The first night I was in Olympia I couldn't sleep much. Filled with the excitement of finding the place to make a stand with my little family I lay on the floor blinking into the blankness of a white ceiling until my limbs could no longer stand the forced repose and I rose to take my first walk through downtown. I needed coffee. And breakfast sounded good. Enter The Reef and Verna. She stood at the counter talking with an obvious regular and she had her hands on my black gold.

I drank a lot of coffee at The Reef that morning while Verna told me about her family moving to Olympia from South Dakota in 1955. She was a welcome slice of new home and is an indelible part of Olympia for me. Thank you Verna for the calm and coffee you brought me that morning. You were a clear picture in an abstract world.