Where Do You Plug In?

While that might sound like an internet connectivity question,

it's actually more of a morning musing as I sit staring out across a corn field with fog so dense that I can't see the farm just a stone's throw away.

Where do you plug in? 

You, yourself, mind, body, soul.

This week I've been plugging in to family

and it feels like home even though I haven't lived on the family farm in thirty-five years. It seems it's not so much where we are, but whom we're there with. 

And yet, it doesn't hurt to find those special little places that either spark a memory or leave you feeling so comfortable and content that you simply must stop there every time you're passing through.

 That place for my sister Debra and me is Mud Creek Coffee 

in Stockbridge, Wisconsin, on our way home.

Click picture for photo source - linked with permission.

Come in and sit with us for a spell.

Source: Mud Creek Facebook Page (linked with permission)

Can't you just feel the love ...  and hear the laughter?

I dare ya to experience the salted caramel coffee I enjoyed.

To smell its deliciousness.  

To savor the taste.

To read Delighted that you're here

and know that they're not just words on a wall.

To revel in the rural hip ambiance.

And to leave happy.

After visiting with Julie, the gregarious and super sweet owner, I had a sense that, even if not related by blood, we're family in her establishment. We laughed together and celebrated her joy as she shared the story of her eight years behind the counter. She's done a beautiful job of creating that third place, where I suspect the regulars know your name if you're blessed to go there often enough. Her lunch crowd was so plentiful, in fact, that my coffee didn't come as quickly as maybe I would have preferred, but in the end, it was more than worth the wait! The pastries were divine, the soup top notch, and my jolt-o-java decadently superb.

If you're ever in Wisconsin and you've got some time on your hands and friends or family in the car, get yourself over to Mud Creek Coffee and plug in to 

something special. 

And now to my school-application questions:

Is your school someplace special?

Are your kids plugged in?

If so, how can you tell?

If not, what will you do to increase connectivity?