Treats to beat the heat
Everybody had the same idea at the same time: refreshment. This afternoon just at five, business sudenly picked up for La Paletera, at Congress and Riverside. Having indulged in oh so many melons of all types for weeks now, we didn’t place the fruit cups high on the list. As we sat consuming our frozen-fruit treats on a stick, people began appearing all at once: four young European tourists, a Spanish-speaking family with a young child, some students from the School for the Deaf, and several young people in tennis duds.
The lime-juice paleta is no replacement for the Manhattan-brand lime paleta that H-E-B used to stock. It was delicious, but not so tart as my old favorite. La Paleta doesn’t trust to the natural pale color found in old-fashioned paletas. Both the lime and the pineapple varieties, though made with fresh juice and pulp, were tricked out in pretty lurid colors. All varieties sampled were tasty and very intense in flavor, since they were made more of fruit and less of plain water.
Although the prickly-pear growing atop the stone wall on the grounds is prominent for those passing in buses and private vehicles, there’s more to the landscaping than that. Islands amidst the parking lot are bermed and have water-sparing vegetation growing from tall metal pillars. Today’s standout visual treats on the ground were clumps of very fancy and large rain-lilies. A sign credits The Earth Company as the landscape designer.