My first cup of coffee today? At 3:30 a.m. A tad early, I know. And my elixir of choice? French Roast. Black. Strong. That’s how I like my morning coffee any day of the week, including a morning like this — an innocuous “hump” day that begins well before dawn. So… Is anyone else working on an ordinary Wednesday morning cup of coffee?
Well, not so ordinary perhaps, especially for those of us who spent too many hours of the night glued to post-Super Tuesday election commentary, only nodding off for an hour or two, then waking for more commentary. (Sigh.)
Fortunately, the coffee is fresh, delicious and plentiful — mmmmm, the aroma alone is intoxicating — and my java jag is not the stuff of my mother’s perpetually percolating pot of bland brew that I recall from my childhood.
Now, I don’t think of my mother every day — our relationship wasn’t close — yet on occasion, when sipping my dark roast in the early hours, I think of her. I wonder what it was like to live that sort of life — SAHMs taking a breather when the kids were at school, sharing their worries, a bit of gossip, and surely some laughter amid their (thankless) tasks, knowing they had each others’ backs. This last, looking out for each other, is an assumption on my part, and it’s hard to know the extent to which it may have been the case.
Still, how connective (albeit bittersweet) might it be to sit across from my mother in my post-Empty Nest stage of life and discuss the world? How entertaining might it be to share opinions in the old paneled kitchen while sharing a cup of Joe?
My mother was chatty with just about anyone, and in the years before she went to work full-time, her usual day-long flow of low-octane Maxwell House must have been inviting to other stay-at-home moms in the neighborhood. And of course, who doesn’t enjoy an inducement to take a load off, enjoy a hot drink, and offer a few opinions? Isn’t it especially pleasurable with friends?
Given the state of affairs in the world these days, I wouldn’t mind hearing my Mommie Dearest expound on any number of subjects, as long as none of them were me, my private life, my parenting, or all the other aspects of my approach to life that she used to criticize. (Sigh. Yes, again.)
Other topics?
My mother was extremely well-informed, keeping up with three newspapers a day. I imagine she would have a good deal to say on how we’re managing the coronavirus. Speaking of which, my local grocery store didn’t seem to be very impacted — plenty of products on the shelves — when I cruised through yesterday to pick up a few items.
As for the aforementioned newspaper habit, allow me to share a bit of my own. I was reading a New York Times article yesterday while perched in a chair in a neighborhood establishment having my tiny handful (cough, ahem) of errant silver strands returned to their natural color. I was amused to be reading about potential recession as judged by the briskness of the barber biz in “Will the Coronavirus Cause a Recession? Keep Your Eye on the Barbershops” while patronizing my own local small, independent hair care establishment.
Not that the article itself was amusing, mind you.
For those of us whose recollections of 2008 and the financially painful years that followed remain all too vivid, we may not need a reminder of what recessions are about. God knows, surviving recession was brutal enough when we were 10 years younger. Now? Really? Must we???
The Times article offers this troubling tidbit:
… a recession is more than just a dip in gross domestic product… a recession involves a cycle that feeds on itself: Job cuts lead to less income, which leads to less spending, which leads to more job cuts.
And, pertaining to coronavirus:
As fear of the virus spreads, Americans stop going to restaurants, concerts and the movies. Airlines cancel domestic flights. Sports leagues scrap games. Hotels, museums and amusement parks close… with less revenue and no certainty on when business will bounce back, companies start laying off employees… unemployed workers pull back spending further, and others, fearful that their jobs could be next, do the same. That hurts demand for an even wider array of products, forcing more layoffs and pushing some companies into bankruptcy.
Agita-inducing?
You bet.
All the same, I’m hoping for the best, hoping that 2020 ushers in an administration that believes in science and pandemic preparedness (among other things), I’m glad that my stash of coffee beans should get me through the next two or three weeks, but…
I’m wistful for the occasional days when an old friend would invite me over to share a cup of her chicory-based New Orleans brew as we juggled chauffeuring our kids, scrambling to accommodate our work schedules, and, chewing over our worries, a bit of gossip, and opting for another pot of Joe, we always — always — found our way to laughter.
