COFFEE TALK

I’m JAZZED.  Most of you have probably noticed the slight name change and the NEW web design.  Thank you Keven.  I love it.

Life is all about Me Me Me—-tongue in cheek—-sort of.  I decided to put a wallop of punch into MY passions.  Mmmm maybe I should develop a recipe for Passion Punch.  I like the title and visions are flashing in my mind——and that’s without drinking the Passion Punch.   I digress,  but I know at least the women readers are totally with me.  You know like I know some of the most fun can be discovered wandering down those tangent paths.

Back to the topic—-  My passions are what I desire—I used ‘desire’ deliberately over choosing a more watered down verb of ‘want’—to write about in my blog.   I asked myself–Self, in the process of writing what feelings will you be striving to evoke in readers?   Self  answered, Geez that’s a no brainer—-Joy! Fun! Hope! Laughter! A Love of Life!

Like music and stories, I fervently believe food and drink pave the highway to global peace.  Growing food, appreciating food, preparing food, eating food, sharing food, traditions and memories associated with food are universal commonalities.

So here is where the Me Me Me enters the picture.   Messages and clues from the Universe were sprinkled along my path for the last year or two.  I saw them, heard them, and politely acknowledged them—Okay that’s nice and walked on.  Finally the Universe gave me a gentle shove and I experienced a ding dong burst of illumination—Oh that’s what those clues were about.

I admit I wish the Universe would hand over the blueprint plans for my life.  Then I would know which parts I didn’t want to do and I could hire a subcontractor.  Maybe some of you know this, but  personally I still don’t know if I’m building a McMansion or beach bungalow.

Okay it’s time to pull all my ramblings together.  A year ago when I was searching for a Pacific NW coffee  roaster, I became aware of Camano Island Coffee Roasters.  In conversing with the operations manager, Steve Carney, I became impressed with the company.  I knew nothing about the quality of their coffee, but their melding of successfully running a business and incorporating socially enlightened business practices was astounding.  They walked their talk!

A year passed and during that year I found those clues I mentioned previously dropped on my path like bright copper pennies.  Here’s where the gentle shove comes into play—-I finally joined their coffee club and in addition I signed up for a tour led by their CEO Jeff Ericson.

Whoa Baby Cakes, this is  a company which expects and delivers only excellence in regard to their product——shade grown, organic coffee beans picked at the peak time and carefully roasted in small batches.  Plus they pay TRIPLE  fair trade prices and are actively involved in programs which give back to the farmers such as helping them own their own land—-what a concept.

Are you as sick at heart, disillusioned and flat out done with listening about all the greed, hardship, terror and violence erupting all over the world at warp speed?  What an amazing refreshing experience to listen to a business CEO speak ardently about what could be and actually is being accomplished NOW.  Positive changes are manifesting with the overarching viewpoint we are all ONE without sacrificing profit.  It can be done.  It’s not a dream.  One company can make a difference in hundreds and hundreds of lives.  That’s a bottom line to be justifiably proud of.

For the next 24 hours my mind was running around like key stone cop.  What can I do.  What can I do.  What can I do.  I’m just one middle aged food blogging woman living in a small town in Washington state.  What can I do.

Finally my mind shut up—-I say that kindly.  It ran amok until it  got  tired and then was quiet enough so I could hear my inner voice.

Back to punching up my passion about my belief that food, drink, music and stories are all part of a universal communication system.   I can’t make music, but I sure can write about food in all it’s phases.  I can write stories.  Since I’m tired of hearing the drums of dysfunction and gloom beating 24/7, I’m intending to beat my own drum to the rhythm of  joy, hope and oneness.   You gotta start somewhere.   I can send out my own Good Vibrations—I love that song.  Hey, I guess by beating my drum of joy I am making music.

So as part of my regular blogging features I’m instituting Coffee Talk.  In addition to coffee recipes, stories and information about coffee as a world wide beverage, I will be highlighting Camano Island Coffee Roasters both for their coffee and for their accomplishments as examples of excellence in product and socially responsible business practices which manifest hope into reality.  No they are not paying me in any way.  In fact as of this writing they have no idea I’m intending to do this.  I happen to love love love coffee, so for the Me Me Me part, this will be Fun Fun Fun.   Aaaah finally the tie in with the picture  and the title—-