Coffee Shops

23 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Dr. Tricia Wolanin in Uncategorized Tags: , ,

            Over the years, complaints have been made about the excessive prices of coffee in Western culture, particularly America.  Although I agree, daily coffee purchases can be a bit costly, it depends on how you are drinking the coffee and using the space that serves it.  If one is simply drinking the coffee and heading out of the coffee shop every 24 hours, this adds up and it’s more advantageous to brew at home. 

            Yet if you are going to a coffee shop for more than coffee, that the cost is worth it.  People go to coffee shops to connect with friends for long conversations. Coffee shops are the backdrop for first dates, a safe space to cut the date short or prolong it. They serve as a new office space for those who need to leave their homes to focus on their work day.  And for people like me, coffee shops are a place that have become synonymous with writing.  The background music, conversation, characters, and caffeine amplify the creative process.

            When we actually take time to slow down and drink our coffee, we can see we are paying for the product we are consuming, the staff that are serving us, and helping offset the monthly rent the owners are paying for. We are paying for a temporary escape into a third space, and for me it’s worth it.

Old Shoes

16 Jul 2025 Leave a comment

by Dr. Tricia Wolanin in Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

My teal Birkenstocks have been broken in the past 2 years.  I purchased them in Europe, and gently wore them back and forth during my time in Spain.  But they helped me transitioned as I returned to my California beach life, after ten years abroad.  I molded them to fit my feet as I walked my 16 year old Bella daily, whether on a promenade that surrounded a harbor, to the neighborhood of Silverlake when visiting my brother, or to the beginning of the beach’s edge.

They are comfortable to wear in all types of terrain, with rubber bottoms that keep you from sliding.  When I did my beach walks,  I had them remain on my feet until they hit the sand, which they were then popped into a canvas bag.  My dog and I walked barefoot in the sand and the ocean, until her paws grew tired and I would carry her for the remainder of our long walks.  These teal birkenstocks were my comfort shoes.  I always have a pair of birkenstocks that turn into these steady companions.  As time progresses,  they lose their new sheen, become discolored with the excessive use, and simply are my errand shoes.

            These teal Birkenstocks remained with me, after I had to put Bella to sleep, and I would attempt to return to the beach to do the walks without her.  Grief accompanied me, but so did these shoes.  They were there as I relocated to my new home, another beach town, supporting me to feel the sand a hundred miles north of where I was living.   They brought me consistency and stability, until they no longer did. 

            And now the shoes are almost too comfortable and exacerbate a soreness in my foot that doesn’t exist when I wear other shoes.  It’s as if these old shoes carry the old pain with me.  And I have a realization, its time to let go.  For to continue wearing these shoes, will only further hurt my feet.  When I looked at the bottoms, they are starting to lose their traction, perhaps allowing a slip to occur.  And I realize the more I hold onto and wear these shoes, its keeping me from wearing all the shoes in my closet waiting to have experiences. And so with that, I say thank you to the teal birkenstocks. And slip my feet into a pair of pink Havana slide ons to geret the afternoon ocean. Let’s see what is next in store.