Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

A Christmas Tease

Posted on December 27, 2022 by smellincoffee

It is Tuesday, isn’t it? Christmas and the holidays have me in a temporal mist. Teasing from Wendell Berry’s The World Ending Fire again, because I haven’t been reading anything else. (Definitely in siesta mode!) As a people, we have … Continue reading →

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Joyeux Noel

Posted on December 25, 2022 by smellincoffee

A favorite scene from a favorite movie, in which humanity and the prince of Peace overcame the State — at least for a night. The scene where the German singer grabs a Christmas tree and advances into no-man’s land singing … Continue reading →

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Teasin’ with W.B. again

Posted on December 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

The old bucket has hung there through many autumns, and the leaves have fallen around it and some have fallen into it. Rain and snow have fallen into it, and the fallen leaves have held the moisture and so have … Continue reading →

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Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

Posted on December 19, 2022 by smellincoffee

Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley© Peter Kreeft 1982 182 pages The scene: ….well, we’re not sure. Somewhere out in the ether. The players: C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, … Continue reading →

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Postcards from Ed

Posted on December 18, 2022 by smellincoffee

Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast© 2007 ed. David Petersen337 pages “Saving the world is only a hobby. Most of the time I do nothing.” Although I was first drawn to Ed Abbey by his nature … Continue reading →

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Teasday Tuesing with W.B.

Posted on December 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

This morning’s tease comes from a Wendell Berry anthology, The World-Ending Fire. The idea was that when faced with abundance one should consume abundantly – an idea that has survived to become the basis of our present economy. It is … Continue reading →

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Lost on Purpose

Posted on December 12, 2022 by smellincoffee

Lost on Purpose: The Adventures of a 21st Century Mountain Man© 2015 Patrick Taylor187 pages The real adventure for me was letting go of everything I had defined as important and conducting another experiment with my life. Lost on Purpose … Continue reading →

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Unsettled

Posted on December 7, 2022 by smellincoffee

Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters© 2021 Steve Koonin320 pages Over the last twenty years, ‘climate change’ has been subject to the same abuse as ‘terrorism’: it’s levied so often with such enthusiasm … Continue reading →

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Sean of the South and the Old Man’s Boy

Posted on December 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

Sean Dietrich and his wife Jamie’s collective world was shaken when their doctor said the C word.  Cancer.  The emperor of all maladies,  the ticking timebomb in each of us.   Rather than crumbling into a  weeping ball of woe-is-me,  … Continue reading →

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An old man’s Tuesday teases

Posted on December 6, 2022 by smellincoffee

Today’s Teases come from The Old Man’s Boy Grows Older. “You know any more rich people?” “No,” I said. I was beginning to feel depressed. “That’s where you’re dead wrong,” he said quietly. “You know two rich people. You and … Continue reading →

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