Tuesday, June 26, 2007

emails, presence, loaves

What is the difference between an email and a letter? As I no longer send or receive emails in the context of work, they give me as much pleasure as sending and receiving letters from friends and family used to. I was never a good correspondent. I fussed about the wording, wanting get it right, even in casual notes. The word processing facility has been a great liberator. That is not to say that I don't take trouble over emails. I do, but the knowledge that I can correct what I have written, has allowed my words to flow as they never could in long hand or on a steam-typewriter, however much I desired that they would.

In the vegetable garden I feel a presence. I am surrounded by glancing shadows and mysterious reflections shining over my shoulder. For a moment, I had forgotten them. They are the cds which I hung up, a few days ago, to deter the pigeons from eating my spinach. If they work on me they should work on the pigeons.

Three perfect loaves come out of the oven, and sit on a rack on the dresser. There is a smell of yeast, and of the pine kernels and pumpkin seeds, which I mixed with the dough and which now break from the bread's crust, where they have become little, brown nuggets.

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