Point Hudson Café By John Delaney
After I order, I look at the boats in the marina from my window seat, undulating like white piano keys in a light wind across the water. Gulls hover high above their masts like notes.
The breakfast chatter is just loud enough to render words into laughs. A buzzing peace. We’re a sun-up, chow-down crowd, mostly seniors and regulars from town or Retirement Vehicle residents. The sun is blinding, so some blinds come down. I examine the chart of my placemat, showing in nautical exactitude the range of anchorages in Puget Sound, the fathomed depths of each channel. Somehow, with our Good Place Sense, we found our way here. And now comes the food and my attention turns more practical to an egg, a pancake, and one piece of bacon: the chef’s special from the chalkboard menu. Leashed to schedules, some are led away, but there’s nowhere I need yet to go. I am moored in thought, idling my spoon in a cup of coffee, while today sends an RSVP to tomorrow.
Eifel Kreutz—stock.adobe.com Jasmin Merdan—stock.adobe.com
Halcyon Days - 2021 Issue 23 | 27
