Wednesday, July 14, 2010

I can see clearly now...


There are a few stories in play here... bear with me.

1. The austerity program is a great diet plan.

Today is Bastille Day. The day of the French uprising... revolution... storming! And storm it did. I normally shop on a Tuesday. I have the Carrefour fidelity/passe card... Tuesday is 'spend 60 euros, get 3 euros back'. Last week, I couldn't make it on the Tuesday. So, I planned ahead and ate out of the freezer until I needed fresh stuff. Easy enough... however, during the week, I went to Carrefour, not with the caddy, but with the shoulder bag for a few items. I spent less than 20 euros and got a bon for "Buy 80 euros of stuff, get 8 euros off if you shop on Wednesday, July 14". That's Bastille Day. The biggest French holiday going. That's today. It was pouring rain today. POURING. As in BIG, FAT, pouring rain. I waited at home until it cleared a bit, then I got my shopping list together, tossed an umbrella into the caddy as an afterthought and walked on over to Carrefour to "make the groceries".

This being mid-July, and a holiday, I thought about how much I love Paris in the summer when most people are gone and the store is empty... happy, happy, I hummed some tunes from last night's CSN concert, debated "less filling, tastes great" (NOT)... grabbed some fresh herbs, a couple of ripe tomatoes, some yummy, smelly cheese and the necessary list items... checked out and headed to the exit.

When I got to the door, I saw a crowd of people standing just inside the exit. Hmmm. Then I saw the downpour. The deluge. This was a rain that was not going to end soon. (Hindsight note to self: I was right... it lasted another 20 minutes.) After watching and waiting for five minutes, I decided to go for it. I thought, "I am only three blocks from the store. I had my brolly. Deal with it!" Hah! I lost my first sandal at the first corner. The curb was covered in water... little did I know just how deep it was. Stepping into it, my wonderful, comfy sandal was swept away with the Parisian street tide... I stood for a few moments in disbelief, trying to Brail my foot around to find the sandal... no glory. I slogged on... trying to keep my groceries dry while moving forward, one foot shod, one foot bare. The next corner was as deep and as fast as the first. At this point I thought WTF? and gave it up... I stepped in and the other sandal was gone. Mind you, at this point I was knee-deep in rushing water, holding an umbrella in one hand and dragging the caddy and a carry-along sack in the other. I'm not sure when I gave up the pretense of using the umbrella as protection.

2. Shades of yesterday.

Those of you who may have followed this blog know that I have been looking for my long, lost, TRES EXPENSIVE first pair of glasses. They were tri-focals. They were the first pair of glasses I ever owned/needed. I paid 1200 euros for them in 2008. I never claimed them with the French Soc Sec... why not? I don't know. Nuf said. In any case, they were my first pair of glasses. I could see. Or so I thought. The opthomologist said, "It might be hard to get used to them. You are going from nothing to tri-focals. Be careful on stairways!" Woof. She was right. I felt like I was (ahem) not myself. The three-way vision... up, middle, down... let alone, the far, medium, close was throwing me off. I couldn't deal with them. I tried... I really, really tried. Then, I put them away. I pulled them out every now and then to see if I could see with them... No dice. So, in a fit of frustration, I put them somewhere where I wouldn't lose them, yet still use them. You know how when you put something somewhere where you think you might find them? Yeah, well. That was two years ago. I searched high and low for those damned glasses. All I could think of was 1200 euros down the drain.

3. Revelations

Speaking of down the drain, I made it home. Barefoot, soaked and laden with a week's worth of now sodden groceries. I unpacked the caddy and carry-sack, put the frozen stuff into the freezer and set the rest out to dry... I got out of the soaked jeans, took a shower to wash off the yuck and threw everything into the washer. In the meantime, the sun came out, so I put the caddy on the balcony to dry out. While there, I decided to empty the pockets... lo and behold. Guess what I found? After two years of searching for the glasses in the bright yellow case? There they were. Right under my nose all this time.

Lately, I'm finding that a lot of my answers/solutions to life ARE right under my nose. I just need to look beyond the obstacles that are in my way. And you know what?

It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sun shiny day...