Back on the lake shore

Winter comes to California too. The sky is grey, we bundle, we spend a bit more time indoors. I'm at Pete's Coffee (and Pumpkin Spice Latte) on Lakeshore Ave, perhaps the most humanly diverse street in Oakland and contender nationwide. The diversity isn't just in the faces, but also the exchanges. No dialog catches me off guard, no matter how disparate the accents. No embrace looks out of place; there are a lot of friends on this street.

Even my nemesis, the traffic, seems harmonious here, though it steals 6 lanes and provides barely a weekday bus.

My thoughts are on Wendell Berry's Human Economy versus the Great Economy. A second read of the chapter is clarifying the concept, though my head still spins to sleep while reading it because it conjures the thickness of thoughts familiar to bedtime.

French is on my mind too, and German, old affections and new ones. I want to live simply in a world where it's easier to be extravagent. I fantasize about a train trip to Yosemite, or Colorado, or winter in Québec City.

Today's a study day. The New Year brings new distractions, so I'd better savor the penultimate day of down time.