Rivers and Roads

He can talk for two hours about coffee. But not just coffee. the beans, and where they come from, and the best places to get them, and different growing conditions, and the types of roasts and what they mean, and how to brew it and grind it and ratios and the filters and the mugs and the temperatures and pour rates. He got into it one day, and said "let's see how far I can take this". and that's just how he is. I walked into his room this morning and he was sitting in a foldable chair, hair in a lofty bed head look, beard in full swing, coffee mug in hand, listening to something on vinyl. Just walking into a room with him changed my mood immediately. The first thing he does is offer me a cup of tea after telling me to have a seat. Irish Breakfast. I say I like English breakfast, and he said, they're all old people with bad teeth anyway, there isn't much difference. He's stoked about getting an email from the post office saying they have a package for him, and its his coffee. That's how this coffee topic came about.

He was at the post office and texted me, asking me if I wanted a bagel. We sat in my room, and ate bagels, and he talked. About coffee. I didn't even need to talk, just listen. and then he told me to get up so we could go to his room and make a cup of coffee. He put on a record before brewing his coffee, because coffee requires the right music. Obviously. Dawes was his choice. After his cup was made and he let me try it, he said "let me play you a song" and took down his cracked acoustic guitar and started playing and singing. like really singing. To some music inside of him that I am beginning to see. I couldn't help but wonder how many people he does this with. He has so many layers. and with each one I get to see, I just smile.

"I need a hobby," he says. And I say, wait, so what are all these? He laughs. and tells me he gets bored. bored of things, bored of people. He wants something new. He gets really deep into things, and then says, ok what next? He gets to know people, really know them, and then gets bored with them. I can't help feeling that he will get bored of me one day, and you know, he might. and such is life. But for right now, he isn't bored of me yet. I'll take that. And even if he gets bored of me, it doesn't make me boring, it just means he knows me well enough. And I think that's what boredom should be. When there's nothing left to find out, and everything is just there, known, with all your cards laid on the table, then you move on. That's how it should be.


(285)

Rivers and Roads by the Head and the Heart.