Gumbo Variations

Columbian coffee bags at Canaltown Coffee in Rochester New York
Columbian coffee bags at Canaltown Coffee in Rochester New York

It feels really good to look at something and decide you could live without it and then throw it in the trash. I had this old rusty wheel barrel that I found in someone else’s trash a long time ago. Sparky put a new wheel on it for me. I filled with other junk last night and took it out to the curb. I usually have a moment of remorse but don’t look back.

Still getting rid of junk is not as easy as it sounds. Where do go with stuff that might be worth some money like old records. eBay is not as easy it seems either. I brought a pile up from the basement and let Rick Simpson take his pick from them. He found ten that that liked and built his weekly “Gumbo Variations” radio show on WRUR around the scratchy old vinyl. Each set started with one of our old records (Paul Butterfield, Ginger Baker, Charlie Hayden, Chuck Berry, Crazy World of Arthur Brown) and Rick built on those for a pretty cool but sort of out-of-body show.

We order our coffee ten pounds at time, whole bean from Canaltown. The owner, Pete, roasts in the back room and provides an incredible aroma for the whole neighborhood.

2 Comments

2 Replies to “Gumbo Variations”

  1. A couple of comments on coffee. That incredible aroma is technically a toxic form of air pollution. Sometimes when it wafts down East I can’t go out on my bike. He should not be releasing those fumes untreated. Seriously.
    And how do you store ten pounds of beans? Don’t they lose their flavor? I can taste the difference in a pound I have around for more than a week.

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