It’s such a ritual, preparing a cup of coffee. Leaving room for cream, adding just the right amount of sugar, testing it for the proper temperature, all these things must be done before it reaches the sweet spot, the brief moment in time when all the combinations of coffee-bitterness, milky-sugary-sweetness, and perfect warminosity reach their optimum apogee.
Once it’s there, it’s almost impossible for me to stop drinking it, and before I know it, the cup is empty. Not a cup half-full or half-empty, but filled with nothing but air and not precious life-giving beverage.