Coffee is a love thing, a heart connection. It’s something that we have great expectations about as we fall asleep in each other’s arms. A 40-ounce Stanley French press of half-caff that I hand-roasted on the back porch will welcome our day tomorrow.
Coffee is much more than a stimulant to get us moving. It’s what we wrap our hands around as we are sharing ideas back and forth. The most wonderful thing about our marriage is something that has been true since we started dating in 1977. We always have something good to say to each other. It’s like light bulbs go off in our minds and we ping pong the ideas back and forth in a gentle volley. We have never run out of interesting things to say to each other. And almost always the thoughts mingle with a nice cup of coffee. Hot in the winter and cold in the summer. Fresh aromatic goodness.
I learned how to hand roast coffee in small batches with an air popper over 20 years ago. We have consumed about a pound of coffee a week since then, roughly 50 pounds per year. That is 1,000 pounds of coffee. We have enjoyed a half a ton of rich flavorful delightfulness while discussing the things that are meaningful to us.
Our current coffee gear includes a green steel Stanley 40-ounce double wall insulated French press, a burr grinder that we obtained at the local Habitat for Humanity thrift store For $8 about 10 years ago, and a couple of ceramic containers to keep the whole beans fresh.
Every good day begins with Speedy Miguel porch-roasted coffee and a nice conversation. We typically share our feelings using a method that we learned from our dear friends Glen and Phyllis at ConnectionCodes.CO. That is an important part of our emotional intimacy. We discuss our ideas about whomever we are seeing for marriage help. We talk about the things that feel like big ideas to us.
The tradition of daily coffee and connection is vitally important to our couple goodness.
So, when we take a road trip, we make room for Stanley, the burr grinder, and fresh porch roast. The coffee gear has its own dedicated Samsonite suitcase. Better coffee promotes better conversation. It’s a quality of life thing.