12:30 AM - The Coffee

12:30 and I'm fading but I've still got pages to write. I need coffee but since I only drink it on a blue moon I've got none to brew.

I get in the car hoping something is open. I am still every inch a Northeast Kingdom (where they roll up the dirt roads at 6pm) girl so I assume the world stops at sundown.

The coffee shop windows are lit up. Good. I will have coffee tonight. Inside there is actually a LINE! Other Smithies getting their caffeine on.

A compact Indian man sits, impeccably dressed for the hour, at a corner table reading. His girlfriend contrasts him with her hippy stylings but I know they are together by the way their necks arc to bring their heads together across the small square of table.

I wait almost 15 minutes for my coffee. 15 minutes is far too long when sleep deprived and not having had a decent meal in days. I start to crave all the tastes on the menu. I want it all...sweet, tart, bitter, hot and filling, fluffy indulgence.

I can't help myself. My turn and I order my coffee AND a smoothie. Mango...yum.

*Note on picture - I googled coffee images and this one came up on the first page. I recognized it right away as Michael Wood's, a contemplative photographer I studied with in Montreal. However, when I clicked the link, it was contained in an index on someone's MIT page. No credit as far as I can tell, but I am almost 100% sure this is Michael Wood's. I'll look it up tomorrow when I have more time.