Sunny, mostly sunny. A bit of fog on the way into work this morning but that cleared up early. Out walking at lunch, it was perfect. Absolutely no wind. The city of Vienna was perfectly still, and silent. The air temperature was cool but still warm enough to walk around in a suit without a coat.
Still.
Just walking around in the stillness. There were no cars on the street and no people on the sidewalks.
Or in the stores. No one said anything, and when the streetcar went by it didn’t make a sound.
It was like being deaf.
I went into a small supermarket and helped myself to a sandwich, leaving a euro ninety-nine on the cash register.
I ate the sandwich as I walked through an outdoor market marveling at the spicey red peppers and orange pumpkins. Big dates and figs and nice looking fat pears.
I bought eight sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. They cost fifteen euro, for eight lousy sweet potatoes. I placed the bills underneath a pomegranate so they wouldn’t blow away in case the wind started up.
Just me, and eight sweet potatoes.