Care and coffee

What are your daily habits?

Every morning I open my eyes.

And depending on who’s watching that’s either a triumph or a disappointment.

I lie there for a while waiting for something to matter enough to move. Typically it’s needy cats begging for food, or my addiction to coffee that finally gets me to my feet.

I shuffle to the dresser and fumble around for some clothes: my usual black tank top, jeans, a bra that makes my boobs look good, cotton underwear. Then to the bathroom to brush my teeth and make a half-hearted attempt at personal hygiene.

I make my way to the kitchen and start the morning routine: Feed the cats. Make coffee. Check on the rat and give her a cuddle because she deserves it more than some people I know.

Then outside to toss the chickens their breakfast and a kind word or two. I water the garden, harvest what’s ready, and eagerly check for fruit growing on the vines.

Then I sit, finally drinking that coffee I so desperately needed when I rolled out of bed.

Soon my family will wake up, still sleepy eyed but filled with stories and dreams and plans for the day.

It doesn’t sound like much, really, but these thin threads are the things that hold me together. Care and coffee.