The Tale of Two Breads

When I was home in June, we did not know where we would be living come September. It might be that we would be able to return to the states or we might end up in Prague or Korea or who knows where! And so, although the company would send us back to the states, at least for a quick trip in September, we decided that it would be wise for me to do some preparation in case the September trip would take us on another international assignment.


So I did some closet clean out, as much cleaning as I had time to accomplish, and before I left, I emptied the pantry, refrigerator and freezer of all the food. My flight left early afternoon, and so I did need some food around on that last day. I left some food in the refrigerator for a neighbor and left it plugged in as I was expecting my brother and his family to spend the night on their move west a few days later, as well as a bag of non-perishables sitting on the counter for them.

But somehow I neglected to include the bread that was in the bread drawer. There was a partially eaten loaf of bread that was the freshly baked variety from a local grocery store. There were also a few hamburger buns left from the "going away cookout" we had give for Dawn and Steven before they moved. These Jenn and I had purchased from the local warehouse store. The large bag with 16 or so buns.

Mid-June to early September is almost 3 months. 3 months for bread to sit in a house with the thermometer set at a cool 80 degrees. In the humid south.

Our return flight in September landed in the early evening. Joel and Jenn picked us up at the airport and Bob's folks had dinner waiting for us at our house. They also had plugged in the refrigerator and stocked it with the essentials for breakfast. So it wasn't until I came home from the grocery store the next day and opened the bread drawer that I found them. The bread and all the mold growing on it.

I actually couldn't see the bread anymore. It looked to be just a bag of mold. I managed to get it into a plastic bag and tossed into the garage. But there was only one bag of mold. The hamburger buns looked absolutely fine. As a matter of fact, they were still soft when I heaved them into the trash. Long shelf life? I think that's a bit too long! And that's the last bag of not freshly made bread I will ever buy.


When in Switzerland, I had to go to the grocery store every other day or so. We had a small refrigerator and tiny freezer and so I couldn't stock up for a week, like I can in the states. At first I found it very frustrating. But by the time I left, there were many things about it that I appreciated. I didn't enjoy stores closing at 6 or 8 in the evening or 4 on Saturday afternoon, but it got to the point that I enjoyed only planning meals a few days at a time.

I liked the freshness of the fruits and vegetables. I appreciated the ability to buy a small loaf of a variety of fresh breads. I even enjoyed the small stores with fewer choices. It doesn't take long to get in and out of a store that only has a few aisles!

But thinking on those two loaves of bread I found when I return to the states, I thought of how often we want to live on the past. It takes work to stay fresh. It takes effort to make bread daily. It takes time and energy. But the rewards are well worth the effort!