Saturday, January 2nd, 2021

Two empty cups of noodles sit on the chess table with the best light. They’ve been there a while. After I throw them in the trash, I brush away the noodles that had spilled on the table then dried. I sit down with a book and my coffee. The Sabbath cafe is open, with just the one worker. She sits at a table with her laptop until I come in. The shops seem to have made a tacit agreement with the lockdown authorities. They’re OK with one masked person at a time coming into the shop and leaving with what they get. Tables and chairs are set up on the patio, but I go to the city square. Men with dogs and children walk by. I see a lot of scooters and terriers. A young girl is learning to ride a bike. I never have. Each time I’ve tried, I’ve ended up stopping the bike by brushing the ground with my face. In front of the sandwich shop, a man is doing something loud with a truck and a metal cart. I can’t see what it is. It involves a lot of banging. At the taxi stand, burly men with shorts and sweatshirts wait for riders to come by or call. As I read a music book, I get an idea for how to improve some visuals in my film project. I want them to work more effectively on smaller screens. I stand and throw away my coffee cup. As I leave the square, the streetlights come on, one by one.