My stanley coffee thermos is one of my most prized day-to-day-use possessions. There is nothing like the goofy sounding ‘fffuummp’ noise that comes from the lid when I first open ‘er up in the morning. And the following rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee. Mmmm!

I must enjoy it, because 4 cups later I find myself pouring the last few drops, out come the dregs, and that’s all she wrote. The last cup, it’s a bittersweet cup. I’m glad I had the thermos, though.

Better to have had coffee and run out than to have never had coffee at all.

Flying is that way, too. From the moment I passed my checkride, my flying days were numbered and began to count down. I may lose interest or the financial ability or I may move somewhere where flying isn’t really a possible passtime. Those are unsure, but what is sure is that someday I will no longer be physically fit to fly and on that day I’ll hand over my license and my wings will be clipped for the remainder of this life. Teaching, too. There are days that are so staggeringly poignant and beautiful that when they’re over all I can do is sit down and stare off into the sky and marvel at the bigness of it all. And someday I won’t teach any more, whether I find a different career or retire or something else.

Sometimes when I’m not paying attention I down all four cups of coffee and then my thermos runs out and I’m like “oh shit! no more coffee!” Other times I remember to savor every cup. No matter how I drink my coffee, whether I down it all asap or whether I take my time, pace it out, and enjoy and appreciate each cup, no matter, after four cups that thermos is empty as empty gets!

It’s no new way to look at life, I know, but it’s something that came to me a month ago and it was interesting to think about.

So what then? What does that all mean to me? Life’s a thermos of coffee. Come by and set on the porch for a while with me and lets savor a cup o’joe.

:)