Ode to Coffee

Ode to Coffee As I was sipping my piping hot, freshly ground Starbucks House Blend, I thought, ahhhh. Im not sure what it is about coffee, but I love it. Caffeinated or not, I love coffee. The smell, the taste, the culture. I need it, have to have it, would hate to live without it. I am from a family of huge coffee drinkers. My parents always had a pot of it going. I loved the smell, but hated the taste of it (they drank it black). When I was 19, my boyfriend at the time drank it and, wanting to impress him of course, I started as well. My love affair with coffee continued long after college and long after the boyfriend. What a wonderful courtship it has been. Ive always been happy to drive out of the way to hit a new coffee shop or try out a flavor of the week. When a Starbucks moved into my sleepy little farming town, WHOA! You would have thought they put a mega mall in town the way everyone was talking about it. Besides the wonderful smell and strongly bitter taste, it DOES have some good health benefits. Did you know that  some health experts say that people who drink coffee on a regular basis are 80% less likely to develop Parkinsons Disease? WebMD also goes on to say that it lowers your risk of diabetes, cavities and colon cancer. It can uplift you and treat headaches.   Theres also some evidence that coffee may help manage asthma and even control attacks when medication is unavailable. Overall, the research shows that coffee is far more healthful than it is harmful, says Tomas DePaulis, PhD, research scientist at Vanderbilt Universitys Institute for Coffee Studies. So theres that. My career has revolved around coffee. I can always rely on my faithful cup of joe to get me though the next resume, next article, next blog post, and so on. Every job interview Ive been on, there was a stop to pick up a coffee beforehand. Every workshop Ive done was with coffee in hand (or somewhere in the room). Career and Coffee seem to go hand in hand in my life. So, heres to you coffee!