There’s a silence now and a shiftshit in the island air. I can feel it sniping through the cracks in my old stones. The afternoon sun is a dalliance, and then said sun dunks down into Australia, or wherever and turns into their friend, leaving shiver tails of cold. I light my fire. It’s up to me to do that these days. The light, I am watching it, tumbles into umber yellow grey, the wind rising. The forecast is compromising ferries, la la la. I tie down my wheelies, close my garage door. It’s only 56mph the morra, but it will probably arrive early like an infuriating guest for a party with a confident Halloo, when you’ve barely got into your corset, never mind the slinky dress.
I don’t think much of the outside world comes slowly. It comes suddenly when you’re busy with all the stuff of life, the noise of it, the intercantobulation of dealing with a thousand things in a single day, every day. I think about that in my singular life, in the soliloquy of just one voice, one woman, and even in that life there are Suddens, because everything changes all the time, no permission required. And they bring noise and alteration and acceptance, defiance, reliance. We have met that this week in the Best Cafe Ever. A small team because Why Not, it’s the end of the season? Not. This week we have experienced a surprise of customers. We were prepped, the chef and Jess there early, me clocking in at 0900, all in place, lights on, ready. But I know we didn’t expect the inflow of customers. They came and came and kept coming. The Suddens. Who were they? Those who come for Autumn; half term parents with wee ones, adventurers who love the chiaroscuro of this time of year, single travellers, many interesting folk. Were we ready? Did we have enough food? Oh we worked with that, talked about it, made decisions, wanting to make everyone happy. It is such a multicolorum. And that is a dynamic that all such cafes have to work with.
In the Servery, when we met, we laughed and talked nonsense and rolled our eyes and cleared tables, separating the ones shoved together in order to allow new customers in twos to have their space. I met many beautiful dogs and their smiley owners, a blessed pause in the wheel of the work mill. I talked about words and their meaning, the way grammar was not taught to my children, the way words can upspell a mind, create curiosity and a skidder through the woods of learning. I brought up a word.
Subito. Means Suddenly. However, that word in Thesaurus or Dictionary is ‘strangled’ by the next word right beside it. Repente. repent. I am ‘suddenly’ ashamed of what I have sought answers from for all my years of writing.
We will laugh about that tomorrow as we lay place for whoever arrives wanting coffee, tea, cakes, lunch, company. What matters now is not grammar. It’s connection, and the fun this wee team can generate in a sudden moment.
