Morning pickup

Last year about this time I was sent to pickup 16,000 pounds of Washington State apples. As I threw the bread bag to the passenger seat and started up the Peugeot I laughed at my new assignment:

1 pain aux noix
4 croissant
3 pain au chocolat
3 raison
1 bagguette

I crept down the gravel driveway (so as not to wake anyone) and reached for the volume. 102.2 Nostalgic has accompanied me on every drive since arriving in Provence. House of the Rising Sun (en Francais) played as I barreled down the windy road to the village of Condorcet.

On my way back from the bakery the sun was beginning to hit the hilltops. It was bright orange light found only at dawn and the makings of an amazing fall day in southern France. On one hill stood the ruins of a castle, the top in full sun, while the bottom was darkened by the remaining moments of shade.

I sped back up the mountain, darting around blind corners, the road no wider than one car. Still early, the road was empty except for me, my baguette and some hunters crammed in pickup trucks with dogs in the back in search of wild boar.

As I neared the farm house Nostaligic came through in a big way. Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones started to play. I slowed the Peugeot to the speed limit and savored the moment. Keeping a beat on the steering wheel, singing loud enough to scare off wild boars, and momentarily forgetting how much I wanted to devourer one of those warm pain au chocolats- I took in the moment for what it was.

A great song, a great car, a foreign country, a beautiful morning and not a care in the world.