An email asked me...

...if you died tomorrow, what would you want people to learn from your life?
If I died tomorrow I'd want people to learn joy from my life.
Joy in crisp wind, choppy water, dive bombing mocking birds, the way golden retrievers' hair looks like silken waves when they chase a frisbee, the warmth of a smokey ill-built fire, hot press-pot coffee from ethiopia when waking up cramped and sore after a night under the stars, seeing children's faces light up when they learn about how the nine times table works, their dropped jaw as a raven steals from a killdeer's nest, beavers floating in a half-frozen pond, the knowledge that someone has just met Jesus and have fallen at His feet is adoration, discussion about theology and how it's not a task only of ancient pedagogy to be thus dismissed, friends in far places that remember to write, red-winged black birds kareeking to each other among the cattails, knitting a warm hat for a little one to keep her ears warm, the touch and sight of natural textiles, the slubbiness of linen, the softness of alpaca, the strength of cotton, the smallest things like a nutchatch walking upside down on a tree, how themes are woven into novels, how butter makes things taste better, clothes that do things like insulate, wick moisture or keep rain out while not making you overheat, cars that don't break down, warm fresh-baked whole wheat bread, unconditional love, quirkiness, God being bigger than all your fears, truth, and hymns from scripture:

I know not why God's wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Not why, unworthy, Christ in love,
Redeemed me for His own.
But "I know whom I have believed
And am persuaded that He is able
To keep that which I've committed
Unto Him against that day."
~Daniel Whittle

for Peet's sake

peet’s is my all time favorite coffee roaster. of all time.

life increased in beauty when they decided to open coffee shops throughout the western continental u.s. i can’t remember the first one i visited, but we’ll just say it was walnut creek, california, off of ygnacio parkway. because my cousin worked there and it’s my first memory of a peet’s.

and steadily since, they’ve graced the Pacific side with shops selling not only their delicious beans but coffee drinks as well. i never knew a cappuccino could be so wonderful.

did you know they have loose leaf tea, as well? black currant is amazing. so is the royal Darjeeling.

we have often thought that our future relocations should, in fact, be determined by the location of a Peet’s. interesting fact: there are no Peet’s in Montana. bummer, huh?

skip ahead several years and we find ourselves in the Portland metro area. and while i don’t expect the ‘Couve to have a Peet’s the nearest one (to our chagrin because we knew the distance could not keep us away but just prolong the travel and increase the gas bill) was in the Hollywood district of Portland.

but... as the Lord shines His rays of happiness on His children, even in the minor details of life, He has granted us a Peet’s in the ‘Couve. and all this month the festivities roll.

on fridays when you buy anything, you get a ¼ lb of beans free. (this is an invaluable event inasmuch as i have thus discovered the bean of the year: Sierra Dorado Blend. so complex you can have it as a meal all on its own. also, while drinking it you can sing “El Dorado... Reno’s shining star... feel the excitement!” an old jingle for a casino/ski resort of some kind from the early 90’s.)

free coffee is available 1-3 pm and you can choose what size you want. and yes, i get the large, and no, i can’t get through half of it. but harken to this fact, dear reader: reheated Peet’s drip coffee tastes better than the americano or coffee any other chain can offer. every time.

one important understanding must be made. don’t microwave in the paper cups. it gets plasticky smelling. but even then, it’s the health issue that’s a concern. not the taste. reheating is king.

is this necessary? is this... pathetic? is this ghetto?

to which i respectively respond: yes. probably. and most definitely.

pursed and furrowed

that described my lips and brow as the lady at the coffee shop gave me her timid 2 cents about why she served my iced doppio in a 8 oz instead of 12 oz like she said she would. so i questioned it, of course. she replies:
"are you going to milk in it?"
(is that any of her business? i might just put a bit of hydrocodone in it, too. what's it to her? she might call the cops. this is, after all, a christian coffee shop [now there's a subject for future discussion])
"just a bit of half & half" (as i am on a breve kick this summer)
"okay, cause then we would usually charge you for a latte. just to let me know."
(didn't she see me counting out nickels to pay for this out of obligation for using their wireless service?) and (duh. the extra cost is why i asked for a doppio on the rocks. again, i only use a little half & half.)
"well the lattes are too strong" (full of milk i mean)
latte infers the heating of milk, yes? when you pour 2 shots of espresso on ice and add 2%, how can that be considered a latte? allow me to paste from the dictionary website maintained by none other than Princeton University (if we can't trust them, who can we trust?)
latte n : strong espresso coffee with a topping of frothed steamed milk
ha! at what point does the pouring of everyday (non-organic and 2% i might add) milk from a jug constitute a latte?
seems to me the extra price of a latte results from the energy spent in heating said milk under a potentially dangerous situation (every had a steam burn? ouch?) and that is clearly not what would have happened here. clearly she would add a bit of said "jug milk" to my doppio and ice. cause i know she wouldn't have heated the milk and then added to the espresso. would she have? heated then cooled milk? hm.
there's so much to learn about the barista's life. so much.