Lunch

I sometimes ate lunch in the courtyard. There were two or three benches along its perimeter, under the few shady trees. When the weather was pleasant I would go to one of the benches with my lunch and eat there. It was a solitary place. People seemed to use other entrances and exits to the surrounding buildings; very few entered or crossed the courtyard.

There was a chapel in the courtyard. Mass was offered daily at noon. I went to mass sometimes but not every day. I liked to take lunch late in the day.

I would sit and eat, the sun warming away the chill from the air conditioned offices. Birds always gathered on the brick pavement ready to peck at dropped food. They got surprisingly close, as little as a foot away. Other lunchers must have trained them to come so near with bribes of food. I never fed them, having read that processed human food is toxic to wildlife. I never thought to buy birdseed to scatter; probably couldn't spare the cost.

And I enjoyed the view. The brilliant orangey bricks of the chapel often against a deep blue sky was an artistic contrast of complementary colors. I brought a drawing pad with me occasionally to try to get it down on paper. I was using pastels at the time; they are so immediate.

I never had time to finish on my afternoon break. I never came to the courtyard during off hours to work on the drawings. So this remains a fragmented record.