A Different Port

We are so reliant on that little one Euro piece. I always try to keep one in my car but this morning, I had to scour my house to find one or a little plastic facsimile in order to do my grocery shopping. All grocery stores require a one Euro piece to release the grocery carts. With a family this size, I can't get away with not needing a cart. Cash machines don't distribute coins so if you don't have one, you will have to buy something somewhere before going to the parking lot at the supermarket. That's assuming you even have any cash to begin with, which I never do, since every place under the sun here accepts a debit card. Now, if only the grocery carts would accept a debit card.... I always have one of those!
After finally locating the required piece of money, I hit the supermarket for some serious shopping. Because there are no self-scan lines, and few 10 items and under lines, and because every customer has to make polite small talk with the cashier and because every customer has to bag their own groceries, the lines are always at least 5-6 people deep. Some lines have a sign hanging over them that say Priority next to the picture of a handicapped individual and a pregnant woman with a small child. So, I assume these lines are for those type of people. BUT, are they only for those type of people or do you just allow their kind to jump the line if they happen to approach? While standing at the next line over today, I had a solid 20 minutes to study the situation and saw only one woman with a neck brace seem to fit the definition for priority. Everyone else seemed in good health and unencumbered, and made no allowances for the woman in the brace. This line also seemed to move much more quickly than the line that I chose. Maybe I"ll try to buck the system neck time and see what happens....
The kids came home for lunch as is their habit on Tuesdays. As soon as Max eats lunch, he is always right back outside and climbing one of our mature trees. After 30 minutes or so of this with Calvin, Max came strolling back in the house with some dust in his hair and told me how his favorite branch had just cracked and fallen. He then told me that he was on this branch and fell to the ground with it. When I went outside to look things over, I realized that he had fallen at least 5 1/2 feet and landed on his bottom! He seemed no worse for the wear and is doing fine.
My friend, Sabine and I decided to drive over to Auray today to do a little shopping, a little walking and just have a change of scenery. It was beautiful although a bit cool. Auray is always picturesque and fun to see.