COFFEE ANYONE?

Coffee anyone?

I enjoy coffee. I drink coffee when I write. In fact, my morning is not complete without a cup, and my night ends with a decaffeinated cup. Although I don’t enjoy many flavored coffees, I do like to add a splash of a flavored liquid creamer to give my coffee a slightly different taste. Right now, our grocery store has come out with a new flavor, Marshmallow, with colorful bunnies on the container. I’m assuming it’s been released in preparation for Easter.

I personally salute goat herder Kaldi who, centuries ago in Ethiopia, discovered the wonderful coffee berries when his goats ate them, became energetic, and wouldn’t sleep at night. He shared his findings with the local monastery, and in turn, the local abbot helped spread the word east to the Arabian Peninsula.

By the 15^th century, coffee was being grown in Arabia, and by the 16^th century it was known in Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey where it was enjoyed in homes, but also public coffee houses.

In the mid-1600s, it was brought to New Amsterdam, later called New York, and replaced tea in the New World when the colonists revolted against the heavy tax on tea imposed by King George III.

Most interesting to me is a quote from Thomas Jefferson: “Coffee…the favorite drink of the civilized world.” After learning Jefferson wrote that quote—and knowing he wrote The Declaration of Independence, I wonder how many cups of coffee was consumed by him as he created such an important document that changed our lives forever?

By the 17^th century, European travelers brought the beans to Europe, and coffee became a breakfast drink, replacing beer and wine. It was said the people who drank coffee, instead of alcohol, began the day energized and the quality of their work improved. <Who knew??? Just kidding! :) >

 

Missionaries, travelers, traders, and colonists continued to carry coffee seeds to new lands, and coffee trees were planted worldwide. By the end of the 18^th century, coffee had become one of the world’s most profitable export crops. After crude oil, it is the most sought commodity in the world.

What is your favorite drink in the morning or when working or when relaxing?

WILLIE, MY LOVE

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TIME Waits for No One!

As the old year ends and a new one begins, I often look back and silently chide myself over the time I might have squandered and should have used more wisely.

 

The New Year is always a great time to say good-bye to all our yesterdays and give a hearty, forward-looking hello to a new start in a new year. It’s a feeling that invades our thinking and whispers, “Your slate is now wiped clean of all the troubles and missteps you’ve experienced. Let’s begin anew.”

So, how will you use this unbiased fellow we call TIME--who credits you every morning with 86,400 seconds in the day? (Or 31,536,000 seconds in the new year?)

Imagine a bank that credits your account with $86,400 each day. It carries no balance over from day to day, and every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use. What would you do? I believe everyone would agree we’d be foolish not to draw out every cent.

Each of us has such a bank. It’s called TIME. And every morning we are offered 86,400 seconds. Every night, TIME writes off, as a loss, whatever seconds, minutes or hours you have failed to invest in good purposes. There is no balance. There are no overdrafts. Each day TIME opens a new account. If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

What am I really saying? I’m telling you the clock is running and you must live in the present of today’s deposits. Invest your time so you get the utmost in health, happiness and success. Make the most of today. Treasure and use wisely each moment in both work and play.

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of one month, ask a returned soldier how he felt during his last four weeks of deployment 

To realize the value of one hour, ask lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute, ask the person who just missed his plane flight, train or bus.

To realize the value of one second, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment you have. Remember, TIME waits for no one!

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SILVER BELLS - A Favorite Christmas Song

It's December--and the time when radio stations are belting out Christmas songs in an attempt to get people in the holiday and spending spirit. There are many wonderful old-fashioned songs that have survived the ages and are performed by various artists in a multitude of versions each year. My favorite of all the carols is Silver Bells. It regularly ranks in the top Christmas songs heard on the airwaves.

The words, the melody, and the Christmas images it invokes are traditional and unforgettable. This Christmas classic was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 Bob Hope movie The Lemon Drop Kid. Livingston provided the melody, Evans the words. It was sung by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell; and the first recorded version was sung by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards with John Scott Trotter and his orchestra and was released by Decca Records.

According the American Songwriter Magazine in its July/August issue, Livingston originally had the title of Tinkle Bell, referring to the tinkly bells you hear at Christmas from the Santa Clauses and the Salvation Army people. But once he took it home and played it for his wife, she informed him that the word had a bathroom connotation.

Livingston then went back to Ray Evans and told him they would have to throw the song out. However, as they continued to work on the Christmas song needed for The Lemon Drop Kid, they found themselves taking many of the lines and part of the melody from their "Tinkle Bell" song. In the end, they used the original song, except for substituting the word silver for tinkle, and the song became Silver Bells.

The song, now timeless, has been sung by famous artists like Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, Frank Sinatra, Karen Carpenter, Michael Buble, and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, to name a few. 

What is your favorite song during the Christmas season?

JUNE~ The Pianist   ADELENE ~ The Violinist

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Thanksgiving, a national holiday in our United States, originated as a harvest festival. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. As a farmer’s kid, I especially like the idea of celebrating the fall harvest. It means all the hard work in the fields is done for the year.

Thanksgiving has been celebrated on the last Thursday of the month since the time of Abraham Lincoln. In 1941, President Roosevelt made the final permanent change by signing a bill making Thanksgiving Day fall on the fourth Thursday of November, regardless of whether it is the last Thursday of the month or not. This year it falls on November 28^th.

I’m a fan of Thanksgiving. It’s a day of celebration where gifts are forgotten and the food is plentiful. I love the smell of a turkey roasting with the scent of sage and spices filling the entire house. And I am a huge fan of pumpkin pie piled high with whipped cream.

In the northern states, Thanksgiving also is a reminder that Old Man Winter is on his way with flying fat snowflakes and sparkling white snowbanks. For many, the national holiday also heralds the start of the holiday season as stores and shops blare carols, hymns, and contemporary songs of Christmas from their speakers.  And Christmas music is something I can get behind, even if I dislike shopping for presents.

This year, I created a “Musical Christmas Series,” consisting of three novellas. My first one, JUNE ~ The Pianist, was released the end of October. Each female main character plays a musical instrument and has a story to tell. I’m excited to say that ADELENE ~ The Violinist is also releasing at the end of this month in time for the Christmas season. LUCY will be released next year. What is her instrument? It’s a secret. [wink, wink]

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the holidays. 

JUNE ~ The Pianist

Adelene ~ The Violinist

  

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