That's My Map
-The Wink & Nod finally continued-

“That’s my map,” he repeated.  He steadied himself and leaning on the counter, eased down into the chair next to me.  “Well, it ours really… we created the dots.”

“Traveled half way around the world…”  He mused.  I could see the memories racing through his eyes.  “It was 1945 and my part in the war had just ended.  Uncle Sam had me states side for a few months before sending me back home. 

“Wisconsin.  That was a trip.“

“Started with a train ride.”

Grandpa smiled the smile of a proud papa on Christmas handing down a gift he carefully wrapped himself – which we all know is a great feet for any male.  Needless to say, he helped me unravel his storied gift.  Shared insights into coffee that just seemed uncanny for anyone not finely tuned to the industry.  “How could he know all this?”

We unwrapped the gift more.  Like a box inside a box inside a box, except this was no trickery.  Each level had a gift inside.  More information, more story.  As the hours ticked down grandpa took on the personas of many characters from his past, attempting to mimic voices and personas. 
There was Wally, the train station attendant.  Wally dabbled in jazz, “drums and vocals” grandpa said.  “Guess that helped him bellow out the train calls.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said with a shout.  “Listen up please.  Train 7 and 27, the Empire Builder to Minnesota now boarding” .

There were many train rides and many characters in Grandpa’s stories.  Musicians, traveling salesmen,   café owners… every day people.  Each played their own part...

Sitting at the corner bar in the coffee house, grandpa transformed from mere storyteller to adventurer and journeyman.  Our conversation seemed to go on forever.  I was absorbed in his words and his story. “I was a man with a past,” he said.  “I was just lookin’ toward the future.”

With a potpourri of personalities and a cast of many, grandpa continued to tell his greatest story.  City streets lined with buses, street cars, and the electric railway down to the towns that traveled by horseback and stages.  His tale soon enough led to friend and philanthropist George Henry.  The two that started it all would soon be known as “the Lewis and Clark of the Coffee Industry”. 

From the cities of the states to the countries of the world, their story was an international escapade into the World of Coffee that shaped a document that has become a coffee house wall art cliché.  The map.