Straight from The Horse’s Mouth

One day last week a young man came into the coffee shop and ordered a latte. Probably in his late twenties and obviously not from around here, he seemed relieved to have found a bookstore. He took his coffee and sat silently by the window. He was quiet, but not creepy. I felt comfortable having him camp out at the corner table.

He produced a notebook and a pen, arranging them just so in front of him. I saw there was a lot of writing on the page he opened to, and he began adding to it immediately. I had a hunch as to what he was up to so I let him be. I watched out of the corner of my eye so that I would not disturb his process. My guess proved correct; he was a writer.

It is not a cliche that writers sit in coffee shops to write...they do. For some it is because they need people to observe. Others use cafes for the WiFi or lunch. For my writing visitor, it was to relieve the boredom of another writer's cliche...that writers sequester themselves in cabins away from any distractions. He told me that his uncle had such a cabin near Oakwood, and that he'd made it about 4 hours before he began to go stir crazy...needing a cafe to do his writing in.

I was especially happy to oblige. I understand how important it is sometimes to get out of your element, to relieve the monotony of your daily life, and to have brand new experiences every once in a while. Some writers have vivid imaginations that can take them where ever they need to go for inspiration. Others, like myself, are adventure driven and experiential. I do not have the ability to create fiction. My ramblings come from my life and how I see life happening around me.

While I have tallied up more than my fair share of adventure over the years, it is time to put everything down for a while and find another avenue for my wanderlust. No! THM isn't going anywhere...I'm simply going to take a short break from writing this column. I have creative fuel tanks that need filling and a real desire to find something else interesting to bring to Buffalo.

We are going to close on Saturdays for the rest of the summer, and might possibly take a short vacation at the end of July or beginning of August. We want to be here for our friends and customers, but as a friend of mine reminds me, if you don't put on your oxygen mask first you can't help anyone else.

Many thanks to the Buffalo Press for allowing this creative outlet, and to you dear readers, for indulging me. It has been a learning experience. I promise to come back in a few weeks with more stories to tell, different perspectives and a fresh outlook.

Perhaps I will go to Paris, and sit in cafes and write. Not!