Cavities and cappuccinos
4:37 p.m.
As mentioned previously, Buddy Boy fared the worst of all of us at the dentist�s the other day, requiring a return visit to have a cavity filled. His appointment was for 2:15 p.m., and we left early in order to drop Little Princess off at the university for a rehearsal with her violist and to leave the boyfriend at the Esso station. We continued south on Hwy 143 in the rain (just a little rain, falling all around, the grass lifts its head to the heavenly sound) which got heavier and heavier, until we had the wipers on the fastest speed and it seemed as if someone were standing on top of the car, aiming a high-pressure hose at the windshield (it�s a hard, it�s a hard, it�s a hard, it�s a hard, and it�s a hard rain�s a-gonna fall). Visibility was the road immediately in front of us, and that was it.
We actually made it to the dentist�s on time; Buddy Boy was whisked off immediately to the white room (with black curtains in the station) where he was swabbed, jabbed, drilled, and filled. It didn�t take too long, and while I waited I read incredibly outdated magazines in the salle d�attente and glanced through children�s comic books in French. When he was done, I offered to take him next door for a treat, frozen mouth and all. Buddy Boy never turns down a treat.
The building that used to house the bank in N�rth Hatley still looks like a bank with a pillared portico, but became a boutique specializing in expensive, tourist-appealing items when the bank closed its doors, never to return and leaving N�rth Hatleyites with no place to perform financial transactions except for an automated banking machine at the variety story. This shop sells clothing of a �rustic� nature with a big-city price tag, linens, lotions, jewellery and other sundry items. The upstairs has recently been turned into a caf�, and I noticed it for the first time when we were at the dentist on Tuesday.
I ordered a cappuccino and a raspberry tart, Buddy Boy had a hot chocolate and an apple turnover and, like Harriet and AJ, we sat next to the window where we could look down at the street below. The rain had stopped when we came out of the dentist�s, but while we sat and enjoyed our treats it started up again, more heavily. My cappuccino was excellent, as was my pastry. Buddy Boy enjoyed his, but with his tongue half frozen, it was only half the experience it should have been. It was funny watching him rubbing his jaw, gauging where the sensation was starting to come back, seeing how hard he could poke or pinch himself. He�s a guy, what can I say?
We took Rte 108 home, which we had avoided on the way down due to construction. We had a five-minute wait while the oncoming traffic came through the one passable lane, and then we were led by a vehicle with a lit-up arrow to the other side of the site. A sizeable stretch of road has been regraded and paved, and only 100 metres or so remain to be done. I pitied the construction workers out there in the pouring rain, and noticed how the steam came off the newly steamrolled asphalt as the rain poured on it.
Back in L�ville I left Buddy Boy at Mr. Beattie�s for a haircut and proceeded to the bank, where I laughed and cried (in that order), and then walked back to the barbershop (with an umbrella which was conveniently left in the trunk from some other trip) where they were done already. So Terry and I had a friendly chat before my son and I headed out into the pouring rain (still) and came home to an empty house.
It is time for me to start thinking about preparing supper, and all I want to do is lie down and have a nap, cappuccino notwithstanding. We can�t oppose the forces of nature.
from harri3tspy :
A lovely entry. And it's nice to know that such excursions may continue in the future. I've been astounded by the speed with which AJ is growing up lately. It is at once exhilarating and depressing.
<~~~ * ~~~>
