Something.

I sit on a bus stop bench waiting to transit to work. To my right across the street a low green tiled roof bank building. It looks oddly Japanese with its wide roof and high peaks.

I am in Hungary.

There are a few ten-storey apartments that crowd the roadway. Panel houses, they are called. I’ve just crossed the street and visited one of the tiny, dusty vendors at ground level. One hundred-twenty forint for a dull, robusta bean espresso. The click and buzz of the machine, the taste of powdery coffee was just what I needed. Something warm to wash down a few bites of egg washed sugar-and-walnut pastry. The perfect morning.

I had just come from a local transit office. I’d forgot my transit pass and was fined nine hundred forint. This is the hum of life these days. Coffee, pastry, transit, work. It’s a good rhythm.

We continue to wear masks when we are out. And we have our curfew: home from 8 p.m. till 5 a.m. Then there are the Christmas decorations downtown. The lights are strung up. We are waiting for them to be illuminated.

These days we sit and wait. We watch. I think like so many we watch and wait to see what will happen next. But we have our simple pleasures. The baking, coffee, routines, work and the hope of Christmas. The lights are slated to be illuminated on Friday. We need that.

Life is good. We have so much, and, I think, we are grateful.

Here’s to your day. To being together and with the ones you love. Have a cuppa joe, your favourite tea or pékség (baked delight) and smile.

It’s all worth it, you see. Life is good.