Relaxation
When the world is spinning a little too fast, and I need to get away, I usually head to the small coffee shop that is only about two blocks away from my house. It is a no-name shop, not one of your cookie-cutter conglomerate shops which you can find on any corner in any city in any country of the world. My shop is small, run by two sisters who share the work part time. On the outside it is unimpressive - a regular storefront in a 1970s era strip mall. The windows are covered with sticky see through vinyl which lets some light in but keeps the world from peering in at the regulars who hold up inside. As I enter the shop, I am at first assaulted with the delicious aroma of fresh brewed coffee. While this shop offers the typical "double-tall-non-fat-half-decaf" specialty drinks we all know and love, the two sisters also keep several different types of regular drip brew around all the time, for the hard-core who like their coffee black and bitter. The smell is a mixture of Arabica beans, Colombian blend and Sumatran with a hint of Oriental Chai mixed in. If you go early enough in the morning, the smell of the baked goods that come in from a nearby bakery are mixed in with the coffee smells, and it is enough to make your mo
Conversation in my shop is held to a minimum. It is not frowned upon, but somehow the timbre and tone of the place does not lend itself to confidences or idle chatter. All the same, the other denizens and I do not huddle over our drinks like rummies in a dive bar. A nod of the head, a few moments of eye contact. That is all we need to acknowledge that we are all here to experience the same moment. Soft music is always playing; usually some jazz but sometimes the pierced girl will vary the mood with a CD of Pink Martini. Each chair has one or two small side tables nearby, none from the same era or style but each one in a dark wood and scarred with old watermarks and even some cigarette burns, although smoking in the shop is strictly prohibited. These marks give the tables a sense of dignity - they are old warriors come to rest in a quiet and safe place, living out their days as a home to magazines and coffee mugs and the odd scone. As I look around me, I see an eclectic mix of books and magazines free to the reader but don't take them home. Based on my whim, I can see the latest fashions from Milan, read about the NASCAR standings, gauge the stock market or simply peruse the latest gossip about Britney and Jessica. A full set of the Encyclopedia Britannica from 1967 fills a bookshelf, and I can amuse myself at anytime reading about the exploits of Captain Cook or the reproductive cycle of frogs. The magazines are always changing, the books are always the same, giving a
Some common words found in the essay are:
Refugees Goodwill, , Sumatran Blend, Oriental Chai, Pink Martini, Captain Cook, Encyclopedia Britannica, Britney Jessica, usually head, pierced girl, coffee shop,
Approximate Word count = 1005
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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