Sitting Outside Starbucks

As I write this, I am sitting outside of a Starbucks in north Gainesville, Florida. It's early afternoon and I will soon be driving off to work. Outside, this is one of the most beautiful days of the year. The temperature is in the sixties (very mild for Florida) and the air is pleasantly dry. The shopping center where I'm sitting is one of those meticulously landscaped ones that have assorted varieties of trees, bushes, and ferns all around. The Starbucks inside is pretty crowded, but for some reason I'm the only one out here enjoying this weather and scenery. There is also a soothing, light, cool breeze floating in and out around me here. And the decorators have hung pretty holiday red ribbons up on the numerous lampposts throughout the shopping center (called Magnolia Parke). By the way, I discovered in life that if a place's name has an "e" stuck on the ends of words that don't normally have it, that means you're in exquisite surroundings and need to follow the "pinkie out" rule. On the other hand, if you're in someplace whose name has been deliberately misspelled with "k"'s in it (like Kwik Chek or Krispy Kreme), then you're free to act like a coarse slob!

Although the temperature is very mild, the Floridians around here are mostly walking around with sweaters or jackets. One young man just passed by wearing a jacket with the hood up, covering his head! I wonder what the folks up north, buried in snow, would think about that!

The only problem I have about this place is that, about a hundred feet behind me, NW 39 Avenue runs by. And it is very, very busy, as well as being a truck route. So it sounds a bit as if I am sitting right off the Interstate highway! No problem: if the noise gets to be too much, I have my trusty earplugs in my shirt pocket, ready for action! Well, I think I'll sign off and say farewell for now. There's a Stephen King book (Skeleton Crew) that I would like to finish reading in the next two or three days. Until tomorrow...