Community Connections

You walk in to a coffee shop warm full of people as bells ring on the door and espresso machines hiss and plates and cups sing and people on lap-tops in green glasses shaped liked parallelograms read the New York Times, legs crossed, and you feel flirty and alive.

And you log on to Facebook in sweat pants in your office in the morning with a cup of coffee as your dog gently snores to scroll through status posts, add Friends, carefully study photographs of artichokes and faces of cousins and children while you yearn for parents and grandparents as you write and rewrite a comment.

And you pull out your one pair of seersucker pants and white shirt with the American flag on front to march in the 10 minute Memorial Day parade behind the Veterans alongside the school board in front of the middle school band with your daughter throwing candy to bystanders clapping as you pass the town hall gussied up in bunting heading to the monument to hear In Flanders Fields and the Gettysburg Address.

And you Google hotels in Paris and click L’Hotel Vignon that brings you to a page with beautiful piano music and intriguing photos and you remember the café filled with French words and Salade Nicoise and cigarette smoke.