Day #2 on the farm.

The day started with the roosters, at the B & B down the road, crowing their little heads off.  This was just about the time I usually wake up, without roosters, in town.  Long before a lot of people have gone to bed.

I let the dogs out to do what they had to do and I turned my attention to the coffee pot.  Yesterday Rita had it all set to start brewing so I just had to pour and drink.  Of course, I never thought to have her show me how to get it to start brewing.

I realized I should have asked her, this morning, as my nerve endings where crying out for caffeine.

I grew up in the day when you had a choice between "on" or "off".  There were no other choices and life was simple.  The coffee pot, here, is not like that.  It's a machine with clocks, buzzers and many, many, many little buttons...all of which have mysterious little symbols which are totally meaningless to me.  There's a mini screen that lights up with more little meaningless symbols.  It kind of looks like the control panel for the space shuttle.

I pushed, pulled, it beeped and farted a couple of times.  I had the coffee filter filled with coffee grounds.  It started to make rumbling noises.  I felt sure I would soon have a cup of coffee to settle my nerves.

I turned my attention back to the dogs and went outside to see what they were up to.  They were all finished doing what they had to do and were waiting for me, at the door, to let them back in.  Now, I could do what I had to do and then I went back to the coffee pot for a good hot cup of coffee.

I picked up my cup, pulled the pot out from under the spigot and feasted my eyes on a full pot of..........hot water.  My grandpa Terp never drank coffee.  He always had just a cup of hot water.  I figured, if it was good enough for grandpa Terp, it was not good enough for me.  I've got to have my morning coffee.

Now, the sweat was pouring off my face as I began to worry that I would have to live the rest of my life without the benefit of the coffee bean.

Just about this time, the damn clock on the wall started chiming "Ave Maria" again (as it does every hour, on the hour).  That clock is lucky it doesn't have a neck because, if it did have one, I would have wrung it before now.

I started just pushing little buttons, willy nilly, and, suddenly, the machine started to gurgle and wheeze and the pot began filling with.....COFFEE!

I was saved!

I sat down to sip.  Then It occurred to me that I have no idea which little buttons I pushed, and stroked, or in what order I did it.  I'm beginning to fear I'll have to go through this entire process, again, tomorrow.

Now, it has started to rain.  A nice, gentle, soaking rain.  It's coming down from Fort Dodge, Iowa to Red Wing, Minnesota to Mondovi, Wisconsin.  A pretty wide area of precipitation.

The windows are open, a cool breeze blowing in.  I'm watching the rain fall. The dogs are napping. I'm Sipping my coffee.  Maybe I won't have to water the flowers this afternoon.