It was a Sunday morning. I stumbled out into the kitchen, my eyes still bleary with sleep. My husband is standing at the counter swearing and pounding on the coffee maker’s power button. He looks up at me and says, “It looks like it finally quit for good.”
I wasn’t about to accept that. Do not step between me and my coffee, especially my morning coffee. I will go to battle for that first cup. Around here we call it sweet nectar of the gods, and it is our life force.
Now, this wasn’t the first time our coffee maker had acted up. Truth is, it started acting up within the first few weeks we owned it. It’s a design flaw that allows moisture to collect inside the power console. Sometimes, you just have to push the button at the correct angle, with just the right amount of gentle pressure. I’ve learned how it works and kept the machine brewing for about a year.
That Sunday was different. No matter what I did or what my husband tried, there was no response from the power button. We did manage, though not on purpose, to adjust the hours on the digital clock.
After what felt like forever to my coffee-deprived brain, but was likely only five or so minutes, my husband decided to get out the percolator, which I strongly recommend any devoted coffee drinker keep as a backup plan.
He transferred the grounds into our percolator and dumped the water from the coffee maker so that I could continue to toy with it without fear of spilling. I kept at it while the first carafe of sweet nectar percolated.
The kitchen was starting to smell divine, and I was getting absolutely nowhere with the coffee maker. I unplugged it and lay it on its back upon a towel. That’s how it stayed all day.
We percolated carafe after carafe of coffee. Bonus: percolated coffee is absolutely delicious. Downside: with the fine ground such as we buy, you go through far more coffee. We discussed the possibility of needing to purchase a new coffee maker.
This horror story has a happy ending
What can I say? I’m a sucker for happy endings. Especially when those happy endings result in me getting lots and lots of coffee.
Monday, my husband decided to stand the coffee maker back up and give it a try. It had had almost twenty-four hours to dry out. Miraculously, it worked. We put our faith in it, and it got us through to the end of the week.
Friday, we went shopping. We found ourselves a simple coffee maker. No digital display, no auto-brew, no brew options. Just a switch you flip right for on left for off.
The old coffee maker hasn’t failed us, yet. If it wants to be back to work, who are we to fire it? So, until it decides that it has brewed its final cup of coffee, it will sit side by side with our new, simpler coffee maker and keep us in freshly brewed coffee as long as it can. No forced retirement plan here. Work it until it quits.
I love coffee. I love the way it smells when you open the bag. I love the way it permeates the air as the first pot brews. I love the way it slides over my tongue as I take that first sip. I love the delectable flavor. Since I quit drinking pop, it’s my main source of refreshment. In fact, I’ve been through two cups in the amount of time it took me to write this post.
I’ll leave you with this great poem, posted by Coffee Quotes.
ShldBWriting 