WFCS weeks

Yep, more coffeeshops.

Living and working nomadically has its pluses and minuses for sure. Simplicity and exploration definitely top the list of gifts, and local coffeeshops embody both of those. As mechanical as Starbucks has become, and as much as I avoid it, I certainly appreciate their jumpstart to this world! Over the past 30+ years thousands have opened, thousands have closed - and more just keep opening. 

They are perfect places to connect where I am, get a read for local small business, tourists, travelers and who is working from "home," appreciate the creativity and heart put into building community spaces, and get a birds-eye view of what's happening in the world along with deep dives into topics from the next tables.

Family groups, from toddlers to grey heads, laughing loudly or arguing passionately. Laptop users in leggings, jeans, skirts, khakis. But mostly leggings. 

Behind me yesterday were a couple of 50-something English teachers from an around-the-corner private school, exchanging books titles and reassurance that their students will eventually settle in to learning. It is almost November, after all, and autumn is crashing in this weekend across the country. Time to focus.

They recommend Bono's new autobiography.

In front of me today, a couple of 30-somethings involved in politics talk about climate and environmental work in a major urban center. One of them had moved from electoral politics ("where I learned people are terrible") to environmental justice, now at a nonprofit working hard to end the use of fracking waste on local roads. Their conversation involved radioactive isotopes and differential behaviors, with reference to an older colleague who is "kind of like a Ruth." 

side note: Cultural understanding of influential Ruths has definitely shifted from my parents' generation to my children's. With all the things I do not "get," I am happy to get both of these.

People are doing stuff. Fighting the fracking, keeping customers happy, building community, checking off boxes, frying the fries and steaming the milk, fostering & adopting, making the compost.

On a lighter note I get to see urban fashions and rural functional clothing from north to south, west to east (as far as Cleveland, anyhow). In the cities, 70s moustaches and cardigans abound, as do brown and orange sweaters. (I'm thankful those 50-year-old fashions are not reviving what house decor was.) Wide-legged pants and crop tops are looking good on pretty much everyone, as are the long skirts. And the athletic shoe companies are clearly thriving, and those who make ankle-height boots.

Outside on this last day of balmy weather, also holding the chaos of the world and its peoples, I'm grateful to connect with this slice of the human experience.