If we were having coffee, I’d tell you this is the first time I’ve been in a coffee shop since I traveled to New Hampshire–and their much lower Covid numbers–back in July. When I finally feel safe unmasking around other people for long periods of time, I may just take up residence at my local coffee shop. After all, I have two years and counting of coffee shop eavesdropping to catch up on. I’d also ask you to tell me about your favorite coffee shop. I’ve lived in Detroit for two years and still don’t even know which shop is going to be my shop. (But Stella Good Coffee has my heart–for the coffee and for the amazing Fisher Building).
If we were having coffee, I’d ask how many more wake-ups you have until your next break. (Fifteen for me!) If you feel guilty because you’re secretly counting the days, I’d try to set your mind at ease. It’s just that kind of year. We can need rest and still be doing what is right for our students each day.
If we were having coffee, I’d ask after your pets by name. I won’t remember your children’s names–or even if you have children probably–but I know every detail you’ve ever shared about your pets. I’d be especially touched if you ask me about my feral cat colony so I can assure your that Aubergine finally returned, no worse for wear, and yesterday Max sat on the fence and waited rather than running away when I put food out for him.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Slicing is taking a toll on my reading life (to borrow Julieanne’s phrase). This is the first week in a couple of months when I haven’t finished a book. But I did start a book this morning that I’m excited about–Dorothy Gilman’s A New Kind of Country. It belongs to a sub-genre I particularly like–let’s call them “a year of solitude in a rural place” memoirs. I too would like to move to a little lobstering village in Nova Scotia for a year or two and write about it.
If we were having coffee, we’d talk about Ukraine. Even though I haven’t written about it, Ukraine is always on my mind, and I’m sure it’s on yours too.
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My theme for Slice of Life 2022 is finding inspiration in the writing of others. Each day I plan to find my slice in someone else’s words or forms. Weekend Coffee Share is a format I learned from Tammy at Tammy’s Reading Life. If you’re ever stuck for an idea, I highly recommend a visit to Tammy’s blog. You’re sure to find inspiration!
the dirigible plum 
45 responses to “If We Were Having Coffee #sol22 6/31”
I so wish we could have coffee. I’d tell you about my cat Fancy who is getting so fat that she has trouble jumping on the counter to eat. We leave the food on the counter because my dog Charlie loves to eat cat food. Anyway, we’d have things to talk about for sure.
We would have so many things to talk about. And I would love to see photos of Fancy and commiserate about fat cats. My dear Chipotle has become quite stout and we cannot seem to slim him down!
Oh yes, I remember this format from previous years! I sure would love to have a coffee sometime, but we live on different continents! Oh well, one can dream! Yes, we’d have plenty to talk about…!
Coffee might be a bit challenging to manage across different continents, but yes we can dream!
I’d love to have coffee and chat! Many things in common…. and I’m sure we could add to each other’s TBR lists! Thanks for sharing.
Nothing I love more than book recommendations! I am sure we could add to each other’s lists.
[…] If we were having coffee I would tell you my Two Writing Teachers challenge has been amazing this first week. I have posted every day and have left comments. It is so nice to read about people’s lives I have come to adore over the years. Many familiar names and faces. I am excited to “meet” some of them this morning on ZOOM! A fellow slicer even used me for inspiration today! You can read her blog here. […]
I do love this format! I esp loved hearing about your cats today. The picture is adorable. My reading life has taken a toll because…of almost everything! I read a lot on my phone which dismays me a little. I did buy a physical book this weekend so will start today. I also have a stack of library books I need to get after…Thank you for coffee today!
I wish I could read books on my phone. It’s just never worked well for me (unless I’m on an airplane). I think our reading lives ebb and flow like so much else.
This form brings us right to the table, doesn’t it! I love how you’ll remember pets over people! So true! And I love that coffee with you means our conversations will we well below the first sip of small talk! May have to borrow this!
It’s a fun format and surprisingly generative for different ideas. I never know what’s going to come up when I start writing one of these!
So true about Tammy’s blog, but you have made the coffee klatch totally yours. I love the Fisher building and all the other photos that let us be with you.
Thank you! Detroit’s Art Deco buildings are truly special.
While I was reading Gilman’s memoir, I couldn’t help wondering if I still have time to live on the windy coast of Nova Scotia, lol! I really enjoyed this post and its format.
The descriptions of the wind were giving me Wyoming flashbacks. It sounds so miserable. I hate wind!
This format caught my eye last year and I ended up writing about my mother who has missed so much since she passed away. I’ve had this format in the back of my mind this year and hope to write about my father but that’s a little more challenging. Thanks for the reminder and the beautiful photos. I’d also love to spend some time in that lobstering town.
