Kirkepiscatoid

(Photo nicked from http://www.argophysics.com/dwyer//coffee/index.htm)

Uh...in plain English, "Blessed are You, Lord God of the Universe, creator of coffee."

This morning is a day why I am realizing why many of us regard coffee as "The 8th Sacrament."

One of the things I love about summer Saturday mornings is that I love to sit in the dewy early morning of my yard, with the chirping birds, and the wind and the sun and the clouds and the outdoor noises, and my morning coffee.

Have you ever noticed just how more powerful, how more...um...divine?...coffee smells outside, whether it is on a camping trip, or standing outside, or just any outdoor activity you want to name? Those beans just seem to emanate a smell that is literally miscible with the outdoors.

Then there is the taste of it outside. Why is it that coffee seems richer, fuller, more perfect, when consumed outside? But it does.

My walking buddy A. and I were talking about "blessings" the other day. A. is Jewish, and fairly observant at that, when it comes to his daily prayers. We were joking the other day about how there "is a 'Baruch' for everything." (The one we liked in particular was the blessing for people who look unusual...it's basically, "Blessed are You, Lord God of the Universe, who makes diversity."

Well, if the ancient Hebrews had known what coffee was, they would have blessed it.

As for me, I am truly addicted to the stuff. If I don't have some by 7:30 every morning, I will have a tremendous headache. My usual time for my first cup is 6:15 a.m. I make it when the dogs wake me up at six, and then take the dogs out. I return to my first cup. That first swallow, that first gulp, is a rush I cannot describe. I hate to admit it, but if someone put the choice in my head at 6:15 a.m. of "Orgasm? Or coffee?" I'd pick the coffee.

But coffee makes me realize the power of blessings in small packages, and in things ordinary. Thanks be to God for the day some prehistoric South Americans looked at a coffee tree and said, "Hey, let's dry those beans and grind them up and pour hot water over it and drink that stuff!"