You may think that it’s a photograph of Rock Hudson and Doris Day that accompanies these words, and perhaps you are right.  On the other hand, I have it on somewhat questionable authority that it’s a portrait of our friends Michael and Lynn Madigan.  Truth, after all, is in the eye of the beholder.  Or something like that.

The facts of the matter, however, are that my recent blog about the bread flour that did not show up with our Fred Meyer order last week, elicited a number of offers on Facebook — some for regular flour, some for the bread variety, and all extremely generous and much appreciated.

However, I had seen Lynn and Michael’s offer first, so they were the ones who arrived yesterday with two generous bags of bread flour, a container of yeast, and two pounds of unsalted butter.  Wow!  Right off the bat — as soon as our oohing and aahing quieted, Michael said, “You do realize, that we buy bread flour by the ton?  Literally!  This wasn’t a problem.”

Friendship — The Staff of Life!

The Madigans own Bowery Bagels in Portland.  They have a small retail outlet but, mostly, their business is wholesale and, BC (before Covid) they supplied scores of bakeries and coffee shops and grocery stores with their fabulous bagels.  (I believe that Coffee Girl in Astoria was one of their customers.  Maybe still is.)

We had a “porch chat” for twenty minutes or so — catching up on how the pandemic is affecting all of us personally and, of course, how their small business is faring.  The interconnectedness of us all — from farmer to manufacturer to supplier to delivery drivers to outlets to ultimate consumer is mind-boggling and so much better understood (at least by me) when explained on a personal level.

We talked about other things, too.  The night before they had witnessed from their home in Long Beach, a group of six or seven high school seniors in caps and gowns out on the beach with a photographer.  As the group filed back toward the road, Lynn and Michael belted out “Pomp and Circumstance” from their deck.  “We weren’t sure they could hear us, but then some of the kids actually tossed their caps in the air!” said Michael.  “It was a moment we won’t soon forget.”

It wasn’t until the Madigans’ car drove away that I realized I had missed a photo op of my own.  When I wrote them asking if I could mention Bowery Bagels in my blog, I lamented my oversight and they kindly sent me the portrait that accompanies this blog.  You may or may not recognize them…