Morning Social Exchanges

Today is an amazingly beautiful day in England.  It is cool and very sunny and the birds are singing.  It feels like spring in January.  I've actually moved my laptop to the dining room window to soak in the warmth and Vitamin D.

The walk up to the school was nice; Anna and I warmed Michael's hands in ours at his request.  As usual, there was a string of "Morning!"s to various families we passed.  I like the way "Good Morning" is said with the "Good" assumed and just the melodic, "Moh-neeng!"  Anna and I have somewhat perfected the greeting like locals, not really on purpose, it just sort of comes out that way.  Anyhow, the kids and I chatted about having burgers tonight after I saw a Jamie Oliver cooking show.  Had a nice chat with a couple of mums at the school gates, one of whom recommended Centre Parcs for log cabin-style, amenity filled camping.  (My type of camping).

After stopping home, I walked down the little path and to the local convenience shop and butcher shop for burger ingredients and some basics.  The owner of the convenience store is always a delight to chat with.  As I shopped, we chatted about his weekend with family biking in Thurstaston, whether shops like this exist in America, the beauty of village life, the role of the EU/France in influencing people to work less.  I also asked him about Alpen (a muesli)  and he highly recommended the no added sugar, so I went with that.

I popped over to Fred the butcher's and was greeted by Fred himself and an older man buying some meat.  I asked for mince beef for 4 generous sized burgers and the other customer looked over and smiled, "You know his portions are always generous" and Fred said, "Just like me all the way around" (gesturing to his portly stature).  He talked briefly about Christmas and his wife having a bad cold and I relayed that I had that for over a month.  I love that shop because it feels like Trumpton or Postman Pat.   It's tiny, old fashioned, little exchanges, smiles, laughs.  While buying the mince, I also picked up a head of lettuce, 1 tomato and 2 apples.  The man after me had 1 carrot on the counter.  Very simple, just what you need, no waste.

I didn't stop in the Village Shop to get the newspaper today because I'm off to help in Michael's class soon, but that would also typically be a warm exchange.  The kids and I ran into a mum and friend from the school there after school on Wednesday which launched into a nice conversation.  We also saw a friend of the girls' pull up in a car with his grandma.  The grandma parked and left him in the car while she ran into a shop which seemed so 1950's and not of the modern age.  But this is the town we live in.

In short, village life is really lovely.  It feels good for the soul.