Dawn
The sky to the East is glowing, cloudless. There is a frigid gusting wind. The temperature is around 15 degrees. In an hour or so, I’ll be working outside, the first experience of this season of winter work. Do I look forward to the experience? No. But the work has to get done, and I appreciate the income as others appreciate that I am motivated to show up.
I begin the day with a session of reading and writing at Starbucks. Most of the regulars here stop in briefly on their commute to their office. A hot beverage is a solace in the 
midst of the tedium of traffic. Today there is a high school student seated not far from my corner table. Her table is covered with several note books, and she is intently copying information from note cards into her computer. As the school term is soon to end it appears that an essay crucial to a final grade must be under construction.
In the far corner there is an older individual who seems to spend hours here. Whenever I notice she is peering 
into the screen of her iPhone. She always brings a large shopping bag with her. I think that she sleeps in her car. She is always welcome. No one bothers her.
Starbucks is something of a social center. Patrons can be together, no matter our diverse backgrounds and current set of circumstances. Conversation is allowed but not compulsory. It is comforting to be with others and yet remain within one’s solitude.
The pictures are of holiday treats, artfully arranged in the display case by Kate. Heather and her staff set the mood of this place, extending a hospitable welcome to all who enter.
