Gratitude Monday: a break in the weather

We caught a break, weatherwise, at the weekend here in the District They Call Columbia. When I stepped out Saturday morning around 0630, I was struck by…coolness. Like, in-the-60s coolness. So I bagged all thoughts of taking a break from exercise and headed out to the local Saturday morning farmers market.

I made a slight detour in my route to check out the progression of the water lilies at the corporate campus next door. And, yep—they’ve taken over more of the pond since the previous week:

  

Even with the detour, and some faffing about at home before I left, I still got to the market about 30 minutes before official opening. So I sat at the little coffee house (overpriced, but at least not Starbucks), wrote in my journal and watched people. This is one of the things I miss most about my current life: the morning observations at a table, fountain pen to paper, sipping a café au lait or a latte.

I was grateful to have the good weather, which enabled me to sit outside, because the coffee shop people had music just blaring inside, in a very small space. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

The farmers market is held in the oldest shopping center in the People’s Republic, and the ambience retains a strong element of the Elder Times. The coffee house has gone through several incarnations, but the current one really suits the ethos of the place, so it makes an excellent vantage point for watching the natives. And I was particularly taken by this couple:

The dog waited with absolute focus while its human was inside getting his coffee. Clearly this was not their first Saturday morning there. I was interested to see that, when the human emerged and got settled, eventually he rummaged in his pocket and fished out a treat for the dog.

When the market opened, I wandered around  and bought a baguette and some summer squash, and then headed home. It’s a good day when you’ve racked up your 10K steps before 0900. Kind of sets you up for the rest of the day.

It’s quite rare that you can turn off your AC in July, and just have the windows open. We’re going to get back into more seasonable temperatures (and humidity) this week, so I’m very grateful for two temperate days this weekend.