Your morning beverage (and at what hour)? Your favorite coffee (or do you prefer tea)? Your news-initiated angst (or do you meditate your way through it)? Your local supermarket shelves (are they stocked or dwindling)?
You May Also Enjoy
Good morning as I drink my own cup of coffee. Post conjured up childhood memories of my mom and aunt and their friends “having coffee”! For me a happy thought, thank you for the prompt! Not as a happy thought at all to ponder the other topics of election, virus, recession – ugh! I hope you will continue writing, I’m a new-ish follower and enjoy your contemplations from a certain age!
What kind of coffee? ? And so glad you’re a new reader!
Funny that my mum and my grandmother always spoke disparagingly of women who “had time to visit the neighbours.” Not sure where this pecking order thing originated. Maybe with my grandmother who had 10 kids, plus the two “hired men” who worked for my grandfather, to cook for and clean up after. I wonder if she thought that taking tea with the neighbours was more of an upper class thing, or more probably middle class, when my grandparents were working class. The small eastern Canadian city where I’m from was pretty class conscious. Even when I was a teenager. Well… you’ve certainly opened up my memory box today, DA.
Hope you are well despite the late nights watching politics. Hubby is the same. Glued to the television last night. Although from up here it’s easier to take an academic interest. Not so for you, I know.
My coffee comes most mornings when I sit at my office desk, after the morning rush with middle and high schoolers. But once a week on Sunday mornings my 12 year old son and I sit to enjoy a cup of coffee together. It’s one of my favorite little normal life traditions. We drink a light brew, slightly sweetened and topped with frothed cream. I love that he loves it, too.
Store patronage and sheltering –
At lunchtime Monday our normal grocery was packed as if it were Thanksgiving. Couldn’t figure out why. On Tuesday, the Costco next door had more empty shelves than normal. Again odd. There is a mall in the same area that is usually packed to the gills on weekends. This weekend should be definitive.
LOVE MY ONE COFFEE A DAY!
The brand is called MISTER COFFEE run by ITALIANS here in CALIFORNIA!
OH,I waited to get the news Yesterday!!!!!!
YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL.
I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL.
Lets hope the VIRUS does not GET US SO we have time to GOSSIP about THAT White House!
Truly, a sad state of affairs……………..UGH.
XX
Yes, sad and concerning. (Oh, the gray hair that comes in faster and faster!)
Only one cup in the morning? You are more disciplined than I am, for sure. I can manage to keep it down to two per day, but I think that’s as good as it gets for me.
I’m down to 3 cups a week now with my ongoing foray into intermittent fasting. By skipping the morning coffee, I’m fasting 18h a day (eat a normal lunch and dinner only, no snacking) and don’t miss it anymore. The coffee at work isn’t great so there was no real pleasure, just habit, in consuming it, now I treat myself to a barista cappuccino on Friday and hand-ground espresso caffe latte on weekend mornings at home.
Regarding covid-19, we’ve battened down the hatches at work, no work-related travel and self-quarantine work-at-home for two weeks if anybody travels. I feel we don’t have quality information on the distribution of ages and death rates yet, the only information I’ve found shows 60y+ are most at risk and old-folks homes are very risky at this point. Nobody under 10y has died which is interesting. Hopefully this kind of information is collected so people can evaluate risk factors with science and not hunches.
Mmmm. Your weekend coffee sounds delicious to me.
Always nice to hear from you, batticus. Stay healthy and don’t be a stranger!
Stopped here with my morning coffee, French Roast (drink mine with half and half), and found this and your last post–yay, she’s back! So happy to read this while enjoying a few quiet minutes before going off to work. Your thoughtful words and the thoughtful replies are a welcome reprieve from the news and the chaos. Keep on keeping on, whatever that might mean for you and everyone else here.
Thank you and back atcha! (Trying a new Haitian coffee this week instead of my usual French Roast.) ?