At 6:30 AM it was still dark outside and the sun was just peeking as a golden glow below the blue horizon. The North Star shone brightly, but alone, above Barney’s Bargain Store, which has been in business for over twenty years, despite it being open only on Thursdays and Fridays. It sits next door to an Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlor that serves both homemade ice cream and homemade candy and likewise has been around for a few decades.
Main Street was quiet but for the patter of one person. A young woman was running half-naked through the streets with little but a red college sweatshirt, shorts and her shoes on. At 45 degrees I was mightily impressed by her perseverance, because personally I bear the cold begrudgingly.
For even as I was standing waiting for the bus with a suit and a waistcoat on I was still uncomfortably too cold.
I suppose being slightly under the weather, and somewhat lonely, only abetted this unbearable chill.
Still, watching the girl run by and noticing how even merchants of this small town survive, I was warmed by these endearing and enduring exemplars and the thoughts that set my mind to the task of positively looking forward and taking hold of the reins of Fate once again.
For, apparently, I had let them slip from my grip for what I will likely recall was a mere moment, for what seemed at the time as interminable sulking, and for what I now realize was frivolous—in light of the die-hard endurance of simple pleasures like bargains, home-made sweets and running half-naked through the streets of Bloomfield.
daily archives
l.m