My morning-phobic wife leaves early for work, so she makes coffee on work days. She sets up the coffee-making implements the night before, and then grinds the beans each morning. While our nothing-special drip coffee maker does its thing, she boils water to heat up my battered steel thermos. She then grabs a cup of black coffee before leaving for work. I stumble out of bed, shower, and herd the boys through their morning routine. The school bus picks up elder son from our front yard. On my way out the door, I dump the hot water, fill the thermos, put the grounds in the compost, and rinse out the coffee maker. I drive younger son to his bus stop, conveniently located a block from my office. After seeing him safely on the bus, I park the car, carry the thermos to work, and savor my first cup (with half-and-half and a touch of sugar) while the computer boots up. Ahh. On the weekends, I make the coffee. Same routine sans thermos, but I use more coffee and grind a bit finer. My wife rises late, greeting me with her usual affectionate morning greeting: “COFFEE?!!” Yes, dear.
