Trip to the Corner Store
A Tiny Life Moment of COVID Connecting
The Moment
It was another day of online teaching and chilly winter weather. No one in the house except me. Hours ticking by. No good reason to go outside. I’d already done my 15 kilometers on the exercise bike. Everything at home, all so handy now. So many groceries in the house, I wouldn’t have to put my nose out the door for days if I didn’t want to.
But no. I was missing chips — to use up all the hummus in the fridge. Really? I had to push myself out. Make sure I had my mask. A plastic bag inside my pack, because everything was wet outside the door.
And go stand in line, two meters apart, on the hand-painted hearts that the good folks in our local corner store put on the sidewalk. And wait. Wait. People always have to chat, even while others are waiting… Oh, I was grouchy.
Finally inside, I grabbed my chips, put them on the counter, and realized I’d been caught in the timing of someone’s mid-story; another customer was telling the store-keeper about the time he was making himself an espresso while hiking, and a bear — a BEAR — lumbered into the camp site and SAT ON HIS PILLOW. “As if waiting for his espresso?” I asked. “Exactly,” said the guy.
