I almost didn’t run the Coffeeneuring Challenge this year. Really, I was on the fence about it. While gratified to see the challenge grow over time, I was also concerned it would be too much to manage, especially the way my year has gone in other areas.
Felkerino convinced me that I should run the Coffeeneuring Challenge in 2016, and said he would help in any way he could (I’ll let you know how that goes). Doug said he would design this year’s patch. The Northeast Regional Office of Coffeeneuring advised that he would help me put the maps together again. The coffeeneurs said that they would coffeeneur. “You gotta do it,” people told me.
Soon after launching the Coffeeneuring Challenge, I realized that the challenge has been one of the best uses of my time in 2016. Seeing everyone’s creativity in their approach, photos, and write-ups, their fellowship toward one another, and the contagious affinity for a bike ride to coffee touched me in an unexpected way.
The Coffeeneuring Challenge reaffirmed that it is indeed through simple activities that magic happens. We share an intimate moment with a friend or family member. Our tastebuds explode from a perfect cup of coffee. A bike ride immerses us in the world around us, and in that moment life is just as it should be.
This year, coffeeneurs pedaled as a way to connect to each other, to aid in healing from a serious health issue, to contemplate the world over a good (or even not good) cup of joe. And in doing so they became part of a community. Magic.
I’m still going through submissions and reading them is a bright point of the day. Some people suggest that the Coffeeneuring Challenge might have become burdensome, but I don’t see it that way. The Coffeeneuring Challenge is full of people who understand the simple moments that bring magic to our lives, and I love reading each write-up.
I’ll be back again soon with a full list of participants and finishers, but until then, thank you to everyone who has taken on the Coffeeneuring Challenge. We have created something very special here. Everyday magic.
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Yes, magic is the right word. So, here’s an odd observation about magic gleaned from a long-ago doctoral dissertation: the pagans of late antiquity believed that the gods had left special marks in the everyday objects of the world. By finding and ritually engaging the mark of a god that matched the wound in your soul, you could be healed. The gods had marked herbs and stones, trees and goat intestines (yeah, I know). For them, there was something in the simple, earthy, everyday objects we encounter that had the capacity to heal.
This is how I think about my bike and your coffeeneuring challenge. I pedal and drink tea. It’s so…ordinary. But it heals something in me, especially in these hard days.
Thanks for keeping the challenge going.
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If you decide to run this next year, I bet there will be plenty of volunteers who would be happy to help (me included)!
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You have continued a fine tradition you started a few years ago – the annual coffeeneuring challenge. Not only do I enjoy an excuse to coffeeneur (I know many will argue I do not need an excuse…), but it is heartwarming to read other entries. From the person who rides through foul weather to those who step up to coffeeneur on behalf of an injured participant, we are all individuals with interesting perspectives. Thanks, Mary, for keeping us all challenged in a good way.
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You said, “A bike ride immerses us in the world around us, and in that moment life is just as it should be.” Wow, that connected.
I like this so much, I think I’ll add it to the QUOTES section of my blog.
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