So many wonderful things

So many wonderful things happen each week in Bill's Coffeeshop of Iowa City. There are student groups which meet at all hours. There are the AA and related support groups which meet each weekend. There is the tutoring.

There are also a number of activist groups which have been launched in the coffeeshop during recent years, including a local chapter of the Million Mom March and the student chapter of the ACLU.

But no listing of coffeeshop groups would be complete without a mention of NANO. It's a group of students who are working on novels. One recent semester, NANO participants came to the coffeeshop on Sundays to talk and write.

One of those Sundays they came in outfits which included a lot of capes and
fishnet stockings. It turned out that they were all headed to the Rocky Horror
Picture Show after their writing session.

Bill's is also a place which inspires so many wonderful conversations. On just about any day, one is likely to hear conversations about hopes or dreams or the meaning of life. I see these conversations as the spirit of Bill at work. It is truly remarkable to be a part of this.

Of course, it's not only people who like the coffeeshop. Animals like it, too. In the last few years, there have been birds, bunny rabbits, a squirrel, a bat and assorted other animals who dropped by for a visit. It makes one wonder if the spirit of Bill has a touch of Francis of Assisi in it.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. Now and then a mouse visits to coffeeshop, too. No problem there. The problem comes when one mouse invites the whole family over -- not just for dinner but to live.

That leads to another dilemma: which advice to follow in getting the mouse family to leave. Ah, but that's another story.

A hot cup of coffee quotes

Wine is for aging, not coffee -- Ken Hutchinson (Starsky and Hutch)

I never laugh until I've had my coffee -- Clark Gable

I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless -- Napoleon

Many people are like instant coffee: The minute they get into hot water they dissolve -- Author unknown

Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco and he will endure any privation, suffer any hardship -- US Army Lt. William Whiting