For the love of COFFEE...and Friendships

Yesterday, very early, I drove in a light, poetic snow, first to the nearby Long Gate Shopping Center's Safeway, which houses a Starbucks, then over the Patapsco River Bridge to ATWATERS in Catonsville, and finally meeting a friend at the Trolley Stop in Oella for breakfast. Drinking coffee along the way and talking to several women who were serving it--a gratifying experience, for sure.



On the Way. Holiday decorations are still up here on January 8th...lights on porches and in trees. With the foggy windows, I felt buoyed up, a kind of forced joyfulness, self-created and coffee-induced, then momentarily sailed beyond three dimensions...not really, but...at least over some kind of bridge that separated me from post-holiday letdown, or whatever that is I see on people's faces and hear in their voices--beyond the economy and cold...and now, fresh political violence.

Coffee! How do we love thee? Let me count the ways---or names--and I am sure there are many more--these names were "borrowed online>:

 Cuppa
 Cuppa Joe
 Java
 Cafe
 Devil’s Drink (17th century name)
 Black brew
 Hojo
 Mud (as in “here’s mud in your eye!”)
 gold
 Picker-upper
 Turks Berry Drink (17th century name)
 Wine of Islam (17th century name)
 Mud puddle buzz (Australian slang)
 Everton Toffee (Cockney rhyming slang, usually just referred to as Everton)
 Fully leaded or unleaded






First Stop: Starbucks. The idea for this blog feature was Robyn, a consistently smiling and upbeat young woman whose charming professionalism never fails to impress me. Here she is, making coffee. While we talked, she recalled what kind of coffee she served my son a year ago...starting with "double red eye with hazelnut syrup..." It blew my mind! I don't have to ask her what I drink...nothing fancy, but half real; half decaf with "room..."



So, sipping the coffee out of a cup with a straw, something I poo-poohed when I saw my son doing it in August on a trip to Rehoboth beach, but later adopting it, I left the shopping center (still dark) and headed for Catonsville. That's when I photographed the blurry lights out the window, slowing, or pulling over momentarily because I was the only one on the road.



ATWATERS opens early, 7:00 a.m., and welcoming lights were on. Naturally, I found ample parking right outside the coffee shop/bakery. When I went in, much to my delight, two women I always enjoy talking with were behind the counter, laughing on a snowy Saturday morning in January, partly because the shop was celebrating its 1st Birthday--I bought a small loaf of bread, coffee, and received a coupon for more bread, to be used another day. Here are Ona and Karrie, behind the counter, under shelves of the most delicious bread!









I couldn't leave without photographing the shelves of coffee, and although I am not plugging any one place or any brands, I must say that--in my opinion--this coffee has a beautiful flavor, and is most beautiful when ATWATERS brews it. I am still seeking that perfection with my little green plastic cone with #2 brown filter paper. Yeah, good luck! This coffee drinker, with cap down, didn't care if I put part of him in the photograph because he was too busy getting his morning coffee "fix."









Finally, later in the morning, I met a good friend in Oella at the Trolley Stop to have a Bloody Mary type breakfast, an every-once-in-awhile-occasion, and after we talked and ate, we ordered coffee--as a chaser.








Once back in Ellicott City and my apartment, peering down into ATWATERS' familiar brown bag, I noticed my gloves were curled around the contents in a manner that made me smile. I did not pose "them." And so ends another morning on the Java Road in Ellicott City and beyond.




Blog feature/photos: Kay Weeks
With appreciation--Robyn, Ona, and Karrie.

For comprehensive information on
Ellicott City Historic District and area
businesses, please visit www.ellicottcity.net


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