my problem is that changing a 6 to a 7 is not easy. now next year, changing a 7 to 8, that will be a breeze. how can people just blow a firework and declare it a new year? it takes me 4 months, or more. lots of scratched out dates on my checks. anyway, we are revving up top reopen, inventory, deep cleaning, all that. everyone comes back tomorrow and then we try to overcome the accumulated orders since Dec 26. it was so nice to spend a week just being a home roaster, going out on the porch with the hearthware and 4 oz of green. brewing in my technivorm, or aeropress if it was just for me. i had to come in to my cupping room a couple times during the break, but it was nice and relaxed. i know it's an inconvenience that we're closed. i order a lot online too. but then again, it's great to have a break, and i feel almsot like it's a genuine sign of respect for the significance of the holidays, to think about something other than the day-to-day. and its a rare chance for me to be a home roaster again. i messed up a few batches, but even those were interesting to taste ... to wonder why the yirg had no citrus, and the dp sidamo was more earthy than i expected. i realized that, even with roasting just for moi, how important it is for me to know what i am tasting, where it came from, if it is what i expected, if there is something new i find in the cup. i can see that, even if i wasn't mr. sweet marias, i would still be doing this, thinking about it in the same way, wanting to know a bit about origins, and ponder the flavors. it changes other things for me too. when i read the paper, there's some extra significance to a flood in banda aceh, sumatra, or ethiopia clashing with somalia, or evo morales shutting down a newspaper. oh, enough of this, happy new year! -tom