The Brewspaper

 In 1989, the sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “Third Place” to describe public environments separate from our usual locations of home (the “First Place”) and work (the “Second Place”). It is a place where you go to set aside your worries and cares, and simply enjoy the company of those around you. Conversation is the main activity and the mood is light-hearted. Traditional examples include coffee shops, pubs, libraries, churches and parks. But has today’s post-pandemic, hyper-digital world killed our “Third Places”?  We already blur the line between First and Second Places — working from home one day; and almost living out of our office the next. Everything becomes dollar signs and cost-benefit analyses, and we have no time for the few Third Places that remain. We use noise-cancelling headphones to turn cafés into mobile offices. We order “grab-and-go” coffees to squeeze just a few more minutes of work into our day.  My challenge to you is: take just five minute...

 Following the discovery of coffee plants by goat-herding tribes in Ethiopia around the 9th century AD, the beans were initially consumed raw or mixed with fats for their stimulant effect. Over the ensuing centuries, coffee seeds crossed the Red Sea into Yemen; a short journey across the Bab al-Mandab strait – but one that would have far-reaching global implications. By the 15th century, coffee was being grown in Yemen and began to be used in beverage form. Sufi monks used this “qahwa” to help them stay awake during long prayer sessions and nocturnal meditations. As demand continued to increase for these small but powerful beans, coffee plantations were established in the Yemeni highlands. The port city of Mocha implemented a fierce protectionist strategy – including the sterilization of exported beans – which ensured they remained the only global producer and exporter of coffee beans for almost 250 years. It was the ultimate historical monopoly.

 Forever is composed of Nows— ’Tis not a different time, Except for infiniteness And latitude of home. From this, experienced here, Remove the dates to these, Let months dissolve in further months, And years exhale in years. Without certificate or pause Or celebrated days, As infinite our years would be As Anno Domini’s.    »  Emily Dickinson

Trees grow almost horizontally at Slope Point, on the southernmost point of New Zealand. This is due to the strong southerly Antarctic winds, which can frequently exceed 90 km/hr. 

 If you have a fussy baby, it might be time to bring back the nursery rhymes! Researchers at Yale University found that parents singing more to their baby led to a measurable improvement in the baby’s mood, as self-reported by the parent. Remarkably, this was a long-term improvement in the baby’s overall mood – not just a temporary response seen directly after singing. While the study didn’t show a direct boost in the parents’ mood, the flow-on effect is clear: a calmer baby results in a more peaceful household and a better quality of life for everyone. This discovery helps explain why singing to infants comes so naturally to parents from almost every culture. It appears that the nursery rhyme is scientifically sound: “Hush little baby, don’t say a word!” https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/singing-to-babies-improves-their-moods/

 “What is difficulty?—only a word indicating the degree of strength requisite for accomplishing particular objects; a mere notice of the necessity for exertion; a bugbear to children and fools; only a stimulus to men.” — Samuel Warren “If we have not peace within ourselves, it is in vain to seek it from outward sources.” — François de La Rochefoucauld

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard;  And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.  I’ve heard it in the chilliest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.    »  Emily Dickinson