CurlyShavings

I purchased a very dear eight ounces of Phoenix Coffee's Hawaiian Kona. Here's how the experience is shaping up.

Beans seemed normal size and shiny (oily?). The smell (aroma?) as they came out of the bag was pleasant. Ground them course and attempted to discharge the static that builds up on the parts of my burr grinder. Since it is cold but not nearly as dry today, perhaps I didn't have as much static electricity buildup.

I then added 8oz of near-boiling H₂O to my two Tbsp of grounds, stirred and let sit for four minutes. I didn't have nearly the "hydrophobic grounds" experience this time (where the grounds didn't seem to want to get in contact with the water). It pressed well, without excessive force.

First sip was pleasant. Mild, smooth, little bit of an abrupt bite at the end. It's a good cup of coffee, but I'm not hearing angels sing or anything like that (yet).

One nice characteristic (different from the other two coffees I've ground from Phoenix) is that this one doesn't seem to "age in the cup" like the other two. Seriously, I've had coffee go sour in the time it takes to get to the bottom of the cup (and not stone-cold, either).

Premium coffee grown on the volcanic slopes on the Big Island of Hawaii since the early 1800's. Exceptionally Mild & Smooth. Rich flavor and aroma.

I finally finished this fancy letter "E" on my daughter's handkerchief.

How long has it been? Well, I started before Thanksgiving 2007 . . . and am just now complete. That doesn't mean that it is hard, just that I'm slow.

Thanks to my wife for choosing the colors, to Erika for choosing the letter and to all the people I didn't have lunch with while I sat at my desk and worked on this project.

A little later today I'll be typing on a different laptop, enjoying a privilege my employer calls Work From Home. I don't ordinarily take advantage of WFH but will today for two reasons.

First (and most boring), I have a half-hour errand to run at 9:30.

Second (and only somewhat more convincing), today is Opening Day for the Cleveland Indians. My office is only a couple of blocks from the newly-named Progressive Field and usually Opening Day is a madhouse, even for us public transportation types. Add to that the piles of rotting snow, the ongoing (never-ending?) construction of the Euclid Corridor Transportation Project and we have a conspiracy to keep me home.

The Wall Street Journal ran an article on Friday titled Opening Day. It maps the story of the writer's truancy from school on many Opening Day events in the past.

Wrigley Field. The Chicago Cubs. My brief sojourn in Chicago (1992-1995) taught me that there was virtue in rooting for the Cubs. I had grown up with Nolan Ryan slinging no-hitters (during both of his careers) but didn't follow baseball religiously. My primary exposure to MLB was through the radio in the late `80's as the commercial-punching producer of the Houston Astros for a now-defunct (?) station in Kingsville, Texas. To this day, I'd rather listen to a game than watch it. Stephen Moore claims that "people who move away from Chicago almost always remain life-long Cubs fans" (with the noted exception of Hillary). There is virtue in rooting for the underdog that does its best. There is virtue in the simplicity and age (the grandeur?) of Wrigley Field that the lights have done little to diminish.

Jon Boyd and his brother travel the US each year for the First Pitch. He's recently had a life-changing event and I wondered to him if he'd be able to keep up the tradition this year.

So today is opening day. And while I'll be staying far away from it, I hope that Jon gets out to keep his tradition, if not today in Chicago, hopefully somewhere else.