Baguette ends

Locked in, locked down day after day...

It could be depressing, but it isn't. We have our reading, writing, dog, entertainment sources.

Rick and I have tons of internet connections and emails with friends as well as each other and, of course, with Sherlock the dog. We can leave the house on walks with him as long as we don't go over an hour or one kilometer. We cook, clean and sometimes even organize parts of the flat.

The day zips by. Then we can crawl into bed for a cuddle, a read, Netflix, any and all before dropping off to sleep.

I especially enjoy reading the blog of my daughter's school friend's blog from Spain https://spanishviews.blogspot.com and my neighbor's blog https://salleyjrobins.blogspot.com on how they are dealing with the lock downs.

Robin's today brought a special smile. She talked about how her partner brought back a complete baguette. Normally the end would be long gone. He explained his hands were too cold from the wind and rain and he had to keep his hands in his pockets prohibiting breaking off a piece.

When I lived in Boston we would often get baguettes, fresh and crispy from either a Spanish or French bakery. It didn't matter who went: Bill, Susie, Llara or me. The baguette never arrived home without the end.

There was a reason.

Marauding mice would attack the bread carrier. It was Pedro Mouse in the Spanish neighborhood and Pierre mouse in the French. As I looked at the photo, I could almost imagine myself turning the corner on Wigglesworth Street where we lived on a street that would look proper in any London neighborhood.

Once we bought a baguette in the North End, the Italian section of Boston.

Wouldn't you know? Pedro's and Pierre's cousin Luigi lay in wait and that bread did not make it back to Wigglesworth Street in tact.

Memories are lovely things. I realize that Rick and I are making memories too of being locked in.

Sometime in the future we will be sitting at La Noisette remembering when it was closed, when we were the only ones out on rue de la Liberté, when we "talked" with Maria, Robin and so many other friends via the internet.

I will remember it as good days, days we didn't waste bemoaning our forced enclosure, but days that we celebrated what we had and each other.

This does not mean we won't celebrate the end of this period either.