Caffeine Serendipity

This, the serendipity of serendipities, happens when you walk into the local café and you find that the brew of the day is Sumatra Mandheling, an extract of that most mellow of beans. If Ethiopian coffee is like wine, Sumatra Mandheling is a liqueur.

I sat, I sipped. I smiled at the lady of the stars. I had a silly grin on my face. I was happy.

Coffee looks even better, day by day. For those of us who have been faithful, we have kept that faith through the studies that showed caffeine was implicated in heart disease (false), cancer (false), high cholesterol (false). We have survived to see the studies that show caffeine can stop Alzheimer's, keep cancer at bay, make you smarter and happier, and increase your capacity for enduring stress, pain and misery.

O blest source of 1,3,5-trimethylxanthine, O bean of power and subtle glory! We thank the Divine for His gift of this fruit, this vegetable substance, this zenith of plant growth, without which life would be that much less beautiful. Amen.