Don Senneville and Jim White
As we continue to enjoy our local coffee houses, we can’t help but notice the proliferation of dogs into human habitats. Interestingly, there is now dog paraphernalia/treats for sale at the front counters and bowls mysteriously spread about the floor. Jim wanted to tell the servers about the bowls, but Don (aka dog owner) clarified the situation. In one shop, the server filled our water glasses and then the bowl on the floor. The couple at the next table asked if that was our bowl. They wanted to borrow it. OK, we get it. Dogs have integrated into human society as companions, rescuers, and service providers.
Are cats next? Where are the kids?
Now to the lake! We bought our fuel at Bashas Starbucks and headed into the vermillion canyons that wind their way to Bartlett Lake and The Cove. We both wish our daughters would have married here. A wedding venue featuring a welded hexagon vortex sculpture overlooking the lake below and the mountains to the east. Astroturf and picnic tables complete the earthy feeling of this site.
We were guided about by the only other person there. Alabama (from Louisiana) manages the store. She took us back in time: Having been raised in the very Deep South, we could relate to her explaining that you can’t use live bait to fish Bartlett. However, in the corner of the store is a tank full of live minnows! We pondered this discrepancy. We figured the answer must be that when you hook them they die. OK. We bought them and set them free on the way home. We will return.
We’re still studying bumper stickers. How about one that reads “Save the Minnows”? That would pass the grandchild test, which is, simply, “A bumper sticker is OK if our grandchildren read it and approve”. There are a few around our towns that don’t pass this test, so their parents no longer let us be the “approvers”. They see Brandon being cheered on, and Taylor Swift being mentioned as well. Anyone want to let us borrow your grandkids for this test? “Guinea pigs Deserve Bowls Too!” or “Please Don’t Offend”… or…??
Now we’re back in the heart of Carefree, at the Black Mountain Shop & Cafe (& Bar, soon). It’s the last day of January, but it feels like a warm spring day on the patio. After the lake, we’re starved, and therefore we order the Mountaineer Breakfast, which really takes 3 mountaineers to eat it all. We did. Don ordered rye toast. A smoothie topped off the great food, coffee, and service. Our server gave us each an official Blk Mt Coffee mug to take home. She said they were from the opening in 1978. Think Jimmy Carter. How nice. We thought we were special until we saw her give the same mugs to another table and then fill their dog bowl. OK.
Next time we will explore the claim by a British scientist that a pinch of salt improves tea. This is a big controversy in the UK. People are mad about such a travesty against their national beverage. The government’s even involved. Don thought he’d try the idea with coffee to see if it made it better. (It didn’t.) How many things do we need to do to coffee? Anyway, who orders rye toast for breakfast? We need a bumper sticker. Any ideas?
Please send us your ideas to The CUP at sonorannews.com.
