sidewalk talk

When the weather is nice the cafe expands. The scene shifts outside as people draw-up chairs and enjoy the sunny day. Invariably a loose circle is formed and anyone walking down the sidewalk gets included, for as long as they like. Of course, there is so much to be talked about, ranging from the personal (How are you? What are you up to today?) to community (When is the parade? Is it beer time yet?) to sports (How about the Mariners!) to national (What we need in this country is either some government accountability or a free beer day) to international (How about those nuke tote'n Iranians! Let's joyfully bomb 'em back into the stone age, yeah!) to metaphysical ( He who talks doesn't know, he who knows is too overawed to talk) and lots of stuff in between and to both sides.

I miss the good old days, when we had a couple of dedicated Republicans to stoke the fires of political debate. That was then, when we celebrated the dawn of the CEO Prez. Ahh, those were the days. The diehard naysayers were put in their place, when the victory was declared. Oh well.

It's just real nice, it feels good, a slow start to the day. It reminds me of breathing. The cafe opens in the morning and swells with customers, the morning crowd, the afternoon scene; inhaling people and exhaling at closing time, day after day. A cafe can be the heart of a community.