Sitting and Reading

I had the opportunity to do something very valuable for myself today.  It was merely the chance to sit in  Anodyne and drink a cup of coffee while reading a book and doing some sample roasting. 

Why is this of value for me?  As my days usually go, I work eight hours, come home to settle in my nest of an apartment for dinner and  hopefully some reflective thinking before a good nights sleep.  I know it sounds boring and repetitive but this is how my days usually are.  Everyday I see people come into the cafe, and while drinking a coffee they are usually enjoying a good book, paper or casual conversation. One of the huge reasons why I fell in love with the 'coffee shop world' was the endless amount of time I would and could spend hanging out and drinking coffee.  As of the last half year though, this has not been so.  The reading of a book in a cafe has turned into sneaking a few minutes of book time in before bed.  The newspaper has turned into an I-phone application that I read while waiting for my vegan pork-slaw to come at Honeypie's.  Most importantly the casual conversations have turned into silence.  I do not mean to sound angry or bitter (if I do), after all these are the situations I have unconsciously constructed for myself.

Today though, I sat down with seven half pounds of El Salvador samples sent to us by Aida Battle from a bunch of farms in her local region, for us to cup and hopefully for Anodyne to get in the future.  I also sat there in the cafe with some head phones on listening to tunes, reading a book, enjoying some Burundi Kayanza Andaro made with the aeropress.  It felt good to sit and take in the environment not from a working perspective.  I do not consider sample roasting a particular kind of work seeing as I love coffee, and really love great coffee (which I hope this stuff turns out to be.)  I only have a week and a half left here in Milwaukee before Courtney and I pack it all up and move to Grand Rapids.  I am trying my hardest to soak it all up.  Maybe I am feeling prematurely nastalgic about moving after a year from a place I have enjoyed so much, but I know confidently that we are ready to move on and grow in other ways and other places.

I am really glad I got a chance to sit and read today, it helps to put things into perspective every once in a while...