but it turned out he was mistaken. The sellers had roped off this area because of the jewelry. Rings were popular. In the back, one of the sellers confided that she recently lost ten lbs on a diet that removed inflammatory foods.

Finally, it was my turn. Ignoring the jewelry, I went for the masks arranged among the vintage gloves and hats. This week, I’m posing bears again. They generally sit fairly still.

I try not to stare at my fellow shoppers and the interesting combinations of food they buy. A few sidelong glances sufficed Saturday at Trader Joe’s (again). The gentleman in front of me was very wide through the middle with average size arms and legs. He was clutching three bags of the guilt-free potato chips in one hand, two jars of almond butter in the other. Then he offered his profile. If you recall the Nowhere Man from Yellow Submarine, this man was the almost-but-not-quite morbidly obese version.

After about three weeks on the South Beach, I’m coming unglued and easing back into carbs here and there. Not a lot, but some. I have energy!

One of the items I looked forward to as a snack was almond butter. Once you get the hang of natural nut butter, it’s nice to know there’s only one ingredient: nuts. However good for me the almond butter was, nutritionally speaking, it was unsalted and very bland. Even though I stored it in the fridge in the approved manner, i.e. upside down, the solids still managed to part company with the oils, and I sometimes had a gob of stuff to coax back to the creamy stage. Given the choice between that and the usual sugar-free popsicle, I made the obvious choice (can’t eat cheese and cheese-related items on the diet).

Three weeks without sugar will sharpen your taste buds. I bought some sunflower seed butter at Trader Joe’s last weekend, and was surprised at the sweetness. The ingredient list contains evaporated cane juice. Very tasty.