Friday, March 18, 2016

Bread and Crocuses


Someone planted these crocuses on West End Green, near our flat. They're a bit too regimented for my taste -- wouldn't they have looked better scattered randomly? But still, they brighten things up.

I take Olga to West End Green on many mornings before work. It's a tiny little triangle of a park, but enough for her to run around a bit. The downside is that someone -- a restaurant, or one of the bakeries -- discards their old bread there. They throw it out for the birds, and if I'm not careful it winds up in Olga. And it's always the oldest, moldiest, most craptastic bread possible. A few months ago she had a bonanza day when she found about 50 stale bagels lying in the grass. She downed two of them before I could get a hold of her.

When I lived in Morocco, the Moroccans had a thing about "respecting the bread." They would never throw old bread in the trash. Instead, they'd set it out in the street, on the theory that someone or something -- donkey, goat, dog, maybe even a hungry person -- would eat it. I suspect that's what's going on here, too.

There are signs in the park asking people not to feed the critters. But then, there are also signs telling people to keep their dog on a lead, and lots of people (ahem) violate that rule too.


Anyway, I slept late this morning! But then I was up late last night, watching movies and reading. I watched "Midnight Cowboy," a perennial favorite, and finished the book I was reading, "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe," a good YA novel about two teenage boys coming of age and figuring things out -- but with a somewhat unlikely ending, I thought.

And have I done my French homework for class tomorrow? No.

9 comments:

e said...

Oh well, Spring Break wouldn't be much fun if you did your homework and got up early...I'm awaiting a plumber...

Sharon said...

I love the crocuses but agree, scattered would be better.

jenny_o said...

Interesting custom of setting out the bread. In North America we waste far too much food. It is a crime.

Lovely shot of the crocuses from above.

Red said...

Leaving scrap for something to eat is usually not a good idea. Lots of critters like dogs like to eat stuff that's not good for them.

37paddington said...

Spring is coming to your corner of the world! That Olga has such adventurous tastes!

Cheryl West said...

Scattered crocuses would look so much better and natural. Poor Olga, I love bagels too but fresh ones please.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Sounds like you have been a good lad Steve so I am giving you permission to absent yourself from work on Monday.

alphabet soup said...

Love the flower arrangement in the park; it would have taken quite a bit of work to plant those bulbs.

Ms Soup

ellen abbott said...

what is it with dogs? Minnie is constantly finding things in the yard that she eats. for some reason she especially likes to eat old rotten pecans she digs up. they don't agree with her. I think maybe that's what made her sick the other day.