What We Need Is Here

I can't stop loving you...

I am a coffee addict. Coffee does not grow in Gainesville.

Lucky for me, I am not a purist (so I tell myself), so I can compromise when absolutely necessary (and it IS absolutely necessary) and buy fair-trade, bird-friendly, organic, etc., etc., etc. But no coffee I buy and brew at home tastes half as good as the stuff for which I spend ten times as much at a coffee shop and drink with a friend - or a good book and a little knitting.

It's the experience, the ritual... I recently read that it is now a Documented Fact that ritual is important to the enjoyment of the cuppa. Apparently the good feeling associated with the caffeine buzz attaches itself to the props as well - the mouth-feel of a particular cup, the ambience of a particular coffee shop, the morning ritual of newspaper and quiet. Put more bluntly: "People develop a passion for the way the drug is delivered." 

Right now, I really like my drug delivered at Volta. How this place escaped my notice for as long as it did is amazing to me. Volta specializes in coffee, tea, and CHOCOLATE for Pete's sake. It is a five minute walk from my house. I can practically see it from my front door. 

It is a little pricey - which will hopefully help limit my consumption. It's also not a grab and go kind of place. I've noticed most people stopping in and staying to drink, eat (they've got pastries...), read, and use the WiFi.  So it's community-building, okay?  Local community building, that's why I go.

the next generation (it's hot chocolate!)

15 minutes of fame in the NY Times

Several people sent me this link last week. Our little city was the featured story in a section of the NY Times on travel destinations.  The article includes a nice short history of Gainesville as well as some sightseeing advice that goes beyond the regular Gator sports venues (for which we're particularly well-known these days).

It was fun to see us in this light. And, although it's hard for me to think of my own town as a travel destination, I've got to admit we've got the weather compared to a lot of the nation - high 70s this week!

I am so envious

Our housemate, Kendera, was invited by a friend with a ticket to see the Soweto Gospel Choir at the UF Performing Arts Center. I went to see them two years ago, at the invitation of our pediatrician who had an extra ticket. It was right in the middle of Ben's treatment and - to be honest - I only went because the offer was so kind. But, oh my gosh, I was so glad I did. The bright colors, the graceful dance, the lovely voices, the ... vitality of it all; it was so good for me to enter into that beautiful world, just transforming.

I have often felt revitalized by live performances, but I always have a hard time actually going. Tickets are costly, and I put off getting them until they're sold out or way in the back, and I have a hundred other excuses on any given night to do something else. But I often wonder why. We are so fortunate that in a town our size we have so many quality performances coming through. Two tickets once/month would be about $2/day - less than a latte, yet I don't think I go even once a year (about six cents/day?).  And some of the upcoming holiday performances are much less - even free. Check out the Performing Arts schedule. And don't forget the wonderful Hippodrome (more on that soon). Again, it's all about being thoughtful about what you support - and what we allow into our heads. More Soweto Gospel Choir, less Grey's Anatomy!

Breakfast Al Fresco

Grace and I decided to have breakfast "in the fresh air" one morning this week.  We got up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat. After preparing a fruit salad of market blueberries, watermelon and honeydew, we rode our bikes the short distance to Westside Park.

It was so pretty and peaceful this early in the morning. Besides having fun with Grace - the only other one in the family who appreciates the many benefits of rising early even when you don't have to - I wanted to experiment with picknicking.  We won't really have a "personal" outdoor space once we move into the new house, and I know I'm going to miss our backyard and screened porch.

It wasn't hard doing the things we like to do there. After breakfast, we played a few rounds of the card game "Nine Hole Golf," and went for a little hike around the park looking for birds.  Unfortunately, there weren't many to be seen this morning - just a handful of crows and a few mockingbirds.  I have seen bluebirds at Westside before, which are rare in the suburbs, and I was hoping to show Gracie one.  We'll keep looking.  There are lots of parks and semi-wild places to explore in Gainesville.  And most have picnic tables.

Local Entertainment

We saw a movie this week that I really liked, Then She Found Me, at the Hippodrome, our “local” State Theatre.  Local entertainment is one of those things I think about but find difficult to follow through with.  Netflix is so easy. And watching TV in bed as I fall asleep is even easier. 

It hasn’t always been this way. When the kids were little, we rarely watched tv at all and kept the thing in the closet to discourage temptation. I remember listening to friends talk about the storylines of various television dramas and wondering self-righteously why they needed this kind of escape when Life itself could be so full.  (Ugh, sometimes I really hate me.)  Well, Life worked its bitter magic and - abracadabra! - I found myself staring at reruns of Friends with my soon to be ex-husband, because we really didn’t know what else to do with ourselves.  And then, after Ben's diagnosis, and the ensuing weeks in the hospital, I became addicted to Law and Order - partly because there is an episode of Law and Order on some channel at almost any given time of the day, but also because during this period of utter senselessness, the mere concept of law and order was totally seductive.

Soon there was a TV in my bedroom – to allow for Ben to have the family room to himself and his friends (since he couldn’t go out into the germy world a good deal of the time).  He was so sick for so long, I felt like we had both dropped out of the larger world and lived in our own. And I became hooked on Battlestar Galactica (far, far away!) and Jericho (community copes valiantly with total disaster!), and The Office (Jim and Pam are so happy!) 

Enough.  I need to get out more.  It's time to re-engage with our local community. And trying to keep it local, we decided to see a movie at the only real local theater in town.  When we walked in, a friend took our tickets and told us who else we knew was in the theater.  And then we watched this sweet, subtle, and beautifully-acted movie about the vagaries of love – and of life.  It was really unusually good and insightful, although the younger me might have been a little befuddled by these mixed-up people and their foibles.  (“Why don’t they just get a grip?” I can hear myself saying.)

My own next step in getting a grip will be to explore local entertainment in Gainesville – entertainment that supports the local economy, connects us to one another, allows us to appreciate the talents of our neighbors and helps me endure total TV withdrawal which will begin July 1 when we move into a place with no cable.  What a simple, good part of becoming more local.  And I think I can do it (esp. since BG and Jericho have been canceled)!

If you live in Gainesville, you should see this movie while it’s still at the Hipp.  We’re so lucky to have a place like this in our community; it’s good to support it.