So Long Mr. Innocent...

so the sun is setting on the day that everyone thought would never come -- the day Aaron Ultimo moved on from murky coffee.  we've been sort of tumbling towards this day for a solid six months or so, but after 7 years and change, aaron's pretty much a fixture.  in fact, he's even outlasted some of our fixtures -- ceiling tiles, handrails, doors, locks, countless chairs and thrift store seating.  it must be said he did not, however, outlast the ultimate murky fixture -- bill author sr., who will tell you he's been at murky since before nick was in diapers, just ask him.  this was back in the days when murky was in silver spring before the clintons' started sticking it to him. (for the record, murky was never in silver spring)

anyway, for the last month and a half or so, aaron and i have been working on an overhaul on murky's training program, and as one might expect the process of figuring that out entails a lot of discussion, debate, and syphon brewing.  call it work, or perhaps more accurately -- hanging out.  this whole time i've been thinking about what to add and what to adjust, and really thinking nothing of that fact that aaron would be moving away.  you can call it an oversight, or more accurately -- denial.

the district definitely leans towards the transient -- few people i've come to know are from d.c., and even fewer intend to stay.  especially working in coffee, which despite our best efforts, tends to be a fairly transient industry.  this is particularly true with murky, as our staff is made up almost entirely of part-timers, and in-schoolers everyone has their sights on bright new things.  which is not necessarily a complaint,  being a sort of layover means that all sorts of people stop in for a time, and the diversity of the industry is definitely one of my favorite things about coffee.

i've been at murky (and in d.c.) for almost two years, and i'm starting to notice a tightening of my heart strings, particularly around these see ya later moments.  i spent my spring break (with only one class, i don't know that it really counts as a break) driving ms. murky shantastic out to boulder, partly to delay a good-bye. (other part a sight seeing adventure, of course).  i tried to delay the ultimo good-bye,  leaving a little early, coming in a little late, but it turned out to be tom-foolery.  this morning aaron and liz stopped in for one last classic before setting out on their philadelphia adventures.  without a doubt i wish them the very best, but there is no denying i'm feeling so sad.  in fact, i'm surprised at how sad i feel, like i said, aaron's a fixture.  i don't think i'm the only murkster who is having trouble imagining the place without him.  Aaron's not only done a great job at training baristas and inspiring people to care about coffee, he's been a bit of glue, and really one of my best friends friends in town.  i'm at total saddies, though i think same paging is still possible while in different cities, we'll see.

onto brighter things, i made my first coffee order last night, and this evening i clarified butter for the first time.  you may ask why its taken my so long to do such a thing, and the answer is simply i don't know.