Coffee

The smell of asphalt on a hot day reminds me of amusement parks, and car fumes on an early morning remind me of busses holding teenagers ready to go skiing. And the smell of coffee, like pumpkin and peanut butter, calms me down and makes me feel at home, or at church… or maybe when I was younger there wasn’t much of a difference.

I am the daughter of a youth pastor.

My first memories of coffee are at church. My friend Leah and I would fill our styrofoam cups with creamer and sugar and a little bit of that black beverage that made all of the adults look sophisticated and grown up. And we wanted to be those things.

When I first moved to Nashville some friends of mine introduced me to Portland Brew and I fell in love with the quirky coffee shop. It has since changed and moved locations and added locations and still remained my favorite place in town. I worked at the brew for a season and it was my favorite part time job I’ve ever had. On any day I can walk in and recognize the faces here, and I have a good chance that the barista will say hello to me by name. There is nothing better on a bad day than a good cup of something hot and a friendly face that knows your name. No, I am not about to break out into the Cheers theme song… but I could.

3 years ago I gave up coffee and caffeine entirely because of some stomach issues I was having and because I would wake up with headaches until I drank caffeine. I was probably addicted. It’s been a good three years and I’ve woken up tired but headache-less, which has been nice.

But it’s June now. And we were supposed to be in our new house by June. And a person requires more than herbal tea in times like this.

So I’m thinking about revisiting caffeine, is my point.