Lyon Cafe

The screeching BART mixes with chirping birds beneath an ominous, ashen sun. The headlines today are simple: “Plea for help as the bees disappear,” “Ruling’s Ricochet: A right to own guns,” and “Widow pleads for death penalty.” Our habits of pesticides and farming monocultures may be the smoking guns as the population decline. The Supreme Court interprets the 2nd Amendment for the first time in history, affirming the right of every American to own a gun. I can’t help but scratch beyond the front page to the movie Wanted, where the main character is liberated from his desk job to become an assassin, or to any story my students would tell of daily life in East Oakland, where guns and violence are social currency. While we may have the right to own them, do we know what to do with them? Crunched between the horrifying story of a woman whose family was killed and the massive disappearance of our bees, it is hard to watch the sun burn behind the ash without thinking that Charon is driving the trains all those people are buzzing to.

If there is a cinder of apocalyptic fatalism in this Friday air, it disappears when I sit down at the Lyon Café, which blooms across from the Rockridge BART at the corner of College and Miles. The house coffee, an organic Sumatra, warded off the morning headache but could have been stronger. Most of the folks walking in are picking up coffee on their way to or from the BART, and as only one or two take the time to sit down I find myself sipping with the traffic outside. The constant stream of commuters is great people-watching (even if most are skirt-suited women and sleeveless-fleeced men), but leaves me feeling like I should be doing something more active to keep up with all the bees… like fighting global warming, or at least contributing to it. For my ears, a pleasant mix of quiet chatter and low music that somehow all sounds like Paul Simon’s greatest hits. The café is decorated simply, with a modernist feel and paintings on the walls. You’ll find the BART schedule on a monitor, flyers, newspapers, and WiFi available. The counter offers a standard selection of pastries and croissants. Overall, it’s a great spot to reload on your way to take the BART and do your part to fight global warming, hopefully unarmed.

Enjoy your break slow, dear reader. After all, if the front page pollinates our courtrooms we’ll be vigorously pursuing the death penalty for anyone who uses the gun we’ve vigorously protected their right to own.

Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.