The Secret of Life is...

            This morning, I made a particularly good pot of coffee. After I added in my preferred amounts of sugar and about half the amount of milk I usually have to add, I took my first sip. It’s the best coffee I’ve had all week, because it tastes like that first cup I had that made me realize, hey, coffee ain’t so bad.

            It was a summer morning. I’d gone with Bear and his folks to visit some of his family in the eastern part of the state. We’d had a rough night sleeping on a air mattress that had a hole in it. Have I mentioned how much I despise air mattresses? I’ve slept on too many that just gradually deflate over night and let me tell you, a deflating air mattress is worse than sleeping directly on the floor.

            Anyway, Bear fixed his coffee and encouraged me to take a sip, though I wasn’t a coffee drinker at all. Maestro made some my freshman year of college that just about made me swear it off, but he likes his black and extra bitter. Bear adds in a good amount of sugar and creamer.

            Bear stepped out of the room for one reason or another and I found myself taking a sip. And another. And another. When he came back, it was mostly gone. There’s just something about a cup of warm coffee in your hands, as you sit around in your jammies having random conversations with the people you shared a roof with overnight. One of the most vivid images in my mind from that morning is this tank top Mama Bear had on. It just said, in varying shades of gold and green, “Crazy Irish bitch.”

            I’m glad I discovered there is a way I like coffee and that I didn’t start drinking it until after college. It’s a luxury, not something I want to be dependant on to feel human. In the Outer Banks this past year, one of the best parts of the entire vacation was sitting around with a cup of coffee as sunlight streamed in through glass doors and the family ate a late but yummy breakfast.

            Any warm drink is a luxury when sipped on leisurely. When with a group of people drinking other hot beverages, it creates a sense of peace and camaraderie that makes being human so damn amazing.

            Happy Friday y’all. Have a good weekend! Kelswitch, over and out!