Friday, December 18th, 2020

An unofficial picnic has sprouted on the lawn outside the mall. The cafe inside is open, but with no seating. People have brought their food outdoors. They are sitting on the grass, as well as on what looks like bright plastic children’s furniture that has mysteriously appeared. A tall metal fence surrounds the lawn’s perimeter, but one space is open so people coming from the bus stop can get in. The nearest entrance to the mall is functioning again. I don’t need to go around to the other side anymore. When I get in, I go directly to the supermarket, to be sure to get what I need from there before it closes for the Sabbath. It’s busy, but not badly so. Produce there is cheaper than elsewhere, and quite good. Clementines are finally in season, somewhat late, shades of orange rather than green. They have just about everything I’m looking for. The endcap with flavored syrups for my seltzer maker is gone. I suspect that the syrups are elsewhere, but they aren’t anywhere that I look. The challah from the bakery is still hot. I have to take it off the rack carefully, grasping it with a plastic bag and wriggling it loose from where the bottom has stuck to the baking paper. I shop efficiently. When I get in line to check out, the person in front of me tells me, in English, that she is going to take a while, but that the lane next to mine is almost empty. It is. I thank her and move over. I head back through the mall and stop at the cafe. I think of getting coffee and something to eat. I don’t know how much of the regular menu that they have, though. What I usually get wouldn’t work well to go. My bag of groceries is heavy, and I’m not sure that I would find a good spot to eat outdoors. I continue on outside and catch the next bus home.