Weekend Coffee Share – Forging Ahead

November 19, 2016 — #weekendcoffeeshare, alliance, forge, Hephaestus

Forge

If we were having coffee I would offer you some tasty new teas I just ordered, including a tangy cranberry flavored black tea that I am drinking.  We have coffee, of course, and some cornbread to eat by the wood stove.  The fire from last night is out, and today is warm, but I like to hang out next to my stove all winter.  It radiates heat as well as coziness.  I keep a big pot of water on top since it does zap what moisture we have out of the air.  Today I am floating a large dose of lavender essential oil with a dash of frankincense to bring up the seasonal mood.  My set of remote controlled LED candles arrives today from Amazon, which will complete my winter decorating. Next week I will let you play with them. I could not resist the sale on remote controlled candles.  They just sound like fun.

It is my pleasure to host this diverse group, and my wish that you will all continue to visit.  When the streets fill with the jolly sound of holiday traffic I stay home.  It is not difficult for me, and I am not at all missing out in any reindeer games.  I never go to malls, don’t like chain stores at all, and we don’t do any special gifting at holiday time.  So when I am asked if I am ready for Christmas I can safely say yes because I do nothing to prepare.  I like to have more lighting and scent in the home all winter, but there is no particular holiday theme. The theme is fire building, a sport I completely enjoy.  I love the job of fire tender, and consider it to be one of my best skills.  There is a trick to starting fires, which is allowing plenty of air to flow.  I try to use as little kindling as possible to get the bigger stuff started. My partner does the wood splitting, but I like the game of doing more with less. It is a metaphor for life.  We don’t need more fuel, we need more air to get started.

I consider this talented group of writers meeting for coffee to be friends, or at least allies.  Forging alliances takes time and alchemy.  We have a new year and new challenges.  This is a time to strengthen our alliances and forge new ones. We use this phrase to mean find commonality through trial by fire.  Forging requires intense heat and strong force. Once bonded the metals are inseparable, much stronger than a weld.  Hephaestus, blacksmith to the gods, was the creator of both Pandora and her famous box.  At the bottom of the box when all all else had escaped into the atmosphere, hope remained.

Hephaestus

Thanks to all of you who forge friendships by finding time to share coffee each weekend.  I am mighty glad you came to hang out today.  My week has been smooth and easy.  My hope is to continue that pace and level of difficulty (very mellow) into 2017.  Please visit the digital party here to comment to add your post.