Long story short: On my recent vacation to Pittsburgh, I visited my 200th brew pub, dutifully recorded it in the brewery app on my iPhone, took pictures to celebrate the event, and then promptly removed the app from my phone and began counting coffee shops. Then when I got home I changed this blog’s subtitle from “Why Baseball, Books, and Beer matter” to “Why Baseball, Books, and Coffee matter.”

The timing of this transition is clearly abrupt. But it has been a long time coming.

2024 has been a year of facing my mortality. It has been a year of re-examining habits I have that contribute to my physical and mental health and those that do not.

Beginning today at ClimbingSky, Mondays here will be about drinking coffee, coffee shops, and all things coffee related. What exactly this will look like, I am not sure. It is something we will find out together.

For now, here are some of my favorite quotes about coffee:

“Coffee is God’s gift to mankind.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Coffee is a drink that helps you wake up, think, and create.” – Pablo Neruda

“I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.” – Steven Wright