"The morning cup is an integral part of the life of a Creole household. The Creoles hold as a physiological fact that this custom contributes to longevity, and point, day after day, to examples of old men and women of fourscore, and over, who attest to the powerful aid they have received through life from a good, fragrant cup of coffee in the early morning." The Picayune Creole Cook Book (1901)

Now it's official. I can welcome you to another back-to-work Monday that happens to fall on this Tuesday, May 28, 2013. That, of course, is because of the holiday. I'm not sure I am making good progress on my coffee moderation program. It's not for a lack of trying. I cut my cup size down to half. However, I didn't reduce the amount of coffee in each cup. Now I am used to the really bold taste. In addition, the idea was to consume less in that way but since I cut the fluid down by half, I now drink twice as many of the half cups but they are stronger than they were before, therefore, without consulting a mathematician, I think I can safely say I need to rethink my approach. I also prepare the coffee to be made for the ladies Bible study that meets in our home each week. The one request my wife makes each week is that I please not make it too strong. That presupposes that some of the coffee I've prepared in the past may have been interpreted by those attending as being a smidgen or two on the strong side. I try. I really do. I want them to enjoy but I also have an obligation to the brand integrity of the Community Coffee Company. (You may be seated.) Thus, I will continue to do my best to balance these conflicting priorities. And, there you were, thinking all along that I really have it pretty easy.

I heard some stuff flying around here and there about how some people had cold weather for the holiday designated to unofficially usher in summertime. I pulled up the trusty low temperature map and it did turn out to be unusually nippy in many areas of the fruited plains. Just look at all those beautiful 30's on that map. That would make a perfect holiday weekend. Right? In upstate New York they punctuated the holiday with more than 30 inches of snow on Whiteface Mountain. The way they reported it was to call it a confused weather pattern. Please send a little of that confusion my way! I did spot a 28 up in Alaska but we can understand that one. There were also some complaints registered out on of the west or left coast. It seems that beach activities were not anywhere like they were supposed to be for this time of year. Too cold. If you like warm and humid with hot getting ever closer with each tick of the clock, well, I think we have it going on in our part of the map. We can dream. Waking up to a good frost on Memorial Day, now that would be something folks. Something indeed!

For those who have noticed my bushy beard, yes, I am letting it grow out much earlier than in the past. No. I have not auditioned and been accepted into the ZZ Top Rock Band. But based on some interested observers, it has been recommended that having it be a little more full at Christmas time would be better. And since the recommending committee includes my mom and my wife, well, just say hello to the bearded wonder. That's what they called me over forty years ago when I grew my first full set of facial hair. It was very brown in those days. Not anymore. I read about the cause of white hair. It seems that hair follicles are each pre-charged by their own special stem cell. That preset enables pigmentation for a specific period of time. After that, it quits, and the hair goes from color to white. I must have killed off a whole bunch of those stem cell thingies is all I can say. But, then again, it does make my Santa job a little easier. Meanwhile, I will have to deal with folks who don't know whether they should offer me a handout or a handshake. Have a great back-to-work Monday on this Tuesday and may God bless each one. Amen.  ...More later.