November Days of Gratitude for November 8

Today's gratitude is for coffee!

November Days of Gratitude is a little celebration I made up several years ago to make my Thanksgiving season a little more thankful. There's just so much in life to be grateful for, even amidst stress and difficulty. So, pardon my late start! For the rest of the month, please enjoy the sometimes-silly, sometimes-sweet, always-sincere parts of life I'm appreciating the most this year!

On this day, I'm thankful for coffee - just like whoever is responsible for the sign in front of this church here in town. It's no wonder why: coffee is proof that God loves us and he wants us to be happy.

Coffee is delicious, first of all. It smells heavenly! Coffee is comforting and warm, and it's almost endlessly variable. You can do almost anything with it, and it'll still be delicious. When out and about, you might enjoy a latte or macchiato from time to time; you might mainline cold brew in the summer. Maybe you're a “just black, please,” person, or maybe your go-to is the milkshake-like indulgence of a Frappucino. These are all valid ways of loving coffee!

And when you're at home, you might have your own special way of enjoying it. Some of us might keep flavored creamer on hand, or gourmet sugar. We might invest in a fancy, four-figure Italian espresso maker, or pay crazy sums to import beans from that one European cafe we loved so much. And some of us swear by “plain” old Folgers - it's a classic for a reason!

Or maybe it's less about the taste than about the ritual. Making a cup (or a pot) to savor in the morning is a great way to ease into the day. Picking up a flavored latte on the way home from running errands is a perfect reward for slogging around town. And, of course, meeting up with someone special to share a mug is a wonderful way to relax and spend quality time.

It's also something of an anchor. If you're not sure what to do, you might as well make a cup of coffee. If you're upset, if you're excited, nursing a hot mug will serve you equally well. And no matter where you go in the world, it's a sure bet that they'll have coffee.

I could write a full-length essay on why, exactly, I love coffee so much. And maybe I will! But to do so, I'd have to fire up my trusty Keurig and pick out my favorite mug. That's how grateful I am for the everyday magic of this delicious brew!

Now go get a cup of coffee!