Often before I even get inside, Ken\u00adny, Ran\u00addi or Alex sees me com\u00ading from across the street, pours me a cup of cof\u00adfee, and places it with the cross\u00adword puz\u00adzle at my reg\u00adu\u00adlar seat. A small act that, more than any\u00adthing, makes this writer feel a lot less lone\u00adly.<\/p>\n
I always exchange hel\u00adlos with Thanasi\u2014the gra\u00adcious owner\u2014and some\u00adtimes I vis\u00adit with oth\u00ader regulars\u2014people whom I know only by first name, and with whom I inter\u00adact only at the din\u00ader. Reg\u00adu\u00adlars like Bill, who, at close to 80 years old, walks five miles with his wife every day. Or Wayne, a fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading, semi-retired man who flies planes and trains hors\u00ades. Or Helen, an eru\u00addite Greek woman with a thou\u00adsand sto\u00adries to tell.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/3860933890_988ef2ba87.jpg\")
<\/a>The Mill\u00adbrook Din\u00ader. Best cof\u00adfee in the coun\u00adty.<\/p><\/div>\n
I like to read in the din\u00ader, but most\u00adly I drink a lot of cof\u00adfee there, and I write. (Pop\u00adu\u00adlar def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of a writer: \u201ca device that con\u00adverts caf\u00adfeine into words.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Over the years I\u2019ve writ\u00adten and edit\u00aded thou\u00adsands of words in the Mill\u00adbrook Din\u00ader. Sto\u00adries. Jour\u00adnal entries. Exec\u00adu\u00adtive speech\u00ades. Video scripts. Plays. And the Dako\u00adta nov\u00adels (see ads to right). Most recent\u00adly was a 10-minute play for an upcom\u00ading play fes\u00adti\u00adval<\/a>.<\/p>\n