The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

 B reathing a new day. It is the day after the day after when we heard the collective exhale of a nation that had been held in the vise grip of hatred for four years. We were finally able to breathe again. The Inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris was something I deeply needed, much like the euphoria of 2008, I felt the collective excitement and wonder of emerging from a long nightmare. I wore my Chucks & Pearls, put on my sorority colors to honor my SistaGreek, and felt like I was in a party all day, complete with costume changes. It was a moment I wanted to capture and while Covid19 and the 1/6/21 insurrection attempt had us cancelling our plans to be there, the new administration took great pains to have us feel like we were a part of all of it. From the night before with the collective memorial service to the fireworks at the end, it was all ritual that included remembering, acknowledging, listening, and restoring. I smiled with sistagirlpride...

 I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunny day. It seemed a perfect morning for coffee. So I made a luscious cup and went to my living room to sit on my leather sofa recliner and look at the unfolding of life around me. My windows are almost floor-to-ceiling and are everywhere in my home, giving me a view of the street, the foliage, the trees, the seasons. As the warm creaminess of my rosemary brown sugar latte made its way past my lips to coat my throat, I inhaled deeply, closed my eyes, and appreciated my space. I've moved and am still settling into this house and finding my way around. Hanging the masks from Ghana and the artwork has been one of the last big things we have been doing to make this feel like home. In so doing, I've had a few months to contemplate place, space, and being. I walked down to the basement to bring up one of the bags of art and gently touched each piece, thinking about what was musing in the minds of the artist before pencil or paint met canvas. T...