The Chit-Chat Cafe. Quite a spunky little name for a spunky little coffee joint. It is located quite literally in a small "corner" of the world.
Imagine driving through busy, thriving San Francisco. Imagine finding a small stretch of road comprising part of what I think is the most beautiful highway in the world, the California Highway 1, the coastal highway. The city falls away to reveal beautiful rolling hills, then suddenly, the Pacific Ocean.
Today we stumbled once again into Pacifica, California. It is located a few miles south and west of San Francisco, and is on the route of a round-a-bout way to get back to Palo Alto from the City of Bridges.
We stopped in Old Pacifica, with it's crab-fishing pier, City Hall, a foggy windy boardwalk, and a little spunky coffee place called the Chit-Chat Cafe.
Now anyone who knows me knows I'm not much for chit-chat. Never have been, never will be. I lack that certain ease with small-talk than most of the population of, say, the WORLD, possesses. Me? No. Give me politics, give me crisis situations, give me philosophy, or faith. Give me a problem to solve, but heavens to Bessie don't make me stand in a room full of strangers for any period of time and expect me to socialize.
The Chit-Chat Cafe. Dave, Julian and I got a bowl of Clam Chowder, "The Best in Pacifica!" a slice of lemon cake, and some lattes, and sat in a small booth for awhile. We had brought along Julian's loaf of Boudin Bread (he LOVES San Francisco Sourdough!) and butter, and a small jar of blueberry granola for him. We sat happily munching our food, and looking out at the "MAX TWO LINES PER PERSON" signs emblazoned on the pier in various spots. There were about 20 people on the pier, catching their dinner. Mostly crabs. I guess there is a "Five-Inch" rule, and we watched one happy crab who was tossed back in scamper into the depths at lightening speed...all for being "four and a half" inches long. It was his lucky day.
Julian's favorite thing to do today was watch the waves come in and out, and dash on the beach and rocks. We have about 3 minutes of video of him laughing and smiling with glee, singing the whole time, watching the waves come in and out there on that little pier in Pacifica. Good times. It seems we all love the ocean.
The Chit-Chat Cafe. If someone were to come chit-chat with me, this is what they would hear....
"Why yes, I'm doing fine thank you...my son is having a kidney transplant in approximately 10 days.....What?....Oh, yes, I'm rather petrified actually.....Oh, certainly I have faith....I have faith that God's will will be done.....Yes, I know he loves us....I just don't know exactly how He will express that love in our lives and Julian's life exactly....yes, the not knowing is hard....yes, yes, I know He loves us and works all things for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus, thank you....but would you mind spelling that out in advance?....I mean, what that exactly will look like in the next few weeks?....Oh, you can't?....Yes, yes I trust Him....but I don't want Him to decide that taking my precious son to be with Him will be what His will is....not now...I want more time....Julian is my most precious little angel....I want him here with me....I'm his mother...surely God understands that....surely He knows that the desire of my heart is to love and raise Julian in the fear and understanding of the Lord...surely He'll let me do that...."
So you see, there really is no small talk or Chit-Chat with me right now. I'm in it, in the thick of it, the heat of it, and it is rather ironic that our little corner of the world, our most favorite place today, was the Chit-Chat Cafe.
