Thursday Tidbits

Posted on March 4, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 6 comments

 

 

“Take another shot of courage.” Tequila Sunrise. The Eagles

 

“Why, yes. I could start my day without coffee. But I like being able to remember things like how to say words and put on my pants.” (Source unknown)

Oxygen. Water. Coffee.

With apologies to you hard core tea drinkers out there, most people recognize the necessities of life. Without oxygen, we wouldn’t be able to breath. Without water, we would certainly shrivel up and die. Without coffee, most of us would be a royal pain in the arse.

I realize coffee is an addiction and that it has all sorts of deleterious side effects like increased heart rate, quickness of speech, agitated movements, insomnia, digestive issues, muscle breakdown, high blood pressure, and fatigue. But the side effects of not having one’s morning java are even worse like being an intolerable, miserable excuse of a human being.

Why have I chosen March 4^th specifically to discuss this important topic? There is no reason. I never need a reason to write about nothing. You already know this.

I usually start seriously thinking about my first cup of coffee around 2:00 a.m. Now you might be thinking that the reason for this is that I drink too much coffee during the day causing insomnia. Wrong. My daily intake is fairly modest. I have one cup, usually around 6:00 a.m. and then I take a thermos to school which lasts all days. Now, before you go speculating, this is not one of those humungous thermoses that a carpenter might take to the job site. No. Mine is a modest 2 cupper. I start sipping on it around 7:30 when I head to school and usually finish it off in the afternoon. If I’m having a really bad day, it will be gone by 10:00.

Like most of you, I am a creature of habit, especially bad habits. Can you say “sweets, wine, and binge watching Netflix – something that I haven’t been able to do for 8 long months because of spotty (I’m being charitable) internet?

Getting up to pee in the middle of the night is not a habit. At my age, it is absolutely essential unless I opt for Depends. That will come soon enough. Let’s not go there. Invariably, when I stagger out of bed at this ungodly hour, the first thing I think about is my morning coffee and raisin toast. I can almost smell and taste it. Black coffee and raisin toast. Hardly legendary cuisine to start the day but I know that until I have this early morning fix, I will not be fit to be seen in public.

I will quit breathing and drinking water before I quit drinking coffee.

We had a bit of a cold spell last weekend when the thermometer dipped to -57 Saturday evening. On Sunday, things moderated, and it was only -50 when I received a message from my principal and her friend wondering if I would like to complete the Hero (Fools) Challenge and walk the airport loop. (7km). At the time, I was stretched out on the couch watching golf. I couldn’t have possibly felt lazier. The thought of stepping outside, let alone going for a long walk, didn’t even enter my consciousness that day. What crazy person would want to be out in this kind of weather?

Maritimers have a weird streak in them. Threaten them with shame and embarrassment and they will flash their fangs and fight to the death. “Of course, I would love to go out and get a dose of frostbite,” was my inner thought but I cheerfully agreed and 15 minutes later, we were on our way. Every millimeter of me was covered. I was wearing googles to cover my large nose and the area around my eyes. Have you ever had frozen eyeballs? The walk takes about 1:30. Fifteen minutes into the walk, my goggles had completely iced up making vision impossible. I was wearing a neck warmer and a balaclava. I stopped just long enough to pull the neck warmer under the balaclava and up over my face. The neck warmer is black. For the remainder of the walk, I had to walk closely on the heels of my walking companions as I couldn’t see more than a foot in front of me. Maritimers are both weird and stubborn. As my late brother Tom would have said “got ‘er done”.

“There are strange things done in the midnight sun…” (First person to identify this line gets a free book and a cup of coffee!!!). See. I’m not strange at all. Well grounded.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. I’m off to Victoria, B.C. for spring break in early April. Yeah, yeah, I know all about ‘essential travel’. I’ve been up north since August 1^st. It’s -57. It’s essential!