West Texas "Starbucks"

Five days in Snyder, Texas and I finally find my oasis in the desert.  I have located the small cup-o-joe establishment called "The Manhattan."  I love this place.  It's got art on the walls, it's on the town square, it's got a front porch with cable-spool tables and yard chairs, great music and great coffee-drinks.  It's got a local flair about it, but it could be in the arts district of Houston or the family-friendly downtown of Fort Worth.

I'm sitting and working a little and lo and behold a friend walks in and sits down and we share a conversation for about 30 minutes.  She leaves and I think to myself, "What a great third place!"  

"Third Places" are those middle-ground, neutral locations (not work and not home) where people have traditional gathered to converse and share thoughts and ideas about life, family, work and even spirituality.  They seem to be more available in larger populated areas, rather than rural communities.  I guess that is because they may not sustain the customer volume that is needed to maintain the business end.  For instance, i've been here working for almost 2 hours now and I have only seen about 10 people come into the shop.  At home, I see 10 people in Starbucks every 8 minutes.  It's just a volume issue.

I actually think I like the Manhattan better than Starbucks though.  It's a community place.  It's a neighborhood place, run by neighborhood people.  I feel at home with the urban feel when I'm inside, but I loved sitting on the porch gazing at the courthouse and seeing the 4x4 trucks pass by, as well as the painted store windows supporting the local Snyder Tiger football team.  Oh, how fresh.

IKE UPDATE:  I am going to be in Snyder for another 4 days, it looks like.  Not because I can't get into my house, but because I can't fly back to Houston with Graysen yet.  Rhonda and Garin are at my parents' home about an hour away from us.  We apparently have a little bit of shingle damage on our house, but that's it.  Our electricity is back on.  Rhonda is planning to go walk-through the house to see how it made it on the inside, but all indications are that we came through unscathed.  We may all be separated, but we are all safe.  Thanks to all of you who have texted or called to check on us.  We are blessed to have friends like you.

LIFE'S BETTER ON THE PORCH

Today, my office is the Starbucks on 528 at 518. As I work on our new website, I noticed a new Raspberry Mocha advert and I was struck by the key line, LIFE'S BETTER ON THE FRONT PORCH. In recent years, Rhonda and I have been investigating ways to live a simpler life, even as we gain complexity by raising a 6 year old girl and a 6 month old boy - not always easy. Is life really better on the front porch? I believe so and I don't even have a front porch.

We have our intimate areas of home and our business areas of work. Unfortunately, we don't always make a place for median spaces, or third-places. Places where we meet new people. Places where we connect with those around us. In past years, these median spaces included the front porch. In a society where neighborhoods were designed for engagement, people would sit out on their front porches in the evenings and converse with people passing by on their way home from work, or on their way to the store or just strolling through the neighborhood. This was a non-threatening place for neighbors to get to know each other.

I'm writing from what possibly may be the most recognizable third-place in our society - Starbucks. This morning I have seen two elderly women knitting as they discussed life, religion and politics over a cup of iced mocha. I've watched young men meet for business, young women meet for conversation. Mostly in two's or three's. I am the rarity sitting alone in the corner.

I want to live a life where space is made for connection with others. I want to find median spaces where I can engage in meaningful relational connections. My driveway is becoming my front porch.