Legend has it that there is a beast that rises at dawn. If the beast  is stirred before fully awake it will terrify all that comes into contact with it. It will look you in the eye and make you tremble with fear and remind you that it is not time to bother, nor upset it. It is best for all to wait for their own safety. Yet after a sip from the enchanted chalice the beast trasforms into a beauty like no other. A radiant, magnificient beauty that has just a few hours of daylight to go into the battlezone and come out victorious, making life better for all that surround her.

I know this legend to be true, for I am the beast! and the beauty! Just like so many others out there in the Dang Chick Nation- you are also the beast and the beauty.  And the enchanted chalice is guarded tightly in our hands, warming them and reassuring us that soon, very soon, we will be able to stand tall and prepare for the daily grind that lay ahead. I look into the chalice, savoring the sensual, eye-opening aroma and feel comfort and my energy beginning to build. My dark, tired eyes begin to sparkle and my grunts and grumbling finally turn to words. Heaven in a cup.. savior in a cup.. take no prisoners in a cup. My morning cup of life, my coffee.

Dang Chicks love their morning cup o’ joe. Before we can start the presses and even think with a clear head our golden chalice must be filled to the rim. Piping hot, a splash of creamer and so begins our day. We appreciate the bean. For it can save us when we’ve been up with sick children all night. It can soothe us after a day at work that we never thought we would survive. It can give us lasting friendships as we catch up with our friends at the local coffee shop. The bean is giving and caring. The bean loves us and wants us to be happy. The bean wants us to be the Beauty, not the Beast.

So thank you old 13th century Ethiopian goatherder that let your goats eat the berries and saw them become wild with vitality.. thank you for finding those special little beans that make life much easier to tackle. Thank you for my Dang Coffee.