Liberty

G. got his cast off a few days ago. His time in the cast roughly coincided with the amount of time the computer spent in repair purgatory, so we’ve all been stumping around the house in grumpy moods lately. By the time of the cast removal, G. had become impressively skilled at using the cast as counterweight, which enabled him to walk around the house pirate-style, swing himself up onto chairs and furniture, and threaten me at diaper-changing time.

Without the cast he’s now a little reduced, as if he’s lost his superpower and special costume all at once. He will only gingerly put weight down on his new, noodly leg, and prefers to sit on the floor in a sort of moody, yogic squat until someone comes to pick him up. I think we have a few more days of grumpy left.

In the meantime, our entire neighborhood has emptied out for the August vacation. Many of the shops have posted cheerful, handwritten notes wishing everyone “bonnes vacances” and mentioning the date of return. Other have just slammed down the security shutters as if they don’t care when they might come back. We’re down to one bakery (the snooty one) and two grocery stores, but it’s hard to feel deprived about walking an extra block for bread. Paris is left to us and the tourists, and I’m kind of enjoying it, thinking of all the crowded, hectic places I might be instead. I also like the idea that, however removed it might be from reality, the wheel of commerce could just stop turning for awhile, or could turn somewhere else, and everything will be, well, just fine. Like a world where even Sisyphus might catch a break.