My whole daily routine has changed. I used to spend at least an hour doing morning chores, but now I get out of bed, put on my jeans, shoes, jacket and walk straight up into the Thouroughfare for a wake-up coffee. Loba the dog loves waking and going straight out without those tedious domestic chores to endure. The only condition is that however sleepy and disinclined I feel when I awake, I must take my saxophone with me.
As time went on I began to use the coffee terrace as my office. I sit there, watching the shops open around 8.30am, I socialise with a new raft of locals and visitors. One motorcyclist always gives me his Motorcycle News after he has read it. I spend time on my smart phone, organising emails, diary, music theory notes. Occasionally I sit with headphones, listening to music as inspiration for busking songs. The acacia tree in front of the terrace is a beautiful green, it gives cool shade and a swish of natural presence to the street scene. The location, a relaxing milieux in the centre of the Thouroughfare is occasionally a melee of reserved chairs and moaning about the queue inside at the counter.
Life has altered for 'Loba' too, we get straight up and out in the morning and spend whole days in town, between my busking pitches and 'the office' - Costa Coffee terrace, entertaining people and meeting them.
Nowadays I adore the smell of fresh roasting coffee more than ever before, with the re-grooved associations - a pocketful of coins, extra hours of saxophone practice, chatting to new people and appreciating the doing what I love most the long whole day through of Summer 2012.
