The Bean that Salvages Morning... Its Coveted Rewards!

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

There are many outstanding coffee purveyors in
Milwaukee.  Visit Phoenix, for example, on
Fond du Lac Ave. just west of 35th Street!!

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...]

Humbly Submitted, 05-08-19 -- Joel K.

          



   

Fashion Backward... or, A Losing Battle with Stuff Sartorial!

Memoirs of a Geezer!

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth 

to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:    Fashion Backward...  (or) A Losing Battle with Stuff Sartorial!

Over the seas of time, my beloved lifelong partner, best friend, wisest constructive critic and dearest companion -- my wife, "Sweetheart" -- has tried her best to "garanimalize" me.  That is, to change me into someone (whom she tries valiantly to make...) aware of conflicting patterns and inoffensive color combinations (with apologies to the people whose apparel matching system helped children dress themselves!). 

High Fashion and Color
Coordination at
its Zenith!  A Salute to
"Dressing for Success"!  

In the beginning was the worst, and the worst was made flash(y)... (apologies, this time, to biblical scholars and purists).  When I began to court my wife -- that was sometime in the early 70's when fashion had all but disappeared from the planet -- I had little or no imagination regarding apparel choices.  For work, I wore the same suit of clothing every Monday, every Tuesday, etc.  Sweetheart regarded as somewhat inoffensive only my "Friday ensemble." It consisted of a sort of herring bone light colored jacket, brown trousers, a white shirt and a "nubby" brown tie, all of it reasonably well color matched by me (for reasons I cannot fathom!!).

When the time came to meet her family, the entire family, she scheduled a dinner event for a Friday evening, perhaps believing, or hoping, that I would be suitably attired!  When I arrived at her front door, she exclaimed, "What happened to your Friday suit?!"  (You see, my white shirt and nubby brown tie were soiled.)

The "Lions" Tie
must have been
inadvertently
discarded, but
illustrations are
always desirable!
And Sweetheart
is fond of froggies!

"Is there something wrong with this ensemble?" I asked, innocently.  I was wearing the standard, Friday jacket and slacks, but my shirt was a collision of off-white, apricot and powder blue.  The tie was brown with gold lions stalking up and down its length.  Poor Sweetheart!  She groaned aloud.  (I think the tie actually snarled at her!) 

After a long moment during which she eyed me up and down with a certain degree of disdain...  "Oh well," she finally said, punctuated by a heavy sigh, "You may as well come in and meet my sisters-in-law and some of my cousins."  As our courtship continued and our relationship grew stronger, more committed, on the very first of my birthdays during that era, she bought me a most attractive suit of clothes, an entire outfit -- jacket, slacks, shirt and tie -- all of it magnificently matched and coordinated!  From that point onward, I was transformed!   

I think it's only right to add some historical perspective.  My father wore shirts of plaid and trousers of stripes.  He

Above is a fairly accurate
depiction of the plaid
and striped patterns my
father often chose!

dressed for practicality and comfort.  My mother often turned him around, insisting she and he return to his closet to re-dress her grievances!  When my father entered my sister's home, and her care, much later in his life, his apparel choices were similarly overruled, and his daily ensembles nicely put together by a caring daughter.   save.

One of my own daughters and her husband prefer a burn barrel for designer clothing.  Their apparel choices are eclectic, with a predilection for thrift shops.  On balance, though, I must say they are both always nicely turned out.  Our other daughter and her husband will even run half-marathons in designer labels and name-brand ensembles!  We're all individuals, with individualized tastes, styles and budgetary concerns ...or lack thereof... 

The above is an illustration of
a "Sergeant / General" in full
military regalia!  ...um...  just in
case the concept of military
"uniform" is unfamiliar to some!

In terms of what to wear, I look back with some nostalgic longing to my days in the military.  One could hardly mismatch a uniform; that is, unless one wished to court trouble via an "Article 15" or worse.  ( I knew a GI who walked around the base wearing nothing but his service tie and cap.  He wanted out of the military in the worst way.  He succeeded, receiving the worst kind of discharge for his effort!)  As for "mufti," I would merely look at the clothing choices of my fellow GI's and try to emulate their examples, sometimes with effective results, more often failing to comprehend fashion, choosing motley instead!  One of my pals in the military, Dennis V., was always magnificently attired during off-duty time.  I marveled at how he did it on military pay!  I concluded he was either a thief or independently wealthy.  

Suddenly, It Was Now Again!

An illustrative
effort to capture one's
intense dislike of the flood
of fashion catalogs that
arrive, unwanted, in one's mail.
(See para. at right please!)

Today, happily, nicely ensconced in GeezerHood, I have Sweetheart, my personal fashion consultant.  Most often, therefore, I leave the confines of my own home in outfits that will embarrass neither she nor me, nor my children.  At this point in their lives, I don't think the grandchildren would care one way or the other.  It won't be long, however...  Hmmm...  Will they ultimately choose the fashion plate or Melmac?  

I applaud those who seem to possess a natural flair for dressing themselves stylishly, whether from the best shops or from the bin.  As for me, I'll never "have a clue," and will thus follow the lead of "She with the Good Eye."  Fortunately, I haven't had to shop for and select my own clothing choices for more than 40 years, so I seem to be on a safe sartorial pathway!

I often wonder if those of us who despise malls and retail fashion stores and "cute little shoppes" come to our positions genetically.  Or is it a learned aversion?  But look here...  If you want me, I'll be in the backyard burning fashion clothing catalogs that arrive unwanted in the mails.  Gee, could it be that the burn barrel is my fashion statement of choice!?  

Humbly Submitted 03-18-15 -- Joel K.