Escape!
My first physical emergence into the wider
world! Well, I drove to Lidl a couple of
kilometres from my home for our weekly shop and then drove back again. As Toni has done this previously, I have to
admit that I was mildly excited by the prospect of finally getting out of the
house and environs for the first time in three weeks!
The reality of my journey was, of course,
an anti-climax. I drove along virtually
empty roads to a virtually empty Lidl car park, just as I used to find each day
as I cycled to the pool for my early morning swim in the ‘old days’ of just
under a month ago!
Gloved and masked I marched towards the
shopping trollies to find out that I had no change – when was the last time
that I used money as cash? Luckily there
was a Lidl employee at the entrance and she went to a till and found me a
plastic token and emphasised that I could keep it, and it is now safely lodged
in my wallet where I will probably forget that I have it the next time I find
myself without change, but still, a little gesture makes all the difference to
a shopping expedition!
At the entry to Lidl was a person who
demanded that all shoppers first use the hand sanitizer and then glove-up
before they were allowed to go in. As I
was already wearing gloves I had to sanitize and the liquid stayed damp on the
plastic for a damn sight longer that it did on flesh. But, who could quarrel with this basic form
of hygiene and it did emphasise a level of concern that one could only hope was
carried on into the store itself by the shoppers.
People did keep their distance and there
was an obvious wariness about Others, as the best form of protection is to
assume that everyone you meet and see is positive for the virus.
To my utter horror there was no Cheddar
cheese in the dairy section. I
specifically went to Lidl because they have a 15-month matured Cheddar at a
cost that matches that in Britain and without the premium that decent Cheddar
has elsewhere in Catalonia – if you can get it.
I was able to compensate with a few other cheeses, but Gouda and
Emmental hardly match Cheddar for taste, texture and versatility. How I suffer.
The other main reason for my going to Lidl
is their range of nuts and the prices they charge. I did not trust Toni to understand the
quantity and variety of nuts that I demand for everyday use and rather than
explain and justify it was so much easier to go myself!
I got virtually everything that we had
decided was essential and the only things that I failed to find were radishes
and soya sprouts – no great loss, either of those.
On the more than positive side, for the
first time in Lidl I found sugar free ice creams and sugar free biscuits – and
for the sake of my sanity, I understand ‘no added sugars’ to be synonymous with
‘sugar free’ because, yes.
We are now set for the next week with only
fresh bread for Toni being an on-going concern.
We do have a bakery near us and Toni goes there every couple of days and
brings back a little treat with the baguettes.
Going
shopping did not push my steps up to the minimum that my unrelenting smart
watch demands, and by the time that we had put everything that I bought
away. We were both exhausted. Let me explain. Toni is a stickler for the correct procedures
so we therefore wiped each and every item before we put it away. As it was a ‘major’ shop, it took a lot of
time, with my being accused of being slip shod in my wiping. God give me strength! Anyway, at the end of the putting away, going
for a walk to make up my steps lost out badly to having a decent cup of tea and
then one thing led to another and suddenly it was night, and therefore time for
me to work on the poem ideas for PIHW Poem 2.
And that is what I need to get on with
now. PIHW Poem 1 is on
smrnewpoems.blogspot.com and by tomorrow morning I hope that it will be joined
by Poem 2.
Work to do!
