Sap rising

I left in the last light and arrived in the dark; a cloying bout of cabin fever salted by a bigger picture (and longer lasting) existential crisis, caused me to
drive the 22km - through a toll gate and past the neighboring town - to the Seattle Coffee shop at Millys on the N4 highway.
It's good to anonymously sit here with my cafe mocha watching the world go by, not unlike being in limbo at a busy border post.
The petrolport, perched on the side of the N4, is like sitting in a box, albeit with good coffee, of all-sorts.
People watching soothes me; I'm also reminded in the process that our lives are the manifestation of our choices; also that - in fact - there is no future, no past, just, just the present.
I'm about to return home and soak in the bath.
I left lamps on to fade-to-light the winter darkness, and my bedroom fireplace in should be roaring with warmth and firelight.
It's a freezing cold day, the worst - for me - of the winter.
But I'm looking forward to getting back into - relatively speaking - my 'routine', but also to tack in a new direction; the bay of my existence is altered, it's also time to sail out to sea...especially with the sap rising in the trunks of skeletal-bare trees - as spring is no longer that far away.