A State of Be-ing

 Pandemic restrictions are dropping like flies near vinegar.  Which, for this coffeeshop writer is a blessing. We can all do with a little mental break after sloughing through 2020.  Simply breathing in unfiltered, mask-less air is amazing.  Appreciating so many little things taken for granted before.

Interesting peeps to chat with and fresh coffee aromas tickling my nose. Life is seeking a resemblance to some form of "normal'. Working on my Project-ASK.org  website is a new social media learning curve for me.  Writing and tackling the Herculean task of organising my photos is easier. I pass a few hours here  nicely feeling a sense of public belonging again. My latest discovery is Refuge Coffee Shop in Portland, Oregon. Am addicted to their spicy mocha- and it IS spicy! A swift wake-up kick in the morning.  

Not being British, am not usually enthralled with weather conversations. BUT. The recent weather  has been - to put it mildly, menopausal.  Unpredictable and somewhat dangerous. Hunkering down in a coffee shop with air conditioning vs heating is a new experience in the Northwest. This is the land of summer hoodies, mud slides and endless grey misted days.  125 F and buckling pavements is Not normal.   We may still be better off than Arizona and California, but not by much.  Some days it seems all very biblical, including the locusts. If I have to pivot any faster, I might fall over and stay down until it all moves on. 

Back in 2020, before my monumental cross-country journey in Big Blue, I wrote about Arnold the Magic Man. Sitting in Powells Bookshop, he was casually weaving flowers out of napkins while floating delicate strands in the air. It felt as if a Harry Potter book had come to life.  We all need a little magic in our lives.  Now more than ever.  I look up from my GoDaddy website frustration and presto, mesmerising magic is across the room. Can it be? Yes, it IS.  Of all the coffee joints in all the city, he is here, again today.  

A gentle reminder that every day needs space for some alternate reality.  Moments to reflect on the wonder of our world beyond the hype of sales and business.  A break from social media that pounds us mercilessly with its need for attention.   What wonders we can see if we simply look up, away from the addictive call of our glaring tech. 

I walk over and am invited to sit down. I marvel at how this simple exchange of talking to a stranger in a coffeeshop has become an "event".  Something pandemically "un-normal" with shades of 2020 taboo.  We end up talking all morning. No longer strangers but two people with stories to share. In sharing, we are given the gift of learning and the opportunity to strive toward a greater understanding our neighborhood, country and, world.  To reach out and connect again to our shared humanity.

I love being a coffeeshop writer.  It is a journey full of surprises and amazing people. Some, I will never see again. Others, become friends.  We are all "in this together" and sharing our individual magic is like adding sprinkles on a donut. It makes life just a bit little sweeter.