Coffee, Triple A and Escapism

Glancing at my desk this very instant you would know some interesting information about me. You would know that I like caffeine in various forms as attested to by the coffee cup sitting right next to the empty Mountain Dew can. You would guess that either I like my hands and skin soft or that work kills my hands and they need lotion. You would also learn that I am a member of the Auto Club from which you would further surmise (based on the torn out pages laying helter-skelter) that I enjoy good food and road trips. What you couldn’t know is how these things realistically fit into my life.

You couldn’t know that I’m a coffee snoot. You couldn’t know that I and my wife have our coffee mailed to us bi-monthly from a special roaster in Redlands. You couldn’t know how the mix of caffeine and ritual, hot liquid and robust taste provide a stable platform upon which begins an often stress-filled day. Knowing, perhaps you can relate, but the coffee cup only hints at the reality but doesn’t reveal it.

The Day Trip article from “Triple-A” features the suburb of Lomita. I don’t know that I’ll ever go there. It’s just that idea of travel and escape lures me. My conviction is that one must make room for these little trips as Sabbath rests if you will. Apart from days off I find the need to take trips to energize my soul and restore focus. Working with the public has its’ own unique issues and it’s necessary to take the time away from them in order to pursue loving them well. Thus the cut-out articles on food and travel. These are not dream trips these are drives and visits that instill lost sanity.

So it is that my desk tells part of the story of work days that begin at daybreak with dark coffee and are filled with the pressures of customer service. It tells the tale of days given to wanderlust and rest, promise of good food and new adventures. In between those two the rest of life fits in far from the desk where I enjoy my caffeine.