*singing* Oh, sweet mystery of life at last I found you.....

On days like today, when I am tired and my brain is dull, when I find little to be excited about, there is one thing that can bring me joy. It’s the one thing that my children will verify I have before approaching me in the morning. It’s my fuel for the day. It spawns unrelenting love and devotion from deep within my heart.

It inspired a king to construct the first greenhouse used in Europe. It was worshipped for medicinal properties. Even though Pope Clement VIII was advised that it was a threat to Christianity, he opted to try it first, and blew off all theories of conspiracy and other ill-willed plots by blessing it.  It spawned and fueled revolutions. For centuries it has given life and the will to get through the day to millions of devoted fans just like me.

What in the world could spark such devotion from so many? Coffee, I tell you. Coffee – the nectar of the gods.

What other drink in all of history offers as many variations as coffee? There’s light, medium, dark, and double roast. There are 20 or so varieties based on origin -- Arabica, Brazilian, Columbian and Jamaican. Full caff, decaf, and half-caf…There’s brewed, instant, espresso, frappuccino, cappuccino, Doppio, macchiato, iced, blended, black, sugared, creamed and flavored. It’s used in baked goods and other desserts. It’s been covered in chocolate and called candy. I personally know someone who pours a cup into every pot of chili they make.

Every day, on the way to work, I look at Brianna and pitifully beg, “Coffee? Please?” and she stops at the little store down the road from my house for the best little cup of coffee I’ve ever had as I shout, “Hallelujah”.

It’s rich and nutty and fragrant. It’s perfect with just a little bit of French vanilla half and half. It doesn’t matter that I’ve already had coffee at home. It’s this coffee, this beautiful example of everything embodied by coffee, that I must have each morning. Starbucks ain’t got nothin’ on this coffee.

I have been known to climb out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning and trudge to this store, still in my pj’s, mascara smeared around my eyes, pillow marks still on my cheeks, hair standing on end, and un-brushed fangs bared for anyone in my way, to acquire this beautiful nectar served in a Styrofoam cup.

Did you know? 15 facts about coffee:

1.       Countries like Japan and Costa Rica have developed holidays to celebrate coffee.

2.       #2 on the list of highest traded commodities in the world is coffee.

3.       Coffee was discovered by a goat herder in Ethiopia over 11 centuries ago. (oh, what I wouldn’t give to resurrect this sweet little man and tell him how precious he is to me)

4.       A single coffee tree will only bear one or two pounds of beans per growing season. That’s why it’s so expensive.

5.       George Washington, the English chemist (not the president), invented instant coffee around 1906.

6.       Coffee, when served, black, is a naturally calorie free beverage.

7.       The growth and production of coffee provides jobs for almost 25 million people world-wide.

8.       Mixing coffee grounds or pouring a cup of coffee into potting soil will help revive plants.

9.       75% of all caffeine consumed in the U.S. comes from coffee

10.   It takes 40 coffee beans to make a single cup of coffee.

11.   Coffee beans are actually berries, not beans.

12.   Coffee was originally eaten. Tribes in Africa mixed the berries with fat and formed edible “balls” of coffee.

13.   All coffee in the world grows in the area between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. This area is known as “The Bean Belt”.

14.   Contrary to popular belief, Espresso only contains 1/3 of the caffeine found in a regular cup of coffee.

15.   1.4 billion cups of coffee are consumed world-wide every day!

So, there you have it. You now know the key to my heart, the object of my affection and my purpose in life.

And now, I’ve come to a most disturbing correlation between my own life and fact number three. I think I’ll have to go next door now and have a little chat with the goats. Then, I’ll call and schedule that therapy session I needed after the rub down I got from Billy D. Goat a couple weeks ago.

Do they make meds for minds as disturbed as mine? Am a I re-incarnated goat herder?

*sigh* I’ll go fix a cup of coffee and think on it…then I’ll get back to you.