Whilst it can feel somewhat hectic and busy living in the heart of Carlton, one aspect that I’ve really enjoyed is how quick it has been to meet people in the area. In just 6 months of being here, we’ve come to meet more people than we’d met in our actual home suburb since moving there five years ago. I don’t think that is a reflection of the people in the area so much as a reflection of the area itself.
Our home is in a very residential area. We have a couple of “corner” stores (not actually on corners), a primary and secondary school, and houses. Everyone is working or studying, as was I until I had Monsieur Z. In an environment where people go to work in the morning, come home in the evenings and pretty much live their lives within their private walls, it takes a while to get to know each other. We have now gotten to know several of our neighbours, the postie, Tony and Annie at the Corner Store of Doom (which is neither on a corner nor full of doom – we’ve named it so because that is where we would go for supplies in case of doomsday!) and a few of the shop owners in the shopping strip on Nicholson st.
Carlton, however, is a place where people go to work. There are the same people at the cafes, the shops, on the street every day. And I’m out and about, every day, because I have a small one who needs space and air and is missing his front garden. Monsieur Z has become a Carlton regular, walking his ducky, his stroller, his wheelie bag up and down the streets of Carlton. During this time, he has gotten to know some of the people that we regularly see. Sadly a couple have left, and more are about to leave as businesses and staff change. Before we move out of this phase and locale, I want to remember here all the people that Monsieur Z has come to look for on our ramblings around this neighbourhood.
Pasquale and Darios – his baristas at Lygon Food Store. He can now walk in and place our order, “one soy cappuccino, one babycino and one croissant, please”. Sometimes he covers all bases by adding in “one coffee” as well – you never can be too sure. I think he’s a bit confused as to where the long blacks fit in (I keep changing my coffee orders!). Darios has left, headed back to his home country, Italy. He would play peek-a-boo over the counter with Monsieur and make him laugh. Pasquale is the owner, so thankfully is not going anywhere soon. Any time we go in and Monsieur can’t see Pasquale straight away, he will enquire “Pasquale??” He pronounces it with a slight lisp, almost “Pasthquale”, which Pasquale adores.
Andy – the cool guy at Readings who did Storytime for the Littlies every Monday morning. Sadly, he has moved on to big, suit-wearing, lawyer-y stuff, but we have run into him on our street. Any time we went into Readings and Monsieur Z saw Andy, he would announce in a very loud, carrying voice “There’s Andy!”, as though that was who we had been looking for the whole time. I think in Monsieur Z’s mind, he was; we went to Readings for the train table, Storytime, Andy and sometimes to read books. Happily Storytime continues with Emily, but we haven’t yet gotten to that point of her being one of Z’s peeps.
The parking attendant – actually Monsieur Z and I each have our own parking attendants that we have a chat with! As we have no parking permit for the streets near us, we are keeping our car in the work car park, a couple of blocks away. There is one gentleman there, whose name we don’t know yet, who has taken a shine to Monsieur. As soon as I pull the car up to the attendant booth, he immediately peers into the back seat to check if Monsieur is there. If he is, the parking attendant will go to the back window to have a chat with him. It is so sweet. Now, every time we leave the car park, Monsieur asks to “say hello?”, and is very disappointed when it is one of the unfriendly attendants on duty. Sadly the car park is about to become an unattended, pay-by-ticket-machine deal, so we won’t be seeing either of our attendants for much longer (“My” attendant can usually guess whether I’m on my way out to feed the cats, or go to my Buffy night, and also has a chat with R in the evenings as well!)
Dee – one of the local Big Issue sellers, Dee always has a chat with any of the family members who go past. She is always quite interested in what Monsieur is doing, and how he’s going and is quick to notice if he is not feeling himself at any time. Monsieur likes to get his copy of the Big Issue from her, and dance around while we chat.
The guitar busker on Drummond St – there is a busker we pass on the way to the supermarket, and Monsieur always likes to stop and listen to his music. The first time we saw him, after Monsieur had listened for a couple of minutes, I gave him some money to put in the guitar case. I had laryngitis at the time, so once Monsieur was more then 20cm away, he could no longer hear my directions. Unable to direct him, but confident that he understood the process, I watched as he went to the busker, stopped for a moment, then very solemnly put the money into the guitar. The busker and I just laughed and laughed, and I think he has had a soft spot for Monsieur ever since.
Andrea – the owner of Trotters, usually there on a Thursday morning when we go for family breakfast. We started the Thursday morning breakfast thing last year, when R’s parents moved to Carlton, and it continues to this day. This morning when I asked Monsieur what he wanted for breakfast, he replied, very definitely, “Eggs and bacon and salmon and mushroom and babycino!”. Well then! He always has a very cheery “Good Morning Andrea” for Andrea, and his babycino is usually being made as we are ordering. Monsieur has a favourite table there, and if other people happen to be sitting at his table, well he just climbs up beside them and waits for Andrea. Fortunately the other customers are quite understanding, and we are usually there early enough to get the table first.
Serbi – the manager at Koko Black. She is another who “knew” Monsieur before he was born, and eagerly waited for the day that we gave her the go ahead to give him some chocolate. Now if she is there when we go in, she will find a little something for Monsieur to delight in.
It would be remiss of me to write a post about the people in Monsieur Z’s life without mentioning the first five: Anat and Flora from The Natural Tucker Bakery, Tony and Annie from the Corner Store of Doom, and Beau, who would have been Monsieur’s first barista, had Monsieur been drinking babycinos from the get-go. All five provided me with the needs of the final trimester: iced soy mochas, delicious soups, vanilla slices and random things that I’d forget to buy at a supermarket. They have all seen Monsieur grow from a teeny tiny newborn, being pushed into their shop by a bleary-eyed new mama, to a walking, talking boy who will run in and say hello. Annie gives him freddo frogs – which he loves, of course. Anat and Flora spoil him with special rolls and mini date scones from the kitchen. Beau supplies yummy ginger bread biscuits. We haven’t seen much at all of these people while we’ve been moved out of home. Everyone’s lives move on. Anat went travelling, we always seem to miss Flora, and Beau’s new cafe is just that touch too out-of-the-way for us to just drop in for coffees. We have been to the Corner Store of Doom a few times, and Monsieur even had a freddo frog for breakfast one morning…and I made a mental note to never take him there again when searching for yoghurt for breakfast! I do ration out visits to the places that provide him with chocolate, but I also kinda like the idea that he will grow up in an area where there are lots of local people who have known him since he was a baby, who will look out for him and from who he may get “illicit” treats, such as the freddo frogs, not knowing that we know…until he read this blog, of course but by then I’m sure the secret will be out.
