Coffee, Camping & Nautre

Very unoriginal. Coffee. I grew up thinking this was a bad thing. One should not drink coffee. But why? The smell is intoxicating. I take mine light and sweet. Give me a good organic coffee any day.

It's one of the things I love about living in Fort Collins, the many different coffee shops. They are putting Starsucks out of business. At least that's my hope and dream. Silly college kids show up from all over the country and don't know any better, so they go spend a fortune on industrialized coffee, when they could be helping the local economy, keep 'mom & pop' stores in business, and have YUMMY coffee served by people who have a passion for the bean. They keep us up and going.

I get Kona coffee at work. Anything is better than Foldgers. (Talk about processed coffee grinds, ewww!)

Life is a lot like coffee. So many different flavors. Depending on how much you grind will depend on how strong the smell, the potency. Sometimes we want it life strong, to take it head on, dive in head first and pray we land on our feet, or the water is at least deep enough so we don't crash upon entry. Other times we just want it mellow, lite and simple.

I live near the mountains. (Almost said in, but really it's the Foothills, someday I'd like to live in the mountains....but I digress.) Camping is wonderful. Waking early in the morning to find a light dew covering the earth, building a small fire and then brewing the coffee in the little french coffee press. (I seriously need to get a bigger one.) There is something about the smell of a camp fire, mixed with the coffee and all that nature has to provide that just awakens the spirit within and for a moment life is great. 

As Fall starts to creep in and winter isn't far behind. (Seems here in Colorado Fall lasts a few weeks and before you know it there's snow on the ground.) I've missed a lot of my camping possibilities. I'm not ready to delve into winter camping. Although I might push my luck and camp as late as mid-October. We'll see.

It's mornings like these though that call to me. Where I long to be sitting around that camp fire, sipping my coffee and communing one with nature. Maybe this weekend. Oh that would be heavenly. I'm a bit too chicken to go camping on my own, although it's a tempting thought.

I love nature. I love to surround myself in it. Something is changing in the air. I can sense it. I can almost reach out and grasp it.

So here's to good coffee, awsome camp fires and a bonding with Mother Nature that will never end.