Over visiting a neighbor the other day Would you like a cup of coffee? he asks. I just roasted the latest batch. Yes. Coffee sounds great. How do you take it? he asks as he grinds the beans. Black; no sugar, no milk. Well, we have no milk anyway, only cream. In that case, Ill have it with no cream. We could water the cream down to make milk, I suppose, if youd prefer. Thats ok, I say, No cream is better than no milk anyway. Well, actually, I prefer cream also, he says, but like you, I dont put it in my coffee. What about milk? I ask. Never. Unless its a caf au lait? I venture. Of course, says he, or a cappuccino. Exactly. I say. Just so. Sartre sans sucre? I ask. No. Nein. Niet-zsche, pas de lait. He gets in the last word. Almost. I sip my coffee (black) in silence (white). "Ever wonder where coffee originated?" he queries after a spell. "Brazil?" I guess, "or somewhere in the Americas?" "Not so," he replies, "Some say it was in Yemen, the Port of Mocha. Others say it was Ethiopia, in the district of Kaffa. In any case, it is Arabian." "Aha, I say, "hence The Thousand and One Sleepless Nights." "Just so," he says and silence returns |
