I see the large bin every time I enter the market.
It is always filled with brown paper bags.
Each bag is quite full and stapled shut.
On the front of the bag, there is a label that says, Food Pantry.

I see the bin each week but never thought much about it.
Until one week, I noticed bags on top of the ice freezers at the end of the checkout line.
There were the same brown paper bags lined up in a row.
Each of the bags, stapled shut, had the same label as those in the bin.

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I heard the exchange as I waited.
What do you say to the lady for giving you a piece of cheese? The mom asked.
Thank you, the little boy said in a sing-song kind of voice.
I think you can do better than that, the mom suggested.

THANK YOU, the little boy said with confidence and volume.
You are very welcome, the person behind the deli counter answered.
That was very good; it is important to say thank you, the mother reminded him.
The mother handed him his little toy as he sat in the shopping cart.

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I attend a Bible study on Wednesday evenings.
It is an eight week study.
I was asked to lead a small group of women.
It is a privilege to be together while being socially distanced.

I usually don’t have many reasons to go out on a weeknight with any regularity.
However, for another two weeks, my Wednesday nights will be spent this way.
It is a strange time during this Covid season.
It is all the more reason to try to be together safely.

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I saw the mother and son as they came into the store.
I was waiting in line at the customer service desk.
Standing on the circles, placed six-feet apart, our line weaved in a strange curve.
We needed to make room for employees carrying returned items back to the store floor.

We also had to make room for anyone who needed to use the restrooms.
Such was the case with this mother and son.
They came into the store and made a beeline to the bathrooms.
The little boy was probably about four-years-old.

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The women in our neighborhood of twenty-four houses have a conversation text thread.
I started the thread so that we can communicate easily with each other.
The text thread may be used to ask a question.
It may be used to share information about trash pickup or other important matters.

Now that each women has the thread on her phone, anyone can initiate a conversation.
The most recent question was about Halloween.
No one was sure what our township was doing about Trick or Treating.
No one was sure about the township’s Covid protocol for that night.

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It was always a treat to go shopping with my mother.
A shopping excursion took us to a department store.
Malls were not even thought of yet.
The department store had many levels, which you reached by escalator or elevator.

Many department stores had a restaurant on the top floor.
We would get dressed up and make a day of it.
If we went into the city, we would meet my aunt for lunch as well.
Some women wore hats and gloves; men wore suits.

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It used to be an empty field.
It was the field where hot air balloons would often launch.
It was so lovely to see the open space.
Houses were built along one side, but even they seemed to compliment the bucolic scene.

An old barn and a stone house can be found in an area around the empty field.
Quaint little country shops can be found around the corner.
An historic church is across the street.
This field is in the center of the small town.

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I had to mail a package.
I went to my little country post office.
I always appreciate that long lines are nonexistent.
I am usually in and out very quickly.

This day, a woman was in front of me.
She was carrying a large box that she wanted to mail.
She lifted the box up on the counter.
The plexiglass made placement of the box a bit awkward.

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I was walking in the parking lot.
A woman was coming towards me.
We both had our masks on, so our smiles were not apparent.
We passed each other.

Good morning, she said to me.
Good morning, I answered back.
As I passed her, I thought more about her greeting.
Thank you for saying that under your mask; it made my morning, I told her.

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My daughter-in-love decided to watch a movie.
She and my son and my granddaughter have been with us for the past few days.
She wanted to watch Disney’s, Lion King.
It was a bit of nostalgia with songs that she loves.

They are a musical family.
Their music tastes are wonderfully varied.
I trust my son for music suggestions.
I have many of his playlists saved in my library.

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