reflections in a cup of coffee

I'm sitting in the corner of a favorite coffee shop with my best friend in the chair next to me, a Carmel Dulcé and a Maple Scone between us. I smile as the sun warms my shoulders. My computer beeps; I receive an instant message from my sister--my heart is glad; the hub-bub of chatter forces silence between us in our little study-nook; I glance over, there is a glint in her eye; I type back and wait for her smile; esprit. As I watch the tide of community ebb and flow as coffee is brewed, bagels are toasted, scones are baked, and orders are delivered, I am impressed with the community that evidently exists between the friendly people. A neighborhood policeman stoops to talk to a young friend about the books he is reading. The boy must head out the door with his dad--they will be late for school. Four people crowd around a 2-person table. Another coffee is ordered and a fifth chair is scrounged up and squeezed into the circle. Parents and their two kids, swing by to pick up coffee and hot chocolate on their way to work/school. Newspaper pages flip; two more computers add to the already-long chain of laptops; another coffee is finished. It is snowing. The people are just going through their daily routines, they have shown me just what it is like to share a moment of time to invest in someone else--like the old man smiling right across from me. I have an assignment due. I must focus before my computer dies.