6-Country Blend: Ode to Black Dog

Smooth, rich flavor
Strong enough to put hair on your chest
Velvety enough to put a glide in your stride
People come and go, wisps of their conversations still linger in the aroma-filled air
Coffeehouse music resonating over the mild loudspeakers, doing acoustic covers, rounding out the sharp points of edgier songs
Heys and Hellos from the staff, me grabbing a Cubano sandwich or lunch wrap on wheat tortilla
I remember you.
For years, you were my go-to, surefire, Johnny-on-the-spot sanctuary of writing/thinking/citing/drinking
It would be unfathomable to calculate the amount of words I wrote, scribbled, crossed out, erased there
I remember you.
To ice cold days to sweltering heat to rainy mornings, we saw it all, but always had more to see and explore.
Because the mind’s eye engulfs unchartered landscapes that all feel like home when you allow yourself to soak and simmer. Your threshold was the archway to those worlds for many of me.
When hard times befell the world, you managed to tough it out and stick around for the community.
Change happened. Even though you smelled different and looked different, I knew you were still in there. The soul of the place that greeted me that first day I drifted off the boulevard into the next twin decades.
I remember you.
Now, something new is in your old hallowed space. I saw the signs, read the signs. A sign of the times.
Even though you’re no longer here, you have my eternal thanks for being there for me when I needed a place to land.
So I’ll raise a glass of wine to my favorite cup of coffee and the men and women who brewed it, fed me, and welcomed me with open arms, open doors, and open minds.
I remember you.
Six-Country Blend Dark Roast and Black Dog Coffee.