The coffee shop clerk is dragging the sidewalk sign to the corner
I'm watching the digital clock in the dashboard of my car
waiting for it to flash 6:00 am so I can buy a large latte' and head to work
The Patrick street traffic is trickling north towards the city
It's lighter than it will be later, but I'll still have to wait for a gap in the cars to open my door and jog to the sidewalk
Inside there are jars of fruit biscotti, bagels, overpriced dog treats
I buy one for Lucy and later forget to take it inside to her
The board is written in multi-colored magnetic letters
and the letters are upper and lower case and arranged at a variety of tilts
like a kid did the placing
Yesterday evening the barista was wearing lucky brand jeans
She served me a Rt 66.
I asked her if it was darker and she said it was a French Roast
I didn't know what that meant
Aside from it must be darker
Now I've learned that it means the beans are roasted twice on a very oily surface and that the resulting coffee has none of the inherent flavors of the original bean
I think I'll choose a lighter roast in the future
There's was a woman taking oxygen from an oxygen tank at the table to my left
I chose a seat in the sun to enjoy the last warmth of the season
Eventually the beams were too hot and I moved to the next table over
There had been a gentleman in a wheelchair sitting their moments before and he left his empty espresso cup at the table
The residue of the liquid still coating the insides
Two thirty somethings took my old spot and engaged in a get to know you conversation
perhaps a first date
The guy talked about sushi and scuba diving and his fear of all aquatic life
The girl worked ten hour shifts at Fairfax hospital
An older gentleman with long stringy gray unkempt hair and a full beard arrives this morning at 6:00 and takes what I assume is his regular spot at the back table smokers
sit now and where the goths used to sit when I was in high school
I'm still trepidatious about entering that room
There's an oversized coffee bean grinder and a few stacked sacks of raw coffee beans
