Pursuing my favorite oxymoron

Late Wednesday afternoon, I went looking for Fabian and forgot to bring along my checkbook. It was one of those days: Thank goodness I [almost] always carry my camera everywhere I go.

My quarry was not the guy from Philadelphia who made his film debut in "Hound Dog Man," but the guy who's been putting his name on the side of white trucks for decades.

For many years, I've driven past those white trucks parked with "Fabian Seafood Company: Fresh Shrimp, Never Frozen" banners on the side and wondered what the story was – why the trucks always seemed to be surrounded by long lines of people, even though they were often parked in slightly out of the way places. Fresh shrimp? This is Wisconsin: Roadside produce stands I know and understand. But fresh shrimp in the heart of America's Dairyland?

I never had time to stop and ask questions, because every time I saw one of the trucks, I had something else to do – and as far as I could tell, they didn't hang around long or visit Madison all that often. What was the story?

A few months ago, I stumbled upon the web site for Fabian Seafood ("a small family business based in Galveston, Texas") and learned I could add my name to a mailing list so I'd have advance notice about when the white trucks full of fresh shrimp would arrive in Madison. So I added my name to the list. Three postcard notifications later, I finally found time to pay a visit.

It was about 5 p.m. when I arrived at Steve's Liquor on University Avenue. The white truck had apparently broken down in Minnesota and had been temporarily been replaced with a U-Haul vehicle that wasn't white. Nonetheless, it was contained a lot of scrumptious-looking fresh shrimp. The prices were good, the lines weren't long, and I'd left my checkbook on the kitchen counter.

But I had my camera and even though there were no Fabians along for the ride this time, I took some photos of the guys who were running the show. George pulled on his huge rubber gloves, hauled some jumbo shrimp out of a cooler full of ice, and put them on a scale so I could photograph them. Steve took a minute off from collecting money (cash or checks only, no credit cards), to show me the seafood enhancers they also sell, such as Zatarain's Crab Boil and Old Bay Seasoning. Things started to get busy again, so I snapped a couple more photos, jotted down names, and, and vowed to be more organized the next time Fabian Seafood visited Madison because I want to savor some of those shrimp.

I'll get a postcard in the mail announcing the next shrimp sale, but I've also posted one of my photos on the refrigerator (right next one of the kid's art projects and a batch of magnets from defunct local businesses). I'm not going to forget to take my checkbook along the next time a truck full of my favorite oxymoron pays a visit to Madison.