No, not the city in Cuba, the outdoor cafe in Den Haag. It's my favorite writing place lately, because it has everything I look for in a writing cafe. First, it's on a fairly major plaza, with lots of eye candy walking by for those of us who, like Chauncey Gardner, "like to watch." Second, and more important, it's situated such that the sun is behind the building, so I can use my laptop while seated outside. Third, its owners are so gracious as to have entered into a partnership with KPN (one of the big phone providers here) to provide free WiFi to its patrons. Cute waitresses, too. What is not to like in a setup like this?
While many of you in the US were experiencing heat waves, we in Holland were enduring the rainiest winter in 100 years. I think I can count 3 or 4 days all summer on which it didn't rain. This was not exactly the best news for those of us addicted to cafe society. But now we're being rewarded for our patience by a wonderful Indian summer. It's 24 degrees C. (75 F.), on a Friday afternoon, and the Dutch (a cafe-loving people) are already starting to fill up the tables for a fine night of good conversation and people-watching. At this hour in Barcelona (having recently been there), the cafes would have been this full, but the pheromone count would have been higher. Most of the patrons would have been there lookin' to get laid. In other words, they would have come to the cafe with an agenda or plan or goal in mind, and not really have been able to be "in the Now" until that goal was achieved. In Den Haag, it's kinda obvious that for the majority of cafe patrons I see around me that coming to this cafe *was* the goal. They're remarkably content with just sitting here, soaking up (in the areas of the cafe not shaded by the building) what's left of the day's sun, and simultaneously soaking up the Now. I really don't get the impression that anyone I see around me's life revolves around who they hook up with later, or whether they even do. This may be one of the reasons I'm more comfortable here in the Netherlands these days than in Spain. At my age, I rarely find myself driven by my gonads, or by the desire to hook up. If it happens, I'm not averse to that, but I neither seek nor desire it. Interestingly enough, however, this 'tude seems to be working like a charm on the attractive woman at the next table. I may have to stop typing now and see what develops. It's Havana, after all...and everyone knows that odd things happen in Havana. Maybe a good conversation. Maybe more. Who knows? That's sort of the whole point of cafe society.
