Day 19: What is the value of coffee?

It is difficult to put a value on coffee for me since I cannot really talk or function until I have my morning fuel. It may be genetic because I see that one of my sister's is the same as I am; don't talk to us until that coffee is finished and our cups are empty; we're useless and functionless until then.  It must be amusing to watch us together, comatose staring out the window in her living room, until the coffee cups are empty and we begin to talk once again.


I am a caffeine sensitive individual so I cannot have any more coffee after my one (large) cup in the morning so the act of this one cup is so special and wonderful it is hard to describe, especially when I watch others have their afternoon pick me up or even an evening cup of coffee. Joe can drink coffee right before he goes to bed.  How is that even possible!


The smell of coffee is almost as important as the taste, maybe more.  Each morning I hear the beans in the grinder and my heart perks up a bit; then the sound of the coffee being made and that oh so special beep when the coffee is ready.  I am so impatient for it that I have to call to Joe and ask where the coffee is?  He enjoys my weakness and laughs heartily.  (It's his job to bring me the coffee, one of our rituals as you know.)


I think that most people who have food limitations understand how special it is when you are given your one chance to enjoy something like this.  Some people would argue that coffee is a limited moment of enjoyment but mine lasts much longer.  Although the caffeine burst is my initial goal with coffee, it's really not about that in the long run.


As I grow older,  I am learning to appreciate subtle things more than before; the ordinary that now is not so ordinary.  


Where some people can smell a cork and roll some fabulous wine around in their mouths before they drink it (I've never had a palate that could distinguish anything like multiple flavors in a sip of wine) I have never been able to examine the subtle due to my personal nature of (not being subtle at all).  But now,  I am seeing more, feeling more, appreciating more than ever; it's called slowing down and feeling, sensing, appreciating.


Here's my list of what's so special these days:

1. Standing in the early morning sunshine (while the dog poops). The brightness on my face, the warmth of the sun, the emotional boost of the light.
2. The enormity of Florida rain storms; the power, the excitement.
3. The drama of clouds in the sky and their dynamic pathways each day.
4. The sensitivity of my little pupper, Zeffy, and how he has to always touch one of us when he laying nearby; a paw on my foot...
5. The smell of cut grass.
6. The summer breeze on the beach and the power of the ocean.
7. The smell of clean clothes hung outside to dry (I still do some of this, small rack)
8. The laughter of babies anywhere.
9. The feeling of touching a baby; those cheeks, those chubby legs; is that how my skin felt long ago???
10. The touch of fingertips of someone you love.

Ordinary is extraordinary...how wonderful!