The smell of baking bread is wafting through the house and I can’t think of anything more appealing.
Like many people, my husband has taken to baking bread in earnest. There’s a passion and a purpose now, he’s not just a dilettante. The sour dough starter is bubbling away in the granny flat (it even has its own room) and gets fed as regularly as our faithful dogs.
He’s made bread before, but this time he’s serious.
It all started well before the lockdown. The local baker went bankrupt and the cake shop down the road doesn’t make bread, so he decided that we should make our own. Or rather, that he would make it. I don’t really do anything except eat it.
And what a wonderful decision it’s been. Good for the soul, bad for the waistline, but who cares.
Each loaf probably costs a small fortune compared to supermarket bread. There’s no flour at the grocery store so we are buying 100% organic flour from the speciality food store, but there’s nothing like home baked bread. Your mouth waters in anticipation of that first crunchy bite and I’m sure the love and care that goes into it makes it extra good for you. At least I like to think so.
It makes me wonder what other simple pleasures people are discovering (or re-discovering) in this time of staying in. Apparently the local hardware store is selling out of seedlings as soon as they arrive, and there’s been a resurgence of interest in knitting and other handicrafts. Board games are back in vogue. Next we know, people will be reading more books.
A lot of people are saying that things will never be the same again and maybe that’s a good thing. Teachers, nurses and medical staff are the new heroes. Being kind to one another is obligatory.
My friend Megan has just had her first grandchild. She was able to hold her little granddaughter just once, and now relies on regular updates via social media, but she told me that the new parents have never been so happy. They are both home from work and there are no distractions and no visitors. They can focus on their new baby and on one another. It’s an extraordinary opportunity for them to bond with their child. It makes me wonder whether there will be a new way of thinking about parenting, once this is all over.
I know that you might find this overly positive when many people have lost their jobs or are worried about their physical safety or mental well-being, but I hope that at least for some of you, these weird and unusual times are providing you with the opportunity to reflect on what matters, and how you spend your days.
Keep well and stay safe xxx
Margaret Moon 