On my walk home yesterday, I stopped outside a bakery to tie my shoe. A cat was sitting beside the door, watching a red ball roll along the pavement. It soon lost interest and looked up at a bird on the roof. Inside the window, a woman placed fresh bread and a small cake in a bowl-shaped display. For a minute, the busy street felt quiet.
I see small pauses like this often in the city. People stop to check a message, greet a neighbor, or wait for a light to change. We are usually going somewhere, but these little moments make the walk feel less like a race. The cat did not care about my plans, and the bird had its own view of the street. I tied my shoe and carried on, glad I had looked up.
