ismo

The weather has taken a turn for the better. After cycles of thunder, the humidity like a hot, wet, woolly blanket has rolled away, and it was clear, cooler, and sparkling this morning. The Sparrowhawk decided to give his eye a little more time to recover, so he skipped the gym, and had energy to go for a walk with me and mow the front lawn instead. We saw another hummingbird in the silphium forest! So exciting!! I thought they preferred red, and trumpet shapes, so it was unexpected to see it among the golden petals there.

A couple of years ago, a favorite coffee shop was going out of business, and still had unsold on their top shelf a home espresso maker. It was an Illy, and had an artistic, curved shape that made it look very space age. It was fire-engine red with very shiny chrome parts. It was significantly marked down, and we decided to buy it and take it home. It turned out to be great. I love being able to get a shot of espresso whenever I want it, and I love how it looks on my counter. The problem, however, is that it only functions with Illy brand espresso pods. They claim they recycle them if you mail them back after use, which we do. But there's no getting around the fact that it uses an awful lot of plastic. So the Sparrowhawk ordered a different, cheaper and less sophisticated machine that uses the type of pod you see in a coffee shop, where the barista has to pack the coffee into it by hand. I don't love the machine the way I love my Illy, sigh. . . . It's a boxy machine without that Italian flair. But I guess it will be more ecologically sound, and cheaper--once the Sparrowhawk gets his barista chops in order. The last sample shot was . . . uninspiring. The experiment continues. (I just asked him how it was going, and he said "I need to reduce the number of variables.")