Years ago, I came across a little booklet about coffee, extolling its virtues and relating several little stories. I have no idea where this book might have gone, or what it’s title. So, I cannot vouch for the efficacy of these facts.
One interesting story related was that coffee was initially quite scorned in Europe. It came from Arab lands, and therefore was associated with Islam. As the drinking of coffee increased in Rome, the Cardinals became concerned that it would lead to the downfall of Christendom (or something else utterly ridiculous… that’s the way with Cardinals). They went to the Pope and demanded he issue an edict condemning the drinking of coffee, asserting that it was “the devil’s brew”. But, or so the story goes, the Pope had already become addicted to the beverage. So he ordered that all the coffee in Rome was to be brought to the Vatican; there he proceeded to baptize coffee, freeing it from the clutches of the devil and making it forever safe for good, God-fearing Christians to drink. I suppose this occurred prior to the Protestant Reformation, or there would have had to be numerous other ceremonies!
Another story is that one king of England attempted to ban coffee houses in London, decreeing that “a different kind of conversation occurs” in those places. One presumes that, freed from the numbing effect of beer, those drinking coffee saw clearly their oppression from the 1% of their day… that one was for you, Bob!
But, for me my favorite of these little tales was the story of the Coffee Cantata, the story of a father demanding of his wayward and uncooperative daughter that she give up coffee, for no man would want her with a coffee addiction. When all failed, he told her he would not arrange marriage for her, at which she appeared to repent; but secretly, she let it be known that the only marriage contract she would accept would be one that permitted her to brew and consume coffee at will. The one line from this cantata that stuck with me is “Coffee my one true bliss is, sweeter to me than love or kisses. Coffee is my only joy!” I went searching for this verse of the cantata, and the only translation I can find goes like this:
Mm! how sweet the coffee tastes, more delicious than a thousand kisses, mellower than muscatel wine. Coffee, coffee I must have, and if someone wishes to give me a treat, ah, then pour me out some coffee!
It is true that I love coffee. I wouldn’t say it’s my only joy, my one TRUE bliss… but it’s UP there. I’m assured by those who know, that this is actually genetic in nature, for a good Scandinavian knows the importance of coffee! A favorite book of my parents and mine was “First We Have Coffee!” by Margaret Jensen. She was the daughter of a Norwegian Baptist minister, and her book tells the story of their life, and all the visitors who came to them and how every visit began with coffee… good, strong Scandinavian coffee (they brew it strong!) I like strong coffee. Not necessarily espresso (though that too from time to time) but strongly brewed coffee. If the pot says add 3 to 3 1/4 cup of coffee (a 50 cup pot) I make sure it’s 3 1/4… or a bit more! Strong coffee… it’s what for life! I sneer at decaffeinated coffee. I LAUGH at it! Ha HA!
This cantata comes to mind, especially the words Coffee my one true bliss is because, well, because, dear friends, my doctor called. He and the staff cardiologist at Jennie Edmundsen in Council Bluffs have reviewed the results of my 48 hour Holter monitor and discovered…
Nothing.
Nothing serious, anyhow, other than one “episode” that was exactly the same as all the other episodes that all my previous ECGs and Holter Monitors have shown. An electrical “stutter” that starts in the lower part of my heart then works upwards, causing sharp pain – sometimes rather extreme – and discomfort. Oddly enough, that episode did not at all coincide with the 3 events I had recorded during the wearing of the monitor. And he had asked my old cardiac electrophysiologist, a cardiologist who specializes in the “electrical system” of the heart, who concurred with the findings and with the recommendation.
THE recommendation, my friends. Oh dastardly and dreaded recommendation!
Cut back on caffeine! Stop drinking coffee! Oh horrors!
He was unimpressed that I have cut soda out of my diet over the past 6 weeks, drinking only water… and coffee.
He was unimpressed that I have cut my coffee consumption by 25%.
One cup a day. Now, in fairness, he did say I could drink one of OUR cups which in reality is the equivalent of TWO cups. But still. That’s a further reduction of, uh, ahem, a lot of coffee. When I look at how much I actually consume, it IS a little embarrassing! My daily intake has been roughly 1 – 12 cup pot of coffee daily.
Beyond that recommendation there really isn’t much he had to offer. I could go see the cardiologist. We could do a lot more tests. Or, as I recommended back to the doctor, we wait. We see if the problem returns, or continues. If it does, and if it gets to be a problem, then I’ll go see my cardiac electrophysiologist.
Until then, I suppose I could try decaf. ha.
On The Road II 