Something occurred to me early this morning as I pulled the van back into the driveway, because by then I was capable of rational thought.

After a fitful night’s sleep, I inexplicably felt it was a better idea to groggily operate heavy automotive machinery than the coffee maker in my kitchen.  In my defense, I did have the dog as my co-pilot in case of emergency.

And that tall latte sure was yummy.

There are many wonderful things about where we live —  it is peaceful, the large yard has been a blank canvas for my perennial gardening, the woods provide privacy and a hidden campground — it is beautiful, especially at this time of year.  There are walking paths, but they do not lead to any type of urban enclave of caffeine.

Someday we will again live in a community where I can walk to a coffee shop, or anywhere else.  I loved that about living in our Minneapolis neighborhood — the local hardware store and the corner market, the quirky gift shop, the malt shop (!) and two coffee shops all within a couple blocks.  It completely made up for the buses stopping and starting in front of our house and the low flying 747s coming in for a landing with our roof as a flightpath sightmarker.

Foofoo coffee has become a less frequent indulgence for me, but today felt like a good day to go.  One perk of motoring to the coffee is the ability to go through the drive-through while still in my jammies.  I salute you, oh independent coffee house barista that greeted me with a smile.  You may have been smirking about my morning hair, but I don’t care.  Bonus:  today’s tall order was complimentary because I hit my frequent caffeine buyer purchase threshhold.  Just 37 more cups and I’ll get a t-shirt.  Then I can pretend I am a barista at home!  No wait, that won’t work…

Big D sailed out the door with no coffee this morning to face a long day of kid’s volleyball.  Hmmm.  He also already finished the aforementioned raised bed garden plot;  one night this week, after working a full day and arriving home at 7:00pm, he snarfed some dinner, changed clothes and built the whole thing in one night, coming in well after dark.  “Okay, it’s done.” he said.

What?  I went out in the dark to look for myself.  It just needs the bunny fence and drip irrigation system (looking more like $64 tomatoes are still a possibility).

He operates in a parallel universe from mine.  I am happy he swings into my orbit.

Anyhoo, I have a long list of housework and yardwork projects for today (so yes, of course, I am writing this instead) and I felt it was urgent to be properly caffeinated for the day.  I could hurt someone operating that vacuum with sleepy eyes.