Especially on my days off work, sitting for a couple of hours in the Equator coffee shop is becoming quite the norm for Ken & I. Around the 8:30 a.m. mark or the 3:00 p.m. tea break hour, we can be counted on to be occupying a couple of tables so that each of us can face towards the arrival area and watch as regular and some novice patrons order their special blend of brew and maybe a sweet bite.
Many place orders ‘to go’ and a few regulars look around for their favorite gathering spot to linger over their steaming cuppa. Whether at a table, comfy settee or in a tub chair there is an ambience of a family gathering, a community living room. All ages, all sizes, all manner of dress code and a variety of diversional activities unfold once settled in ….we all belong.
There is an unforced feeling of acceptability, a rhythmic flow to the arrival and dispersment of the patrons. Conversation fills the air with a unobtrusive hum, melodizing with the gentle beat of the eclectic selection of background music.
Friendly ‘people watching’ is an acceptable pass time here but study papers, business reports, client contact, telephone calls….technology keeps everyone engaged in the world beyond the walls of the Equator. Knitting, reading,colouring…it all bears witness to the joy of finding ones bliss over a cup of coffee or a steaming blend of tea and the ritual of meeting together with like minded souls.
Old friends catching up, new friends greeting and sharing a common interest, dog lovers, motorcycle buddies, book lovers, Saturday morning dance mothers, dads and proud grandmothers, new moms with newborns in toe….the lonely, the too busy, the introvert, the extrovert, all find their niche within the artsy, loft like space of the Equator.
Crafts from Kenyan artisans, paintings, photographs, soaps, honey, tea blends, coffee beans, copies of a local creative arts paper called The Humm and the daily Ottawa newspaper allows for a dip into lives beyond our own…..coming together, sharing, taking something away……the small and the big world of the Equator.
Karen Hirst
Almonte Ontario
