While L. met with a client, I drove to Coburn’s for groceries and a breakfast of cheese omelet with hash browns and toast smeared with Smucker’s strawberry and grape jellies. And Tony Judt’s final book, The Memory Chalet. He was dying as he wrote it, knew he wouldn’t live to see it published. It is a lovely set of essays.
The dining area at Coburns is an architect’s afterthought, tucked behind the deli counter. Although sterile and functional, the decor has two interesting features, a series of photos of old St. Cloud and a large artificial bouquet. Among the photos is a scene showing St. Cloud to be a dusty crossroads calling itself the Granite City. It still calls itself that.
The reading room of the Carnegie library represents a more genteel version of the town. It was torn down in the 60’s and replaced with a Perkin’s pancake house boasting the largest American flag around. We have a new library now that is the pride of the city but I miss the old atmosphere where you could expect a hush from the librarian if your conversation rose beyond a whisper.
A man in a nearby booth spoke sharply and loudly into his cell phone, apparently oblivious to others in the small dining room. “It was terrible,” he shouted, “seven and a half hours in the parking lot. SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS! You can’t imagine, never thought it would end.” He paused a few seconds. “Well it’s over and done with.”
