Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth
to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!
This Episode: The Bean that Salvages Morning... Its Coveted Rewards!
For many humans, those who regard early morning rising as an agony and a curse, heading off to clock in to one or another form of drudgery... meaning work... a cup of coffee is or can be a form of adrenaline. Maybe a necessity, like an injection of life-saving medicine. A magic potion that jump starts the brain and possibly the heart as well.
For me, my fondness for coffee began sometime in the early 1970s, in Seattle, Washington, when certain now-famous coffee purveyors set up shop in Pike Place Market, one in particular, perhaps needless to add. Several other coffee houses followed, some better than others in terms of flavor and variety of recipes and concoctions, some lavishly decorated with artistic designs.
In my GeezerHood, my fondness for good coffee has grown into a kind of obsession, as if one addiction has supplanted another... alcohol for java beans... and that sweet sense of resurrection sends happiness coursing through the intricate roadmap of arteries to its destination brain!
Perhaps I should elucidate! I really like good coffee!! Currently, SweetHeart and I have two favorite coffee destinations: Colectivo and Stone Creek, the former either Prospect or Oakland or Lakeside, the latter on Downer and Park. Naturally we've enjoyed other locations -- including a few in Madison. I mean, we're explorers... adventurous to a fault!!
Sadly, I don't have as much time as I'd like to be a coffee house character these days, as the necessity to earn a living interferes with my social calendar, my love for the bean. When we do have a moment to lounge and sip the juice of the gorgeous brown elixir, we note that
there is and should be no expectation of privacy in a coffee house. I overhear young people overusing the word "like" as they discuss boy and girl friends, jobs, varied relationships, parties, hangovers, school, books, hair, lip rouge, fashion, piercings, hair....
Older habitués talk about politics, lots of political stuff, relationships, marriages and divorce, books, careers, social engagements, theatre, opera, children and the challenges that children bring to themselves and their parents, grandchildren... politics. The holders of public offices that they can and cannot stomach... "How in the name of all that's sacred did that idiot get elected..."
Topics of that nature.
The other aspect of, "There's no expectation of privacy in a coffee house..." is something that annoys the hell out of those of us who are "regulars." Certain patrons tend to stand way back from the coffee clerks' counter, that is, back from the patron currently at the counter, as if in a
healthcare facility, like a hospital registration counter, or a bank!! I mean, what the hell... "Is the guy in front of you ordering a caramel machiavelli infused with opium or ecstasy? Move up, for f-ing sake... This aint no doctor's office!! You can actually overhear someone ordering a double-dip latte with a shot of non-fat raspberry syrup, calotropis, chia seed extract and figwort!! Everyone know it's not a secret code or a nefarious contract...!!" (Or is it... I may have to pay greater attention...??!!)
Nevermind... Back to the bean and the coveted rewards it provides. In my / our long-standing patronage of Colectivo, for example, I've managed to amass 1,000,000 rewards points, probably worth approximately $900.00 in coffee beverages and bags of beans. Lately, I dropped down to something just fewer than 900,000 points, owing to the children's insistence that "you have to start spending those points!..." But I'll get the balance back to more than a million! I's a mission, one I do not take lightly!
My children have been battling over who gets the coffee card in the will!! I ask them not to speak of my point balance so loudly as I fear some scofflaw or assassin might overhear, and conspire to bop me in the head and make off with my card!!! "I mean to say, children, it's worth a small ransom! I must swear all of you to absolute secrecy!! Whisper of it among yourselves if you must, however... If you do not heed my warning, I shall cash in my points and make off to an island with my beans!!" (In the words of Clouseau: "...That got them thinking... eh Hercule!")
Let us give thanks and praise to Ethiopian goat herd, Kaldi who, it is written, first discovered the potential of the BELOVED BEAN. Kaldi, according to "Legend," discovered coffee after noticing that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energized that they roamed the night without sleep! (That last part's a bit hard to swallow -- if you'll forgive the expression... I find that I can sleep soundly in almost any circumstance, except after hearing certain politicians speak!! Thank you...)
[Special Note of Dedication and Gratitude: With profound thanks to Beloved Daughter, Bethie, who suggested that a brief treatise on coffee, favorite houses of imbibing and certain rewards for purchasing and consuming great quantities of the stuff, might be an interesting (the word "interesting" is intended merely editorially, based on reactions and opinions of the multitude!) addition to one's canon of Geezer Writings, thus encouraging this edition. With great praise, Amor and Abrazos to the aforementioned dedicatee, and sincere thanks to potential readers... the perpetrator remains your humble if not entirely obedient servant...]
