Starbucks

There is something I like about going to my Starbucks every morning.  I don't think it has anything to do with the coffee.  Indeed, there are many other better places to go for coffee in my area.  I began going to this Starbucks in the morning simply because it was the closest coffee place to my house.  It's easy to drop the kids off at school, run down for a latte, and be back home just in time to kiss my husband goodbye as he walks out the door for work.

But it's more than proximity...  I think I just like walking in and knowing the people there.  I change my "drink of choice" about once a season.  Winter was "vanilla latte with 2 pumps peppermint"...  This spring,  it's just a simple hazelnut one.  If my favorite baristas are working, they smile and say "No need, I've got it!"  I like chatting with them over the making of my drink.  I like the one guy who works there... simply because he's a  Husky fan and, if I happen to be wearing an Oregon shirt that day, he mocks that he isn't going to make my drink.

Maybe it's just that it's typically my first adult interaction of the day.  It's five minutes of talking to actual people before I return home to dishes and laundry.

And maybe it's just the steady of the known.  People I'm familiar with.  A drink I know I'm going to like.  A loved routine.  A simple comfort to start out each day.  Kind of like blogging after I get home has become.  No matter what happens the rest of the day, I get to start out each day with a bit of hot coffee and a chance to put my thoughts down on paper...  a moment of quiet before the "busy" starts all over again.