Wednesday, August 19, 2020 - One rainy morning walk toward the Jolly Goat.

Here’s one thing that happened in New York on August 19th, 2020 - a Wednesday.

It was a rainy morning in the middle of August and the first hints of autumn could be felt in the air. Here’s what the first hints of autumn felt like. It was cold enough to walk two blocks without breaking into a sweat. Also the pulsating rhythm and noise and suffocating feeling of the sun had subsided.

Here’s another thing that happened: I walked south along Tenth Avenue and allowed my mind to decide between two or three places for coffee: Sullivan Street Bakery (47th), The Jolly Goat (47th), or Rex (north on 10th, near 57th).

Even if only for a moment, the pandemic felt like a distant memory. I felt this distance the most when I gently set the straps of my mask over my ears and set it into place over my mouth and my nose as an afterthought, rather than as an act of war and panic against a novel coronavirus.

Here’s another thing that happened: I looked east and south at the giant buildings that rise above Midtown Manhattan as I walked south along the span of 10th Avenue (between 49th and 48th street) where there’s just an open space –––– a vacant lot. Who knows what was there before? It’s empty now. There’s a rhythm to the emptiness, a beauty that has attached itself to its vacancy.

This was true this morning and it’s still true as of this writing: The Jolly Goat had a rectangular sign that hung out front that was white and glowed in yellow that read “COFFEE” in black font. It draws you in.

Here’s a description of the drink that I ordered: An earl grey tea, with steamed oat milk. It’s called a London Fog. The owner who was baristing and also working the register, Murat, and I laughed about the first time that he heard the name, “London Fog.”

Here’s what he said, something like this: “These three women, who definitely weren’t from New York, and who were definitely visiting the city –––– I could tell because they were so lively and up-up-up ––– walked in and one of them ordered a London Fog,” he said. “I had no idea what it was, but she told me it was just Earl Grey tea and steamed milk.” Easy enough on any day –––– two points plus on a rainy morning.