Wake Up Juice
7.22.21
C. Derick Miller
Head Writer
Your Stories On Video
The morning coffee ritual seems to be something we all share with one another no matter who we are, where we’re from, or how we were raised. You can’t watch television for an hour without being bombarded with coffee advertisements. Also, when was the last time you drove anywhere without passing a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts? Society insists that we feed the beast on a regular basis and that particular beast is wide awake!
Actually, some of my most vivid memories in my life revolve around a cup of coffee (With the exception of the most recent one a mere few moments ago where I burned the heck out of my tongue while writing this blog!). Late night guard shifts while in the Army were always more pleasant when the mess Sergeant would bring by a thermos of ‘Wake Up Juice’. Always straight black, no sugar, no creamer, and guaranteed to keep you going for another few hours. The desert just seemed less cold that way.
It was always the same thing during my many travels as well. Early morning roller coaster rides up the Interstate 5 route between Redding, California and Seattle, Washington. I would stop at a Pilot in Weed, California (Yes, it’s a real place which boasts to be the birthplace of Jim Morrison’s girlfriend, Pamela, made famous by the Oliver Stone bio pic “The Doors”), get filled up on java, and hug the curves of the passes near Mt. Shasta on into the Portland area. The most beautiful part of the United States, in my opinion, but also one of the most dangerous in the winter months. The coffee helped. At least I wouldn’t be sleepy if I slipped down a mountainside to my doom!
The bottom line is…
Humans need coffee and, if you believe otherwise, you’ll get gazed upon as though you’re from another planet. Where are some of your best coffee memories? Was it at some quaint little café in Paris while overshadowed by the rising sun behind the Eifel Tower? How about in the trenches with some of the best buddies you ever met while guarding a post on a military assignment? What about that one time you caught the only sunset which made you tear up while taking that late afternoon drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix, Arizona down Interstate 17?
I’m being serious! There are some of you who may not be able to comprehend the magnitude of such memories but, I’m here to tell you, I can associate several of my best memories in life around a cup of coffee. Was it something you shared every morning like a ritual with your significant other, or a ceremony in which you participated alone daily as the only calming moment to come?
Here at Your Stories On Video, we want to know! How do you drink it? Straight black like dirty water or sweet like candy with all kinds of creamers and sugar? Are you one of the five-dollar fancy coffee drinker like you see lined up around the block every morning at Starbucks or a quick in/quick out wake up call at your neighborhood 7/11 type of person? Does that first sip take you back to memories past or do you finish every cup in the moment?
Still don’t believe me about the coffee memories?
Brew some, pour a cup, close your eyes in absolute silence, and take a sip. I told you so…