Java Junkie

I love coffee.  Nothing new about that.  This morning I pulled a nice double espresso that I clutched in my hands as I took my daughter to the bus stop.  I get Peet’s shipped to me fresh every month.  I’ve got fast pay cards at Caribou and $buck$.  Of course I grind my own beans (burr grinder, obviously).  I own and use several different French presses.  Yep, I love coffee.

One of my best friends in the world, though, puts my coffee consumption to shame.  He’s a Java Junkie.  He is a self-professed “coffee connoisseur” and “Dalai Lama of Latte.”  His blood runs brown.  His name is David.  david m. bailey actually (the lower case letters are his choice).  He’s a folk singer.  Check him out here:  davidmbailey.com  He drinks obscene amounts of coffee.

He was in town this week doing some concerts in the Cleveland area.  We had the chance to go to an Indians game together.  Thanks to Francis for making this happen!  Jacob’s field was packed for the game against the Detroit Tigers (and the Indians WON!!!).  Check out this photo from my phone’s camera — it’s reminescent of Ansel Adam’s “Moonrise Over Half Dome.”  I call it “Moonrise Over the Jake.”

This is me and David.  He has brown eyes.  I think they used to be blue.  He’s had too much coffee.

You might think I’m exaggerating.  David has recorded 17 cds.  This is one from a few years ago.  It’s called “Coffee with the Angels.”  Before this album I never imagined the pristine celestial beings throwing back a mug of Joe.

 

(click on the album to see more of David’s music)

One of the tracks on this album is called “Java Junkie.”  You can listen here:

 Java Junkie

He has very few diva-like requirements for his concerts.  In his booking kit he asks for appropriate sound system, a stool to sit on, and a THERMOS OF STARBUCKS COFFEE.

All joking aside, David is an amazing gift in my life.  He lives his faith, and has done the unimaginable (at least for most of us in this culture) — he has followed his dream.  So he’s a husband, dad, and full-time hippie folk singer.  He’s been through a lot in his life and it has formed in him a unique perspective with which he sees life, faith, and the world.  His music gives a glimpse into his life and his way of seeing things.

It was a gift to have time with David on Tuesday.  We talked more than we watched the game.  We ate a couple of hot dogs (it was $1 hotdog night at the Jake!) and drank terrible beer.  And it was as though the year-or-so since we’ve seen each other was but a day.  There are too few friendships in our lives that are like that.

Once again I am grateful for this body of people we call the Church.  It is a strange Presbyterian path that brought our lives together.  These kinds of intersections of lives are such a gift, and it is the church that has provided the opportunity to create and nurture these friendships.

So as I sip my espresso this morning I raise my mug.  Here’s to David.  Here’s to surviving all that life throws at us.  Here’s to friendship.  Here’s to the Java Junkie.

~ by Jeff on September 20, 2007.