Coffee Shop At Home

I love coffee shops, and the tea and treats you can find at them. I love the atmosphere and the relaxation I feel when I'm able to visit one. Of course, we have several in our town including one just down the block. For $1.50 I can have a cup of tea and an hour or two or relaxed reading or visiting with a friend.

George and I used to think little of driving 100 miles to this pretty river town of Taylors Falls, Minnesota, just to go to their coffee shop, Coffee Talk, on a Sunday afternoon. We'd also take the kids and hike a bit around the rocks of Interstate State Park there. It was our idea of a fun day, and like I said we thought little of the gasoline we used up going there.

But that was then. This is now. Now we do "coffee shop" at home.

Four dollar a gallon gas got us rethinking a lot of things last year, as it did for most Americans. That, and concern for the environment, put the kabosh on regular "Sunday drives" and even going to our local coffee shops very often.

I can drink a wonderful cup of Irish Breakfast tea right here at home, organic and fair trade, for less than 25 cents a cup. George can have his "coffee snob" coffee, the kids can have their cocoa, and we can listen to our favorite radio shows, read the paper or magazines or books, and even eat a yummy homemade treat now for way less than what it costs at a coffee shop, with no paper cups wasted.

Of course, we drink tea and coffee and eat at home all the time. So what makes "coffee shop at home" different? Well, it's an attitude. Sometimes I'll actually say, "It's coffee shop at home time. Come sit at the table with me and let's have a treat." No housework can be done at this time, no bills can get paid, no thinking about all that can even be done. We relax around the table, we pile up things to read, and often we have the radio tuned to a favorite program like Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. The feeling really is different, and it gives us the same sense of camaraderie that we felt hanging out at the coffee shops before.

The best thing that $4 gas gave us is learning to love being home. So sometimes we have to play a little "make believe" just like the kids do naturally, but you know for an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon it works great.