The reason that this is a confession is that I'm a Latter-day Saint, (one a 'dem "Mormons") and we Do Not Believe in Drinking Coffee.
I've never touched the stuff (except for that one incident where my roommate Heidi and I divulged into a carton of Ben & Jerry's coffee ice cream - "it's only flavored, it doesn't really have coffee in it" - only to be awake half the night, finally to find the telltale COFFEE listed on the ingredients. I didn't take the sacrament that week) but I know if I wasn't Mormon my teeth would be stained brown. I've been known to duck into perfume shops just to sniff at those little coffee grounds they provide.
Oh, that tantalizing aroma! As a rule, you must smell coffee with your eyes closed and a slow, spreading smile - I learned that from the commercials. It helps to tilt your head back, too. Of course, this sniffing stance causes problems when I drive past a coffee factory - common in Brazil, Land of Cafe. "Eyes on the road" business, and all.
Coffee to me means traveling with my grandma. My mom's mom and I would travel together every summer. We went all over the place - Michigan's copper country, Grand Canyon, Arizona, Interlochen, boating, camping. Every morning I'd wake up to that forbidden fragrance and breathe in and out til my lungs burned. I'd sneak glances at her sipping her morning cuppa and ENVY. She'd always wink at me, but never tried to get me to taste some - she respected me.
My grandma was awesome.
After breakfast we'd pile into her turquoise station wagon and plan out the day's route. I was in charge of the map - something I took pride in. We'd munch on cheese and crackers with mustard and talk about everything from boys and fashion to manners and ancestry.
My grandma has never been old. She holds all the mystique of a real lady - so lovely, so composed. Vivicious and full of tangy spunk. Her house looks like a magazine show home - but still comfortable enough to kick off your shoes and have a real visit. She accessorizes. She's up-to-date on all the news and knows everything. She's traveled everywhere, and to me she is the definition of cultured. And best of all, she loves me.I'm gonna go write my grandma. And maybe buy some coffee flavored candles.
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19 comments:
Funny that it's a confession to like the smell of coffee. I have a friend who likes the smell of gasoline. Weird. Well, I guess that's weird. I don't have a sense of smell, so I wouldn't know.
P.S. I saw your comment over on Navel Gazing ("Stop yelling, Mom. You're just gonna have to say sorry later.") and it totally cracked me up!
ha ha ha ha ha!!! i totally forgot that night! we were seriously so wired!
and i still looooooooove coffee flavored things. they sell french vanilla latte frozen yogurt at my favorite fy place (the maverick gas station), and it's all i can do most days to not put my mouth under the hole and pour it into my mouth.
Not a big coffee lover.
When my mom was still Mormon, she used to tell me that my great-grandmother always had coffee brewing, and she loved the smell.
Now, I guess she can drink it till her heart's content!
I love that smell, too. But I've never tasted it.
One thing I really do NOT like is coffee-breath. My mil has it all the time. Ewwww.
I love the smell too, it reminds me of Thanksgiving/Christmas/time at my Grandma's house. Coffee and Newspaper smells send me right back to her house.
My father-in-law lives with us now, not Mormon, and I make him coffee from time to time. It's a lovely smell but my experiences with stray coffee flavored jelly beans keep me from ever being tempted. Bleck.
I've never had any real experiences with smelling coffee, except for walking down the grocery store aisle. It smells pretty good though, I would have to agree!
Oh my goodness, I relate to this post. Being a daughter of a caterer, and going to many events to help I always smelled coffee growing up. I too like the smell of coffee. I think when I was seven I took a little sip of coffee and it definitely does not taste the same as it smells, at least to my senses when I was 7. So I just stick to smelling it.
I love the smell of coffee too - I walk through the coffee aisle in the grocery store several times...
and to becky, I love, love, love the smell of gasoline and jiffy markers... not that I'm on a mission to get high but a really strong permanent marker mmmmmmmm.
I stood in the coffee isle of the grocery store for at least 5 minutes today. For some reason, it was especially strong today, and just absolutely delicious smelling. I have tried it and DID NOT like it. Though, I probably would get over that if I wasn't a mormon. I just love the smell too much.
You are so funny. I like the smell too!!
I absolutely agree with you! I love the smell of coffee. The same reason as Pamela. I love that it brings me back to a place that has a lot of good memories. I believe she and I must of tried it together, because it was disgusting to me too, but I still love the smell!
My Grams always had coffee on the front porch in the summer evenings and I would sit with her and rock on the porch swing. Sweet Lord, How I Miss Her! Thanks for giving me a hug from her with the memories tonight. Oooh, and Yankee Candle makes a terrific hazelnut coffee candle. :o)
Blessings, Whitney
can't say i like the smell. i like the connections you have with it though. grandma's are amazing. i lost mine a few years ago and often wish i had known her better. i miss her
right there with you. so many good non-coffee-drinking associations, too!
What a wonderful memory you have with your Grandmother. I love the winking moment. Seriously cute. And she sounds absolutely delightful. I too love the smell of java. I know my sins run deep in the smelling it until it burns too. Wink wink....
You look so much like her! I admit I've had the same craving... ;)
I had a completely different experience than Pam and Wendy, LOL I HATED the smell of coffee. Whenever my dad brewed it at home for a party it woke me up because I thought it smelled disgusting.
I've tried it before too and it is disgusting. I don't get why people think it smells so great and tastes so great.
I think it's weird that Pam, Wendy and I all had different experiences with coffee growing up in the same house like that, LOL
Well, I love the smell of coffee AND the smell of gasoline. So, I feel ya girl. And I think I might have been there and tried that coffee ice cream with you and Heidi. Sounds familiar. But I don't like that ice cream. But I do take migraine pills, which have caffeine in them. Not sure if that's "legal" or not...
For some reason I lost you off my reader, and now I found you again, and it's late, but I can't sleep, so I'm going to catch up. Don't think I'm a freak when you get like 7 comments in one day from me.
I always say that if I were not LDS, the only W.of Wisdom rule I'd probably break is the coffee thing. The rest doesn't even remotely tempt me, but coffee smells good (especially those fancy kinds with hazelnut and such), plus it's WARM .... probably not a big issue for Brazil, but for those of us in the tundra section of the States, it's a little appealing.
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