For many humans, those who regard early morning rising as an agony and a curse, heading off to clock in to one or another form of drudgery... meaning work... a cup of coffee is or can be a form of adrenaline. Maybe a necessity, like an injection of life-saving medicine. A magic potion that jump starts the brain and possibly the heart as well.
For me, my fondness for coffee began sometime in the early 1970s, in Seattle, Washington, when certain now-famous coffee purveyors set up shop in Pike Place Market, one in particular, perhaps needless to add. Several other coffee houses followed, some better than others in terms of flavor and variety of recipes and concoctions, some lavishly decorated with artistic designs.
In my GeezerHood, my fondness for good coffee has grown into a kind of obsession, as if one addiction has supplanted another... alcohol for java beans... and that sweet sense of resurrection sends happiness coursing through the intricate roadmap of arteries to its destination brain!
Perhaps I should elucidate! I really like good coffee!! Currently, SweetHeart and I have two favorite coffee destinations: Colectivo and Stone Creek, the former either Prospect or Oakland or Lakeside, the latter on Downer and Park. Naturally we've enjoyed other locations -- including a few in Madison. I mean, we're explorers... adventurous to a fault!!
Sadly, I don't have as much time as I'd like to be a coffee house character these days, as the necessity to earn a living interferes with my social calendar, my love for the bean. When we do have a moment to lounge and sip the juice of the gorgeous brown elixir, we note that
Older habitués talk about politics, lots of political stuff, relationships, marriages and divorce, books, careers, social engagements, theatre, opera, children and the challenges that children bring to themselves and their parents, grandchildren... politics. The holders of public offices that they can and cannot stomach... "How in the name of all that's sacred did that idiot get elected..."
Topics of that nature.
The other aspect of, "There's no expectation of privacy in a coffee house..." is something that annoys the hell out of those of us who are "regulars." Certain patrons tend to stand way back from the coffee clerks' counter, that is, back from the patron currently at the counter, as if in a
 |
| There are many outstanding coffee purveyors in Milwaukee. Visit Phoenix, for example, on Fond du Lac Ave. just west of 35th Street!! |
Nevermind... Back to the bean and the coveted rewards it provides. In my / our long-standing patronage of Colectivo, for example, I've managed to amass 1,000,000 rewards points, probably worth approximately $900.00 in coffee beverages and bags of beans. Lately, I dropped down to something just fewer than 900,000 points, owing to the children's insistence that "you have to start spending those points!..." But I'll get the balance back to more than a million! I's a mission, one I do not take lightly!
My children have been battling over who gets the coffee card in the will!! I ask them not to speak of my point balance so loudly as I fear some scofflaw or assassin might overhear, and conspire to bop me in the head and make off with my card!!! "I mean to say, children, it's worth a small ransom! I must swear all of you to absolute secrecy!! Whisper of it among yourselves if you must, however... If you do not heed my warning, I shall cash in my points and make off to an island with my beans!!" (In the words of Clouseau: "...That got them thinking... eh Hercule!")
Let us give thanks and praise to Ethiopian goat herd, Kaldi who, it is written, first discovered the potential of the BELOVED BEAN. Kaldi, according to "Legend," discovered coffee after noticing that after eating the berries from a certain tree, his goats became so energized that they roamed the night without sleep! (That last part's a bit hard to swallow -- if you'll forgive the expression... I find that I can sleep soundly in almost any circumstance, except after hearing certain politicians speak!! Thank you...)
[Special Note of Dedication and Gratitude: With profound thanks to Beloved Daughter, Bethie, who suggested that a brief treatise on coffee, favorite houses of imbibing and certain rewards for purchasing and consuming great quantities of the stuff, might be an interesting (the word "interesting" is intended merely editorially, based on reactions and opinions of the multitude!) addition to one's canon of Geezer Writings, thus encouraging this edition. With great praise, Amor and Abrazos to the aforementioned dedicatee, and sincere thanks to potential readers... the perpetrator remains your humble if not entirely obedient servant...]
Humbly Submitted, 05-08-19 -- Joel K.
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