I love my local diner. For the first five and a half years I did not even set foot in it. It is a mere three miles from my house. Finally I started going there. I was waking up early and frankly was lonely. My wife was not up yet.
At first, I would just get a cup of coffee there. I was learning about the lives of the waitresses (I do not like the word server) in dribs and drabs. I learned that Sharon had almost worked there for thirty years. She loved what she did. And there was Jane and others whose lives I slowly entered.
They were making a living from serving me (and others) but it was more than that. They had running relationships with most of their customers. The local diner’s rules were pretty relaxed: I saw customers going in back of the counters and serving themselves coffee because the waitress was just too busy at the moment.
I would sit at the counter taking in all the conversations around me. You might say I was eavesdropping without being too obvious about it. I heard some big tales especially about hunting. This county shuts down when hunting season for deer starts the Monday after Thanksgiving. In fact, this state ranks two in the nation for bear hunting. Some of the tidbits and snatches of conversation I heard were fascinating.
I would not talk to too many people. I could tell some customers, particularly the men, were curious who I was. I would take my time, let them take me in. One waitress asked me if I had just moved here. It was only last summer when my town had their 200 year anniversary. I realized I had to do things a little differently if I wanted to meet people in this town.
I started watering the plants in the post office and gradually grew to know the postmaster and the other clerk: we became friends after a period of months. I would water the plants six days a week. And not only that, I would run into other people.
I started going to a local church where I felt very comfortable and met people in my community there. Going to the local diner was just another step in my involvement into the community.
Going to the diner had other ramifications: I would occasionally go to the the Susquehanna River which was less than an hundred yards away. I went there today and mist was rising in swirls from the surface of the water. It took my breath away. I have spent more time visiting the River in my town since I started going to the diner the last four weeks than in the first five and half years I have lived here. All because I am occasionally getting my morning coffee at my local diner.
It is an absolutely magnificent River. It is another world. You never know what you are going to see there. It could be a bald eagle or a great egret or some other exotic bird or creature. Usually when you least expect it. I missed having being able to walk to it which had been a five minute walk from my house in Duncannon. Now I am back. There are so many reasons visiting the diner has changed my life. Visiting The River is only one reason.
Tags: 200 year anniversary, bald eagle, bear, birds, church, coffee, community, conversations, customer, deer, Duncannon, great egret, hunting, local diner, meet people in town, morning, my wife, plants, post office, postmaster, Susquehanna River, thanksgiving, waitress
Posted in animals, beauty, birds, knowledge&learning, life, local, nature, relationships, time |