I find that this format so inviting because it can be small talk or deep conversation. I hope you’ll find a way to write about your father.
I want to join you at Stella Good Coffee and I am going out to buy that book – rural memoir is right up my alley. Thank you!
We’ll have an excellent cup of coffee, and maybe we can think of some more rural memoirs to recommend to each other.
If we were having coffee you know that cats would be a big part of our conversation. I also have a feeling that the coffee would get cold as the conversation stays hot.
Ha! I might wish to have a microwave handy to blast my coffee for a few seconds (heresy, I know). And yes, there would be plenty of cat talk!!
Such an inviting format. I’d love to sit down with you to talk about reading, eaves dropping in coffee shops, writing, Ukraine, and listen to your stories about your cats.
We would have so much to talk about!
I’d love to sit w/ you in the Fisher Building and have coffee. The setting would inspire conversation about all the things. This line grabbed me: “We can need rest and still be doing what is right for our students each day.” Susan Barber often posts “Stop Teacher Guilt” tweets. There is only so much a teacher can give. And Max is gorgeous.
This has been a year, and I am right there with Susan–no teacher guilt. Do what you have to do to get through.
If we were having coffee right now I’d tell you that Chubby is absolutely in love with my husband. And, I’m a bit jealous.
Love this format and your theme. You are a one stop spot for ideas this March! Many thanks to you for giving up your reading time to fill us with your writing. I’m adding A New Kind of Life to my stack!
Our cats definitely have preferences! Zorro wants my husband to carry him around like a baby for hours every day, but if I pick him up he squirms. My husband thinks that Smudge gets no people time–but that’s because Smudge is glued to MY side 24/7 and my husband never sees him!
I wish I had a place like that for coffee. If we had coffee we would talk a while about that ceiling and those arches.
We absolutely would! We’d read all the signs that share information about the building’s materials, construction, and history, and we’d have plenty to marvel over.
If we were having coffee, I would be delighted. I would tell you all about Binx, Herbert, and Emma. I would ask for your cat advice for sure.
We could talk cats for hours! Hopefully this will really happen someday and we will have coffee together for real–not just in our imaginations over the internet!
That would be awesome!
The Fischer building looks so glam. I recognized this format from your title, and agree that you have made it your own.
It’s very glam! It’s not really the best for eavesdropping but it’s definitely the best for feeling swanky.
What a gorgeous building! If we were having coffee, I’d tell you my reading life is the pits right now, and that I only have five more wakes before my break!!
Five more wake-ups! Woo!!! I can’t seem to fit reading into everything else I’m doing right now, though I did manage to put the phone down and read a few chapters of the Dorothy Gilman memoir last night before bed. It made me feel more myself just to read before bed!
If we were really having coffee, the first thing I would do is apologize for not doing the penpal thing yet. It’s still sitting on the table next to my journal. And then I would want to know about your family. And how you are feeling about life in Detroit. I’d probably also have to introduce you to my sweet Rooney. Maybe you could bring a cat in your computer bag!
We would have so much to talk about–we’d be there for hours! And no apologies necessary! Penpalling isn’t for everyone, and it takes some extra task initiation energy we may not have at the end of the day (or ever!) to start a letter. How I would love to meet Rooney!
Oh, this was a lovely post. Your writing just flows and I was swept along, learning about you. ALSO — I’ve never read a ‘year of solitude in a rural place’ memoir and now it’s all I want to do! For a long while, all I read was nun memoirs (lol) so I really get the appeal!
I’ve been rereading May Sarton’s Journal of a Solitude which put me in the mood for more of the same! It’s a very peaceful type of reading–especially when it’s written in diary form I find.
What a sweet post. I actually found your link on Tammy’s blog
today. I would love to sit in Stella’s and visit with you about all these things. (I would have a tea latte instead of coffee though.)
We would no doubt have plenty of things to talk about over our tea latte and coffee!
I have loved your coffee talks over the past few years. I will use this inspiration for a future post. Thank you for the photos as well! I did a quick search and gallery visit of the Fisher Building. When if ever in Detroit, it is on my list to visit.
It’s a stunning building! And not even the finest Art Deco building in the city apparently (The Guardian holds that title, but I haven’t been inside yet).
I love this idea and may have to borrow it sometime with my own coffee ideas!
I, too, have not found a favorite coffee shop near me. I had a 4 month old when the pandemic started, we’ve been VERY safe, and now I’ve got another 4 month old… and it feels as if things will never return to normal… I miss coffee shops, eating on the go, seeing my friends, giving hugs, and smiles. You are not alone!