“Hey, I was thinking about you last night!”
Steve is the barista at the nearby coffee shop, “The Global Local”. Steve and Zoe have managed to keep their business going, but have had to layoff staff. EE and I have made their coffee an essential part of our essential grocery shopping forays- it is essential for a number of reasons. Steve is also a pastry chef and some of his pies, muffins, banana bread and my fav a Rhubarb and Apple tart— Gluten Free of course—can turn a good morning into a great morning.
“So,” I asked, “What bought that on?”
“I was watching Chicken Run on the tv last night and thought of you trying to sneak out of the village to drop by for a coffee.” “Have you thought about building an aeroplane?”
It’s stuff like that which builds up a feeling of community, even if in a small way. In a similar fashion EE and I have been sticking close to the local shops and helping to keep them running. Small it might be, but hopefully, we are as they say, “all in it together”.
The Global Local has been a regular weekend midmorning meeting place for a number of our village friends, and it would not be unusual for about a dozen or so to be enjoying, the food, the drink, and the camaraderie of joyful conversation.
So while we all do our doona-hermit thing, there are little glimpses of a life beyond the reality of the moment.
Sitting alone, sipping Steve’s best Cappuccino, I turned to another distraction. Henry Thoreau’s account of two years living at Walden Pond, Walden
I suspect that many of the baby boomers at one time or another read or at least glanced through the book. In my notebook I came across a quote on his work, ““Walden, after all, is a kind of how-to guide, a self-help book for aspiring eremites”, I am regrettably not to sure of the source.
I also suspect that for most readers, his aspiration, he was after all one the early ‘transcendentalists” , hard line would be too much to pursue for a long time. (although, truth be told, I do/did know of a number over the years that threw an attempt at it.) And I also suspect that re-reading it over the years that only the ‘highlights’ were taken on board, and the more difficult thoughts were either misunderstood or ignored, again I speak from experience. 🙂
One quote that was underlined early in my copy is this quote:
I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle-dove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travelers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who have heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.
A mystical, if not metaphorical account. It seems our hounds, horses and doves have indeed flown for the moment. There is talk of what it will take to bring our world back. Perhaps Thoreau was right, we are not the only ones searching for what seems to be lost.
Don’t blame Steve, or his coffee, I managed this all by myself on a cold blustery day.
Good luck to all my fellow doona-hermits and may peace come on healing wings.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Such a beautiful shot of the dove, and as always, an interesting reflection.
Your quote about Walden is from an article by Jeet Heer in The New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/147528/delusions-trump-era-escapism
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Hi Eleanor, clever you, I’d not have thought to look for it online. I must have seen, written a note, intending to go back, and missed it.
I just checkd, but, I’m sure that is not the article I read, but its got its own memorable quotes.
Kathryn Schultz is a treat. “a fantasy about rustic life divorced from the reality of living in the woods, and, especially, a fantasy about escaping the entanglements and responsibilities of living among other people.”
I think the mystic of living in a house you made and growing your own food, and scorning the workers around is the ‘dream’ that most bought into from the book. His reality however as I was later to discover was quite different.
The best bit in the book for me was his description of the Loons calling on the lake, It wasn’t until I saw Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda, in “On Golden Pond”, that I actually saw and heard Loons. 🙂
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You are welcome. Loons are such lovely birds, and that call is unforgettable. I saw them in Canada, a great many years ago now.
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Lovely photo David and interesting thoughts. Great you can support your locals. We had a walk today in the beautiful winter sun under blue sky. It was so good, and again saw more people in the park than ever, as they tried to get out, and because the National Parks now closed everyone is making the most of what there is. We met several friends from the past and chatted at a distance, while family after family and dog after dog passed us. We went in the middle of the day to avoid people, and I think they did the same. Even the birds were hiding as they had not seen so many at one time, and we still don’t know where they have gone. Such a great vibe David that your local cafe is a place that you can enjoy and recommend. That is something I miss having come from the country and lived in small towns having built a house and farmed my food. Sadly the dream had a price to it and did not turn out the way envisaged, but it was an achievement and a challenge that was accomplished to a point. Now as a city dweller for some 8 years, I do miss that aspect. Thanks for sharing it gave me a good buzz. 🙂
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Hi Ashley, good to know you had a bit of fine weather, we’ve had good weather to stay at home and make some nice hot soup!
Looks like we’ll be local for at least another 4 weeks according to the latest bulletin. I was hoping that we might get a little relief and some of the chance to move about, even if only a little, would give us access to a couple of areas.
Still, better not to stress the system.
I had several, mostly citified people that thought the cabin in the wilderness would be the way to go, seems simple when you skim read Walden, the practicalities however as you were not part of the dream, and time came to move on. On other side, a country family, close relative, made such a move and have been able, because of understanding the land, now been at it for nigh on 30 years. Much to be learned I fear.
I’ve always tried to support local business, where its practical. In this e-day and age, some of the online services also have great service and dependable.
So back to my doona for another 4 weeks.
Stay well, keep walking, and enjoying those great days out.
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Good to hear that Steve is managing to keep going, our ‘local’ on the Old Geelong Rd. strip is doing the same, they are fortunate they had built quite a reputation in the few short months since they opened. It would be wonderful to be self sufficient – is it really still possible in this day and age? Do we still possess the skills to do so? I guess the current situation is raising many questions in a lot of minds. It will be good when we see an easing of restrictions, even some clarification would be nice. Case in point, a man posed the question on the radio this morning as to something he wanted to do, which sounded quite reasonable. They station then contacted police – who advised contacting health authorities. They in turn suggested contacting police!Any way, enough rambling from me. I will go back to peering out the window or sitting on the balcony to see if any birds pass by!
Stay well.
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G,day,
Ha!, and I don’t even like coffee, Steve usually has some remarkable mixes of tea that I can ponder over a pot. But tea in a takeaway cup. Not likely.
I am beginning to think the restrictions are to give them some control over the lunatic fringe, which seems to be growing by the hour. 🙂 I think reasonable people doing reasonable things. Such as driving to the local part to walk by themselves, would not incur the wrath that seems to be made such fuss of by the ‘fear news’. But, I don’t want to be the one to try it all out.
I didn’t hear the talkback show, but have heard from someone else that they had not had any luck clarifying things. Reminds me of the old dictionary definition:
Intelligence: See Acumen
Acumen: See Intelligence
🙂
Remain.
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