Smelling the earth in it's season
coming through my window,
watching the slow trickle of leaves
starting to turn red.
The first reminder of what is coming.
The Fall.
The blazing glory.
The earth surrendering it's Self.
Believing in resurrection
and reincarnation.
It's never easy to believe such things
until you have seen enough Falls
to believe there is more than Life and Death.
That there is something that lies,
alive,
behind the cycle that guides our world;
some force that pushes and surges and bursts thresholds to creation.
Knowing that these leaves
and this warmth will return
allows me to lean into the beauty of life in loss.
It allows me to let my Self go
and look toward resurrection and reincarnation.
Knowing that beneath my Self
there is a force of life which will create
and emerge
come Spring.

We got our first lot of bags completed tonight. 
It's been a task that we've been working on all week.
We're going to be roasting and packaging tomorrow night,
and shipping them Tuesday. 

When I was stamping and writing on the bags,
after Becky cut, sewed and folded them,
I asked myself
"Why are we doing all this?"
I mean, it's a lot of work.
Just for a bag that we could buy.
Easily.
But that's kind of the answer.
It's not about ease.

It's about doing things slowly.
Living slowly.
It is less efficient
but it has so much more meaning.

But what I wanted to write about was the symbol that we use to stamp our bags. 
It is the bottom of a coffee mug,
a small mug,
the size I prefer.
I could drink out of a giant mug.
Again, it would be easier.
But the joy of coffee is the process.
So pouring, drinking, and finishing a cup is part of the process.
And if I had a big mug, I only get to experience that cycle once.
Whereas, having the smaller mug allows me much filling and refilling.
Perfect.
That's what I'm after.

It was probably all that filling and refilling that led to the idea for the stamp.
When I roast, I use a paper log to keep track of the data from each batch:
time, temp, airflow, developmental notes.
And I end up setting my coffee down on the log.
Inevitably I spill.
And I get this perfect coffee stain on nearly every log I have,
and nearly every piece of paper that spends a day in the roasting room with me. 

If there is a symbol for me that represents roasting
it's that ring of coffee left behind from a mug.
It just seemed fitting to stamp the bags with that.

I hope you all enjoy the coffee you receive this week.
We are super grateful for you all and for the opportunity to send you coffee.
Be well.

So there are of course many challenges that come with any move.
Our move to Vermont of course is no different.
One of the biggest challenges has just been figuring out how we keep Tiny House Coffee alive.
As I've said in earlier posts the costs of shipping are quite prohibitive for what we do.
I am not interested in doubling the price a customer pays because of shipping.
Haven't gas prices plummeted by they way? Aren't shipping costs and flights supposed to have gone down as well?
What do I know.

These challenges, like most, have turned out to be really great to work through.
And somehow through the process we have come to a better place than where we were when we started.
Tiny House is better than ever.

Becky worked hard this last week at designing and sewing Tiny House Coffee a new bag.
I posted a pic of it the other day, but I have another one here too.
The details of the bag may change - 
the placement of the writeup,
the color of the thread,
or the little additions - 
but the concept won't.
We are pleased to be making each bag we send out.
We spent quite a bit of time trying to find the right paper.
One that fits both form and function.
But we did it.
The one we chose has a lining in it and it has the right feel.

I can't wait for us to start sending them out.
Our September shipments are heading out this week
and we'll be happy to have these bags in boxes!

I'm crunching on coffee beans,
doing one of my favorite things:
Sitting outside,
with my body comfortably in the shade,
and my feet bare and in the sun.
It's perfect.

This idea,
the Tiny House Coffee idea,
has taken shape since we've moved.
Becky and I were talking last night
and I think we are going to expand what we do here.
Not a lot at first.
But we've realized how we are naturally wanting to make Tiny House Coffee 
a way for us to share our lives with our friends and family,
not just provide them with coffee.
We'd like it to be a place that we direct ourselves 
and try to share who we are and what we're doing,
the parts of us that make us come alive.

I envision it being a view from the Tiny House.
A perspective on the world,
through our window, 
gratefulness in tow. 

We'll see what it turns into.
There is no grand plan. 
Other than to have a way for the people who know us 
to keep in touch. 

Let's start there.

A bag is formed in response to its place.

Long distances.
High shipping costs.
Craft.

The Vermonter.