#22 - A Morning Ritual

Driving through town the other morning, it struck me how many drivers driving to work in the opposite direction appeared to have white snouts on their faces in place of noses - very much like pig’s snouts, except that most of them looked to be made of Styrofoam. This strange anatomical metamorphosis is something I’ve noticed before, usually between the hours of 6:00 and 8:00 in the morning. There could be a relationship between these protruding proboscises and the low angle of the of the rising sun, I’ve thought, but it seems far more likely it’s simply the early hour. People need to wake up, drivers especially; they need coffee! – no better beverage for that problem.

I personally find drinking coffee behind the wheel an awkward, sometimes messy, even hazardous procedure. I do it only on long, tiring trips. For starters, especially with the blinding morning sun in my eyes, seeing where I'm going with a big snout on my face is a problem. Then coffee has to have some sugar in it for my taste; that means the lid has to come off. Trying to pry the lid off of a flimsy cup of blazing hot coffee with one hand (the other is on the steering wheel) is hard enough, but doing it while holding a cup tween the knees is downright suicidal - the lid pops off, the knees squish together, and the drivers going by in the opposite direction see my open mouth in a silent scream as piping hot coffee scalds my legs and other parts on its way down into my boots. They always fill those cups too full at a drive-in. That may be fine for getting my money's worth, but my lips and tongue pay the price in pain when they first encounter such a temperature, and my throbbing taste buds can barely detect the exquisite jelly donut they are offered next.

No, donning a pig’s snout is not my idea of a pleasant morning ritual. Mine is to sit on the kitchen stoop in the morning (often pre-dawn) where I have room to stretch and to lace up my boots, watching the world wake up as I listen to the birds and ponder the day ahead. Meanwhile, my mug of coffee, steaming away on the step beside me, can cool to a good drinking temperature. In fact, that first cup of coffee on the stoop is one of my most important moments of the day, and I'm not likely to go anywhere until I've enjoyed it to the full, every last sip. And another cup is not out of the question.