I’m having difficulty resolving in my own mind precisely what happened today. It isn’t as though we were terribly busy or that we engaged in anything especially excitable or inordinately distracting, but nonetheless I find myself reeling. I’ve apparently lost my balance. Something has broadsided me and I’m not quite certain what.
By way of explanation it would I suppose be safe to say we hadn’t an agenda in mind for today other than ensuring the vacation of our residence before the cleaning lady materialized. This is standard protocol. When therefore we collected ourselves sufficiently to withdraw from the apartment and install ourselves in the automobile for departure everything to that point was in customary order.
Quickly however matters began to deteriorate. It may have been that the weather was partly to blame. The morning sunshine was giving way to what we casually characterized as an ominous sky. The external map was clouding our collective mind at the same tempo. In an instant our enthusiasm for wandering abroad carefree on a brilliant day altered to a greatly tempered reconsideration of the distance and anticipated delay before we might put on the luncheon nosebag. Granted our adventure was temporarily detoured by a functional visit to the local pharmacy for our annual flu shot but that couldn’t have been the sole source of our maturing consternation. A radical element had insinuated itself into our otherwise implacable affairs.
Having regained the automobile after complimenting ourselves for accomplishing the flu shot (which in truth was an item on our electronic calendar and therefore of some measurable importance), the authority of the gathering clouds increased. By now we had determined to shorten our excursion to something closer to home. The idea of settling alongside the St. Lawrence Seaway no longer held its previous sway in light of the grey skies. We quickly determined instead to go to a another but closer regular haunt in Old Chelsea, PQ.
Somehow even that brilliant suggestion quickly lost its appeal. Perhaps the dwindling competition of the weather gave way to the increasing sense of appetite. We further decided to compromise our expectations by going to a local emporium where we knew we could secure an acceptable sandwich and a tasty sweet. When it turned out that our latest destination was in the same mall as another Vietnamese place we had previously frequented we again summarily altered our plans to switch to the Asian cuisine. There we happily landed at last and were not in the least disappointed.
Because we had circumscribed our original plans so manifestly, we were in the result at loose ends to kill time before we could return to the apartment. No doubt as a consequence of our earlier mercurial deliberations I had somewhere in that process ignited my interest in Almond Butter Squares which I knew were retailed at a nearby gluten-free bakery off Hunt Club Road. As a concession to the need to dissolve some time we accordingly directed ourselves hither.
Our researches were not without profit! We met the proprietor of the bakery and by force of our desire to contribute to local commerce and to engender the appearance of engagement we found ourselves ordering substantially more than originally planned. The bakery has several small tables with chairs. After ordering a black coffee we perched ourselves at one of these installations and began the consumption of several of the goodies we had just purchased, including (in addition to the aforementioned Almond Butter Square), a Nanaimo Square, Caramel Slice Coconut cake with Caramel fudge on top and a Butter Tart (with the “best ever” pastry). Exquisite! The Nec Plus Ultra!
The utter satisfaction of such a serendipitous sojourn is likely the reason for my current disorientation. Sixty-six years of programming were suddenly jolted by a new and thoroughly rewarding escapade. If ever there were a case to be made for acting silly and behaving without calculation, this is it! The experience was reminiscent of all the magical things I have heard about chocolate. I opined to the proprietor that she had discovered some secret ingredient which stirred the very synapses of my brain.