This cup represents many happy memories. Early in the morning when camping I get up and stumble out of my tent. I am usually one of the first ones up so the camp is quiet. Perhaps this is because I am one of the first to go to bed in the evening not talking around the campfire till two in the morning. I am just not as young as I once was. Once up I get the fire going I put on the coffee pot. I do this first so when I get back from my shower the coffee will be done. When I return from my shower I reach for my cup. It has a strip of canvas around the handle because hot liquid makes the metal hot making it impossible to hold. If the fire has not gone out while I was gone the coffee will probablly be ready. I pour the first cup as others in camp start to pass by on their way to wash up or take care of other business. I always offer the coffee drinkers the opportunity to get a cup and often have hot water on for the tea drinkers. This is the quiet time of the day and often I will have a friend or two stop, sit and visit before the day gets busy. These are good times because these are good friends or people who will become new friends.

     Many of the stories I have center around coffee, drinking it, spilling it  or making it. When I was young I did not drink coffee, now it is part of my personality. I have a cup with me most mornings where ever I am. I guess I have become dependent upon the caffine. Coffee is a social drink so I guess you might conclude I am a social person. This might be good or bad but I like to think of it as a place to begin new aquaintances. “Let’s get a cup of coffee” might not be politically correct any more but will certianly  get a conversation started.

    I brought the cup because it represents past friendships and future ones. It reminds me of times of reflection when I wrote in a journal or just worked on a story, cup of coffee near by. I did use the same cup later in the heat of the day for lemonade, coke, and ice water so the cup was a constant companion. It has been lost, found, dropped, filthy, washed and much cared about. How can so small a cup hold so much of my life?