Mountain Climbing

Health department approval. Never would I have thought this would be such a calming, satisfying and excitement inducing statement. Getting the email with that news made my day. I felt immediately lifted, like a jolt of electricity or, for a more “on-the-nose” metaphor, like I’d just taken a shot of espresso to the dome.

This was one of the good ones. There have been equally as many moments filled with deflation, devastation, frustration and countless other -ations that nobody enjoys feeling. Yet, each moment, good or bad has a similar effect of driving me forward to either find a solution or to begin executing the next step in the process.

It’s invaluable to me having a partner like Will for all these moments. I can ask him for help to find the passion in the more mundane elements and I can happily take on the tasks that he has less interest in. It’s an amazing support system that keeps us from getting frustrated or losing our minds.

I’ve never kept a journal or a blog before so I’m not sure if I’ll be successful at this one. I was interested in taking part for a couple reasons. One was mildly selfish; I thought that succeed or fail, this would be a great memento to have and to look back on. To be able to listen to my own “past me” voice and see what he had to say amidst all the ups and downs. Another reason I was interested in attaching a blog to the Scrimshaw website was to add some depth to the culture of this new brand. I think personality has a lot to do with how people relate to their favorite brands be it food, clothing, cars etc. I want people to have access to myself and Will even if they aren’t visiting our shop. To get a sense, even a small one, of who we are and why we’re doing this Scrimshaw Coffee thing.

So, here we are. A couple months away from opening with a mountain of work ahead of us. I’m sitting on a couch somewhere in North Park, San Diego, drinking water from a mason jar, jamming to some Herbie Hancock, finally working on my first blog entry for the Scrimshaw blog while simultaneously doing research to build our training program. And folks, I don’t know if you’ve heard about the generally happy state that clams live in but I feel like one of clam clan right now. We’ll talk soon.

-R