The Coffee Time Circus

Blue, our Abyssinian, is quite a guy. When RT and I were dating on-line, I saw more of Blue on the webcam than I saw of RT. He's an eight pound bundle of energy and relentlessly curious.

He's also a one-cat circus from time to time.

Today he reprised the infamous "Flying Barfo" routine, bouncing from place to place, including (but not limited to) the top of one of our printers, RT's desk chair, and three widely spaced stair treads, as he quickly moved from the basement to the kitchen.

Although RT and I have been married for six and a half years, and share our house, our money, and all our possessions, equally, cat ownership has remained an individual responsibility, at least when one of them is vomiting his way through the house.

As close as RT and I are, we have very different ways of dealing with such things. When "my" cat (that would be Beanie) is making some sort of mess involving moist and lumpy projectiles, I prefer to stand silently by, hoping she will finish quickly and leave only one mess to clean up. RT prefers to yell, which inevitably results in the scenario referenced above.

I don't have any real objection to his methodology. In fact, it's amusing to see him (that would be RT) jumping around, waving his arms, and acting as the ringmaster in an out of control circus. And there is something remarkably satisfying in handing RT a roll of paper towels as I sip my coffee, with Beanie, for once the good cat, sitting quietly at my side.

posted by taming at 07:41 | link | comments (1)|
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Life On The Ant Hill

The coffee around here this morning is pretty damn good. It's Brazil Cachoeira da Grama Yellow Bourbon, a special screen dried lot, from Sweet Maria's. I roasted it Monday, in the garage, using my bread machine/heat gun set-up, and, as I said, its umm umm good.

I only have about three pounds of green beans left, two more of the yellow bourbon and a pound of the SM Moka Kadir blend. I am counting on Canada Post to eventually let me have the beans I ordered a few weeks ago, but you never know. I may rethink my decision to send RT to work with a thermos of homeroast until it arrives. A week or so drinking office coffee could make him appreciate the shtuff he gets at home.

Recently, there was a discussion about stash size on the home roaster list. Some folks have hundreds of pounds of greens squirreled away and others keep the coffee on hand rather low, as I do. My reasoning is that there is always another terrific coffee to try, and whilst I may regret reaching the end of one or another great bean, trying something new is more satisfying.

Life is more than coffee. Even I know that. But it sometimes seems that big things about who we are can be reflected in little things like this.

I live a small life. My presence on this earth is transitory, and I will not leave behind great art, great music, or anything beyond some fond memories in the hearts and minds of a few people who who will be here for awhile after my passing. Somehow, I don't see future generations talking about great-grandma Taming's wonderful coffee.

What I hope will live on in my descendants is a willingness to try something new, to think deeply and care passionately about the day to day details that make up our lives, without being so invested in the future, that they fail to thoroughly enjoy the present. I'd also like to think that they will have a commitment to something bigger than their own lives, as I have also done with varying degrees of success.

When I was younger, I didn't appreciate the notion that being one of many people living a small life that has integrity is important. I believed that if I didn't do something important enough to make its way into the history books, my time here on earth would have been wasted. And while I am open to the idea that I have adjusted this perspective only as a way to come to terms with the reality of how unlikely it is that I will ever do anything of "real" importance, in the end, that doesn't matter much either.

I am one of the ants of this earth. I spend my day moving no more than what I can handle from one place to another. Somehow, it's enough. 

posted by taming at 05:25 | link | comments (3)|
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