The rain arrived just as I was leaving, which gave me an excellent excuse to stay exactly where I was.
I ordered another coffee and moved closer to the window. Outside, umbrellas appeared, scooters vanished, and the pavement darkened until it reflected every shop light on the street.
Nothing needed to be accomplished in those twenty minutes. No email had to be answered. No photograph had to become content. The rain had reduced the available options to sitting still.
We talk a lot about making time, as if time were something we could manufacture with better calendars. Sometimes it is easier to notice the time that circumstances have already made for us.
The coffee cooled. The rain softened. A bus went by with its windows fogged from the inside.
Then the street became busy again and I left. The only useful thing I had done was pay attention, which turned out to be enough.
Discussion
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