{"id":54934,"date":"2025-12-06T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/?p=54934"},"modified":"2025-12-05T20:53:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T19:53:40","slug":"he-made-it-mauve-and-i-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/?p=54934","title":{"rendered":"He Made it Mauve (and I Like it)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m out on the bi-weekly bean run. The weather may be grey, but we\u2019ve ground the last of our coffee. No, it\u2019s not essential. Yes, we can live without it. But a good brew\u2019s akin to a bog seat \u2014 it makes life a little more bearable. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I walk along the monolithic concrete slabs of Karli to our good friend and dealer: Sehnsucht. When I pop inside, he greets me warmly with puffy eyes. Not from the 16 hour, triple-business days(*) he\u2019s living, but the flu he\u2019s kindly schlepping around. No matter<\/i>, I think \u2014 I\u2019ve just had two.<\/i> I smile and say hello.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing at the counter, I cast a nervous glance towards the shelves. Here\u2019s the thing: The Mathematician has a fondness for Purple Bee(**). Her face lights up like a honey-bathed Hymenoptera when she drinks it and, well, that\u2019s the kind of sunshine that brightens up my day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, they have it \u2014 thank finca<\/i>. And more varieties besides. I grab three different bags and line them up by the till. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like this new colour,\u201d I say, pointing to the mauve concrete pillar and ceiling. \u201cIt really brightens the place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nods. \u201cMakes it warm, no? Is peaceful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I smile. \u201cNicer than the grey. Not that the grey was bad,\u201d I add hastily. \u201cJust, well, if you\u2019re already in the basement, something a bit lighter\u2019s more inviting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nods and blows his nose. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet much sleep last night?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shakes his head. \u201cGot home at 1am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo wonder you\u2019re sick \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shrugs. \u201cToo busy. Busy, busy, busy.<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, from a South Korean, is significant. They can shakedown days for hours in ways that\u2019d make a mafioso sweat. (And without breaking kneecaps, just spirits.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou really should have a rest some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He laughs humourlessly. \u201cCan not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We go outside and sit atop a pallet stacked with sacks of Brazilian beans(***). He lights up a cigarette and I shuffle back, out of the downwind. We talk as the city wanders by. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlanning to visit Seoul next year?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaybe, April. Maybe. We see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure your dad would be happy to see you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He smiles and nods. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow is he?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He laughs. \u201cHe\u2019s retired. He\u2019s happy<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSomething to look forward to.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sighs contentedly, billowing smoke. \u201cYes, just ten or twenty more years. Push, push, push. Then r-e-t-i-r-e.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnless you die of overworking in the meantime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He shrugs and grins. \u201cIs also good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I see Nu\u00e9e coming down the street, his baby girl bundled on his chest. He smiles and waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHey, man. It\u2019s impossible to creep up on you. Were you in the military or something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019ve just been standing here for three days. Knew you\u2019d walk by eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He smiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow are you?\u201d he asks. \u201cHow\u2019re things going? How\u2019s the book?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so we chat, the three (and a half) of us, about writing, babies, AI, and the weather. He heads off to the Christmas market by the old town hall; Sehnsucht and I head back inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNice guy,\u201d he says. \u201cIndian?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTunisian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTunisian,\u201d he nods, sagely. \u201cWant some coffee?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best of rhetorical questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Beans, the roaster, joins us from his shift out back, all hugs and good humour. We stand, we drink, we chat. (A day of threes.) I can\u2019t stay for too long \u2014 I\u2019ve much work to do \u2014 but the company\u2019s cosy and wohl.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Heading home, I\u2019m greeted by a gorgeous setting sun. It must have slipped under the clouds for the last hour of light. I buzz past gilded eaves and roof tiles. Life is good.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(*) Roasters (Gemi<\/a>), caf\u00e9 (Gemi<\/a>), and restaurant (Ann’s Kitchen<\/a>). A fourth is on its way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(**) Castillo beans from the Finca La Sirena farm in Columbia. They’re fermented (through osmotic dehydration), but don\u2019t hold that against her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(***) The best use for them. No lover of coffee can stomach the Office Standard\u2122<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A picture of a cartoon, egg-shaped bee with purple-magenta stripes on its yellow body. It has two black dots for eyes, a big, smiling mouth, and rosy pink cheeks. It’s borne aloft on two tiny white wings.
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