Breakfast at Fritz's...

Breakfast at Fritz's...

I woke up this morning for the second day in a row with a headache. Somehow the idea of a half a Fritz Special down at the County Seat just seemed exactly what the doctor ordered. So I biked over and plopped down at the counter and place my order.

Fritz is amazing. For starters, she my business partner's aunt. So she connects me to her family and often doesn't charge me for coffee. She is a tiny woman - I'm guessing mid 60s - and bent over at the waist. I don't think she can stand up straight, so you can barely see her working the grill. But there is no doubt about who runs the County Seat!

And working the grill is an understatement. She is the queen bee. She is the belle of the ball.

The counter sits maybe 8 or 10 people, and she is on the other side. She never moves more than about two feet from her station. She can't because it is so tight. She has an assistant on the grill to her immediate right. And that woman has an assistant working to her right, grabbing stuff out of the back room. Then there are two waitresses working the front room and two or three working the back. Plus a dishwasher. Plus the greeter / cashier. Plus one or two others. A real writer could write a whole story about each of these people. Everybody is moving all the time. And there is no wasted motion. No collisions.

At least one of the waitresses is wearing the Amish cape dress and bonnet because Fritz was jerked over and hires cousins and friends of cousins. My waitress - not Amish - was Dora. She's been there for years, and this is the first I've heard her name. (At Fritz's nobody ever says "Hello, my name is Dora, and I'll be your server.")

I sat in awe at the whole scene. At one point as I was watching Frizt slice and butter toast, a plate appeared, as if by magic. It was an amazing sight. I felt I was in James Carse's "Breakfast at the Victory - The Mysticism of Everyday Experience.". Everyone (especially irregularreflections) should read Breakfast and then go sit at Fritz's counter for an hour.

Amazingly, the half a Fritz Special (or maybe it was the coffee) put my headache on the run. Then I picked up some important paperwork so I could finish my 2007 taxes. The good news is I get a refund! By 10:30 I was enroute to Macintosh greenhouse and the big box home improvement story to pick up gardening stuff. The weather was too cold and windy to do much, but it is exciting to buy some seeds and start planning.

The tax news also means that I actually can make my trip to Philippines later this year, which I'm told is NotThatFar. I'm eager to start planning.

I'm counting down to Earth Hour. I have to track down some candles and get a fire going. I don't think I have enough candles to actually read by them, and it seems kind of contradictory to jump in my car and drive around to find some.