Climate and coffee

I met my friend Yvonne for coffee in Ikea yesterday, she's travelling to England today and thence to Ireland.
'Oh, lucky you, at least you'll have some chance of rain in Ireland,' I said to her. She was amazed, how could anyone not want this undending sunshine to continue?
Relentless is how I think of it. Bloody relentless. A few drops of rain and I thought my luck was in, but no, the sun just carried on frying us all alive.
Well today is overcast, and further south there were storm clouds looming, not that you can count on the signs in the sky meaning what you expect here - the mountains play tricks.

An interesting theory in the Guardian today is that climate change, the drying out and desertification of the planet, forced society to develop faster than it might have done otherwise. It's a fascinating piece because the author acknowledges that this was not necessarily a positive thing and that some people's lives got harder and life expectancy grew shorter - just like Marx said really, as we become separated from our own means of production so we become alienated.

Simmi sent me an article about a Swiss man who was caught speeding in Ontario.
'It was the lack of goats what made me do it officer.' Of course.
The article mentions that the guy was doing 100 mph in a 60 mph speed zone, but don't panic, we're not really allowed to drive at such speeds here, this would have been kph. Simmi said, 'I bet the Swiss don't have to do the test,' and she was correct, there is some kind of freak connection between the German speaking countries where they don't have to do a road test in BC, they just get given a licence. But now I wonder whether it is to do with the goats. Who knows?

Last night we saw a brilliant film. These days, spooky films don't always live up to their promise of creepiness. But 'An American Haunting' did. Haunting it was indeed, and the casting of Donald Sutherland, pure genius. I wish I hadn't seen it because then I'd have the enjoyment of it in the future. Wonderful, and like the best of this genre, enigmatic.

Back in Ikea, you get free refills of coffee. The decaf was cold. I assumed I had put in too much milk, so went and tipped mine out then refilled. Same. At a nearby table, a woman came to the same conclusion and went and told someone.
'Why do you drink decaf?' asked her friend,
'It keeps me awake,' (Ooh, just like me, I thought)
'Doesn't have any effect on me,' said the friend,
'So why d'you drink it then?'
'Ngh?'
'If it has no effect, why d'you drink it?'
'I can't get going in the morning without my coffee,' At this point, decaf woman looked over at me (I thought) and I realised I was staring at them,
'If it gets you going in the morning, why not at night?' She glanced over at me again but didn't lower her voice, except the conversation had moved on to something else. I like the combination of drinking coffee and people-watching..... and eavesdropping of course.

Jim Jarmusch's 'Coffee and Cigarettes' is nothing more than eavesdropping on people drinking coffee. It is fascinating in that it is disconnected, the way real life is. You see couples come together for coffee and cigarettes, talk, sometimes awkwardly, then go their own ways, sometimes awkwardly. We didn't even manage to finish the film and I felt dry-throated and wired.

Last week I had coffee in town. I watched the people, their body language, their self-awareness, interactions, what they wear, how they have their hair done or cut, how they sit. I observe and I judge. I judge on what they do when they get up. Do they just get up and leave all their mess on the table or do they take it to wherever the things get cleared to?

The sky has cleared again. I can see leaves rustling on the trees, but the sky is blue.
There's one cloud in my blue sky, Ben goes back tomorrow.