It's A Brave New World

Stating the obvious, pandemics are hard. And, as we have a very short memory for previous ones, the whole thought process is challenging.  Just for comparison though, the Spanish Flu of 1918 killed over 50 million. Horrible as our numbers are, they are still better than that.

I know, WTF!  Vaccine aside, we are still in a pandemic with creepy new Covid strains popping up in strange places. Can imagine the epidemiologists playing Whack-A-Mole on their petri dishes. 

I like to call myself an "optimistic realist". Which means appreciating we humans screw up, but hopefully we learn from our mistakes. History seems against my optimism on this. We seem to like repetition. I persist. 

Everybody has a particular and personal issue with this pandemic. The list is as endless as it is varied. Just thinking about it all is too much on some days. My grudge against it, as a writer, is two-fold.  As am an ambivert, I prefer indirect exchanges with the public. An occasional dash of presence peppered with questions, then a quick revert to my observer corner.  I work best as an island with a varied stream of people flowing around. Partner that with a steady supply of coffee, music and access to wi-fi.  My fingers start clicking on the keyboard to the beat.

I have spent the last several years travelling the world, deliberately seeking and stumbling into the eclectic, un-franchised world of alternative coffee shops.   I have choked down some weird and wonderful oddities ranging from chilli coffee and chocolate coffee to  Unicorns with avocadoes and dusted charcoal. It's an adventure, all creatures of caffeinated imaginations are welcome at my table at least once. Some, only once.

It's a  road of caffeinated exploration, observation and writing. The odd pothole adds to the adrenaline rush. My perfect world.

Until - the pandemic. It spread itself over the country, its shadow swallowing jobs, people, restaurants and, coffee shops.  Neighbourhood nooks held on with local support, out-door seating and employee prayers.  I stripped down to a t-shirt or bundled up with a ski jacket as our social life courageously staggered on. Until the day it didn't.

Americana is built around our need to be "free". We embraced Road Tripping in our cars as our symbol of this spirit.  A crazy American version of the European backpacker movement. Let's face it,  public transport and train systems here suck, hence our twisted love affair with our cars. Just say "Road Trip" out loud and everybody gets happy and starts packing.

2020, in the face of howling protests and death, Big Blue and I partnered to observe and immerse ourselves in this chaotic and newly emerging world. To observe and record where and how, we as a country were changing. A full tank of gas and a some old fashioned paper maps. Why maps you ask? (Does she not know about those cool GPS apps?)  Yes, she does. However, dear readers, in ALL the zombie apocalypse movies maps matter. Preparation is everything. That and, aim for the head. Not the heart. Still working on processing that one...

Onward Ho. Road Trip!  Except. Miles eaten by hours demand, caffeine.  It's  a foundational brick in the Travellers Maslow Hierarchy.  Cruising into dusk and dawn, the neon bright lights lied.  They flashed across the velvet skies, beckoning with promise. Sliding in, shifting down to find on arrival,  doors slashed with ragged, lopsided CLOSED signs. Coffee/ wi-fi stops were suddenly part of a past world.  Normal was- gone. Without coffee it IS a zombie world.

I hear my techie friends shouting on my side bar. Yes, I do know about Hot-Spots, tethering etc. Yep, I gotcha. You guys are awesome. Kudos etc.  Pyjama writing is cool too. Unless, you're actually writing about, travelling.  Us travel writers like to "check shit out" to save you the trouble. When there is noting to check-out but the same view of our kitchen kettle, creativity dives deep into showmanship vs reality. It's been a tough road, in more ways than one.

But! Life is almost reaching a terrifying copy of pre-pandemic "normal".  Things are getting shiny again. Little gold sparkling lights.  Is it pyrite (a Fools Gold) or, the real bean. We are hopeful. But we have been deceived before.  We ease up to it. Slowly, move in. Peek in the window....EUREKA!!  Coffee, a place to sit and, Wifi.  OMG.  Do we shout for joy or act "normal".  My fingers are itching. 

 The WiFi is doing an on-off jig thing, but the heart on my cuppa makes up for it. Am In A Coffee Shop. Period. OMG. Just drink it in. Breath it in. Embrace the moment. At last, in a cobbled and vaguely remembered "normal" way, coffee shops are back on the table and yours truly is sticking her nose out to sniff around for caffeine related adventures on your behalf.  

Life today is a wall of roses. Very pretty and loving the butterfly.  Coffee makes life better. Love in a cup. Welcome to our new vaccinated world.   Ahhhhhhhhhh. It's good to be back in a world with coffee and strangers. 

😀😎