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Neat how the design on my mocha is similar to the sidewalk tables, but frustrating how second cup of coffee is always out of reach. Click the image to enlarge it.

[caption id="attachment_8642" align="alignnone" width="497"] The paws that refreshes![/caption]

The Kermode bear is best known as a "spirit bear" for it's white or cream-coloured coat. This rare subspecies of the North American Black Bear is found in the central and north coast of British Columbia -- if you can find it at all. You shouldn't expect to see it very often in Fairview coffee houses.

Large mixed-bean Arabica breed cat with dark mocha colouring and milk-white highlights. Has a tendency to get drunk.

Last seen when it was sold to me at a Waves Coffee House by barista Eun-Hye.

Only had this cat for a brief time but it left me with a very warm feeling. Click the image to enlarge.

The barista at the front counter of the Waves coffee house wasn't waiting to take my order; she already had a slice of gingerbread loaf plated and the POS display was beaming with the details of my large, extra-hot, dark mocha. I forget what I said, but her reply was: "you're the high point of our day!"

What do you say to that? Not what I said -- something like, "that's sad," and how maybe they don't get out enough. It's a reflex on my part. I have trouble taking compliments gracefully, if at all. My people-person barista said as much; chiding me: "Don't refuse the compliment; accept it!

Good advice. What did her partner-in-java, who made my dark mocha, think of my gauche behaviour? Well she made a face. Click the image to enlarge.

The latest member of  the Waves Coffee family finished preparing my dark mocha, and presented it to me with the caveat that she wasn't Kiran, the barista who bears up so well under the weight of her latte art brilliance. The newbie barista explained she tried to draw a face, but, it would be more accurate next time. ... Accurate?



Oh... my... Accurate as in portrait? She got the hair, and the palsy sneer of the mouth, but couldn't do the teeth (just as well), or the glasses -- coffee isn't a high resolution medium after all, Guess she left out the jughead ears out of kindness. Click the image to enlarge.

[caption id="attachment_5299" align="alignnone" width="497"] I guess they did promise their child at least a flower garden. Promise kept.[/caption]

I watched a mother and father help their young daughter plant this very small garden patch. It's very small, and haphazard, and bumps right up against the dumpster in the lane. I've enjoyed watching it grow. Like they say, flowers never disappoint. And speaking of leafy natural goodness, here;s today's latte art from Waves Coffee barista Kiran -- something from her flowery, Paisley period.

Japanese-Canadian Barista's "generic" mocha, with no "conscious" attempt at "latte art," depicts the Adam embryo from the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion! What else could it be? The design obviously comes from the deep, shared zeitgeist of the  Japanese culture. Evangelion is the national anthem, constitution, and Goethe, of Japan, all rolled into one. Sure it is. Click the images to enlarge them.

No llama loaf to be had at Waves coffee today, barista Kiran served up plain old banana loaf, but she more than made her "cute" quota by brew'in up one of her whimsical bruin-topped dark mochas. I'm spoiled.

What was brewin' at Waves Coffee? Another bruin-topped Mocha, of course. I think Kiran, the un-bear-ably clever barista, has all but perfected her latte art technique on this one. How quickly the extraordinary can become ordinary. I'm already pining for a panda. Don't forget, it's always delicious, no matter what it looks like. Click the top image to see it larger.