Exhilarating

5/7/21 Roosevelt Square Starbucks

Pouring and sleeting as I drove around on errands, I was disappointed that I probably wouldn’t be able to sketch that afternoon. By the time I finished at the pharmacy, though, the rain had stopped, so I dashed into the Starbucks next door. I got the only dry table under the awning and the only dry chair (no competition – I was the only customer at the time). Chillier than I would normally tolerate for sketching outdoors, it felt exhilarating (even though I had to pull the hood up on my raincoat). And then the sun came out!

Except for one nerve-wracking adventure last July, when I didn’t even sketch, it was my first visit to Starbucks (or for that matter, any coffee shop) in more than 14 months. To sketch an umbrella’d table on an ordinary Starbucks patio felt like sheer luxury. How I have missed this tiny bit of normalcy.