Friday, January 8th, 2021

The small park behind the coffee shop on the city square has become a de facto outdoor cafe. After my Friday shopping, I see that the shop’s front counter is open. I approach. They tell me to order around back. I go there and look around. People are sitting at the picnic tables, on plastic chairs, and on milk crates that are lying around. A worker emerges from a nondescript door. “Do you want to order?” I ask her for a large coffee granita. I hand her money. She returns after a while with the drink and my change. I sit on a low wall, a couple of meters from the trash can. Most of the seats are either taken or too close to other clusters of people. A tighter lockdown has been in effect since midnight. I don’t see much sign of it. Only the book and clothing stores are closed. All the falafel joints but one are open for orders. People stand around, a proper distance from their doors. Before I get my coffee, I order a cheese burekas from the sandwich shop and eat it at a chess table. The usual Friday backgammon game is in progress. The owner of the hummus joint sits at a table in front of his shop. He takes to-go orders on the phone and from passersby. They stand back near where the tables used to be. He brings the completed orders to them. In the brick-lined park, sitting on the wall, I start to drink my granita quickly. I get a brain freeze, lower than usual, by the side of my nose. It eventually passes. I drink the rest more slowly. When I’m done, I get up, take my groceries, and leave. A man, walking with two small daughters and their bicycles, comes and sits on the wall where I had been.