Ground Coffee and Cold Apple Juice

I woke up on the first day of classes ready to start anew. I brewed a pot of Starbucks Pike Place Roast and left some for Adrianna to have before breakfast. The evening before I had laid out my outfit for the day. Great fitting skinny jeans, a floral print button down shirt, a yellow cardigan, and my grey flannel booties. It was bits and pieces all day that made me realize how closely childhood and adulthood will always be linked, not only in adolescence. Drinking my coffee was a symbol for me of growing up, the morning pick me up. But it also reminded me of visiting Pike Place in Seattle as a little girl and calling it the "Flying Fish Market." For one existential moment that cup of coffee symbolized the past of my childhood, the present of my adulthood, and the future of my potential. And it was delicious. Then I thought about how I had put out my clothes the night before the first day of school and I was back in Elkton at Cecil Manor Elementary. I couldn't sleep the night before and woke up energized and giddy. That's not only a love of learning, but a link between the past and present. Looking around my room are objects that reflect my purgatorial adolescent state. I have a very adult looking french press mug, a pocket knife in my drawer, a file folder dedicated to important documents in my desk. But alongside all of that sits a sand dollar I picked up on the beach in Washington, my feet in the Pacific Ocean, a stuffed reindeer that is supposed to be a moose sleeping with me each night, and a package of Mr. Sketch smelly markers in my box of stationary. Growing up is part getting better at remembering and retaining, I've found.

So while I'll more often drink hot coffee these days, I still enjoy a good glass of cold apple juice.
As a side note, I've been reading Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist this week and loving it. Also, my go to playlist is Jon Foreman, JJ Heller, Sara Groves, and the Atonement Soundtrack.  Candle being warmed today is Yankee's Midsummer's Night. A rich midnight blue that smells like it looks.