I went to sleep last night with yeasty dreams full of sourdough skies, piloting a yellow submarine through a claymation sea of clam chowder in a giant bread bowl. I admit, I wanted free bread. I thought I could have it by waking up early enough and driving to Boudin, where they were giving away free bread for a year to each of the first 100 people in line to celebrate their grand opening of the Santa Rosa restaurant. Just as I was getting the hang of the submarine’s controls, after I had nailed Ringo with a really good zinger about ratamacues, my alarm goes off. I awake in darkness and pick up my phone angrily. My sassy finger swipe to turn it off says, “Bitch, please, there ain’t even light outside.” But I get up anyway, throw on clothes and a sweatshirt, grab my camera and head out the door.
There are people sleeping in tents, sleeping bags and under blankets as I pull up to the well-lit parking lot of the new store. “I’ve got a shot, there aren’t too many people here,” I think as I walk up to what looks like the end of a short line. A man wearing a large beard and a laminated badge with the number 53 on it smiles at me as I ask, “Is this the end of the bread line?” He replies in the negative, informing me that all the spots were filled last night by 10pm. There was no line, but everyone had to stay in the parking lot. Several other people came and asked the same question to any waking souls around this time, but I stuck around to chat with a few lucky carb-o-loaders.
