The counter was already occupied
My kitchen has enough counter for either cooking or owning a toaster. On Saturday I tried to do both. I had invited a friend for coffee and announced, with the confidence of someone who had not checked the cupboard, that there would be fresh cookies. There was one baking tray. There was one clean bowl. There was, mysteriously, an entire drawer of lids that fitted nothing. My friend arrived while I was moving the toaster to a chair.
Waiting became the activity
We mixed a small batch of cinnamon cookies and discovered that one tray means a lot of waiting. I was about to apologize when she sat down on the floor, back against the cupboard, and asked about my week. Not the efficient version I usually give. The real one. The first batch cooled while the second waited its turn. We drank coffee from mismatched mugs and argued pleasantly about which cracked cookie had the best shape. Nobody suggested buying another tray.
Enough is a useful quantity
By the time we finished, the kitchen looked worse and the afternoon felt better. She took four cookies home in a container whose lid we actually found. I kept the smallest one for the washing-up interval. I had imagined hospitality as producing everything on time, at the right temperature, in an orderly room. Instead it was a friend being willing to wait, and me finally stopping long enough to let her. The toaster stayed on the chair until Sunday.
