Lent: Day Thirty-Four

Today has been a day for percolating. Literally and figuratively.

You see, I recently purchased a coffee percolator, and I have been enjoying the different flavor and quality it brings to my coffee. Supposedly percolating is the lowest form of brewing, but I like it because it brings back memories of my very first coffee encounters at my grandparent's house. I remember watching that coffee erupt into the little glass dome at the top of their coffee percolator like Old Faithful erupting in nearby Yellowstone. It was mesmerizing...and still is.

Percolating also reminds me of camp coffee. The very thought makes me feel invigorated. Oh, tents and stars and fires and oatmeal and steamy, percolated camp coffee!

As for the figurative...

I've always liked it when people describe the process of pondering a bunch of different thoughts as percolating them. It's like you have this filter canister of thoughts and you roll them around in your mind, letting them burble and boil and bubble and blow up, until they become something you can pour out and swallow.

I did that today. I took a day off from editing, a day away from words, and just enjoyed living. I wandered, I window shopped, I browsed books, I sketched, and I sat on the shore of Whitefish Lake for hours. All the while, I was percolating.

It was wonderful. And so needed. I percolated thoughts of my future; of being alone; of Alaska; of Mongolia; of coffee shops; of friends, and where they are and where they're going; of what it would look like to go into overseas missions; of guys, and why they're so frustrating; of fears; of my health; of the books I'm working on; of poetry; of God; of love.

I look at that list and realize it probably makes little sense. That's okay, though. We don't percolate to solve; we percolate to understand, to get things straight in OUR mind. I imagine, however, that many of those thoughts will be explored in this blog...so if you're curious, keep reading!

Anyway, after all that, what I'm really trying to say is this: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That Ferris Bueller was a pretty smart guy...

Whitefish Lake with Big Mountain Ski Resort in the background.

I haven't picked up my sketchbook and charcoal in a while...but it sure felt good to do some doodling.