The thing about going to Kentucky is that seeing my extended family can be some work. It is hard to relate to some because they aren’t exactly my kind of people. Now don’t get me wrong I love the country lifestyle, slow and easy. In Maryland people have to always be doing something to not be bored. So when I roll to KY that is not always the case and I get…well…bored. Not due to anyones fault but my own but that is just how I am as it relates to who KY is. Now there is one place where nothing is amazing. Doing nothing at the farm where my mom’s childhood friend lives is a very different experience. The lifestyle is so drastic from mine, and I am not one hundred percent city boy either. It’s a cow farm where the cows are milked and its sold for money. They do some planting and cow trading too.
The air is clear, is smells like nothing so this is what I am supposed to breathe…and again that nothing is wonderful. We sat on the porch for a while, it was hot, there were a few farm dogs, and guess what we did…nothing. Then mom’s friend brought out a plastic bag with water in it, and a penny. She hung it on a pillar of the porch and claimed that it would keep the flies away. It worked…astounding. The big news lately in that area is the second biggest super walmart in the nation down the road. It really was big. I bought a University of Kentucky cap. It is camouflage with a blue UK logo on front…not boring.
Amidst all of that excitement I heard three words that were like country music to my ears. I secretly love country music but in conversation I claim ambivalence. These words I secretly love but in the company of my peers I would feign shock and awe encouraging all to pray for this poor farmer. In banter about coffee someone mentioned that the city 20 miles away now housed a new Starbucks. Suddenly, the farmer a simple man who didn’t even drink coffee,(and still woke up at 3:30am) said these three words that I hate to love…What’s a Starbucks? WHAT!!! I have been on street corners where there are two within sight. This is a place that I have had good conversation. This is a place where I feel like I am soooo in the loop and trendy and with this postmodern stuff. Starbucks is where great new ideas are thought up and where everyone goes if you respect good coffee. And this man had no clue what it was. It could have been a hunting store or a second hand camel trading post for all he knew. A part of me really wants to be in the place where I don’t know what the heck Starbucks is. A part of me wants to get up at…well in the middle of the night to work hard for a full day, and only feel in the loop when I am with my family. That part of me is in there and I like to bring him out every time I visit that Kentucky farm, for now though I’ll have a tall mocha with a shot of raspberry. Whip Cream??... Yes please. PS aww snap it is so much easier to post pics now!!!
2 comments:
I would have to beg to differ on the comment that "this is where everyone goes who respects good coffee." SOOOOO not the case. Unless you have worked at starbucks or never worked in coffee at all you think, "hey this stuff is pretty good." i will give them mad props for their creative ways to make their crappy coffee taste good. I can even take a frap myself now and again. However, being the coffee nerd/ jerk/ coniseur that i am, i would venture to say that Starbucks is much lacking on coffee quality. The beans are cheap and often burnt, to which they tell you "this is a dark roast."
"No," you should reply, "this is a burnt roast." If you ever talk to anyone that has worked at a coffee shop, works in the coffee machinery business, or anything related to coffee outside of the Starbucks and/ or Folgers industries will often say, "Starbucks? Don't get me started." They will shake their heads in disgust and not make eye contact with you for atleast 10 seconds. ok, so i got started instead of shaking my head and avoiding eye contact, but now you can see a little into why one would say this.
On the other hand, i live in Atlanta and have atleast, ATLEAST 5 starbucks within 5 minutes of my apartment. So i can understand your suprise. Love ya, Minton!
yeah i think starbucks is overrated, too. yeah, i think i'm cool because i was in seattle last weekend standing in the first original starbucks ever!!! even with their first logo, only spot it is still represented. but, honestly, what's mermaids gotta do with coffee anyway? and why expect people who can't match a logo to their product to actually have a good product to begin with? shoot, they don't even sell gazebo blend by the cup!!! naw, i rather stick with the folgers. -mo
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