On a clear, crisp spring morning three of us sought out this newly opened shop on SE Foster, which a few years back used to be severely lacking in meeting places for its residents.  So it’s heartening that the owner of this relatively small shop is giving it a go, with his rock collection providing a theme.  Because of its limited size, Carnelian will some day feel crowded, which in turn limits how comfortable patrons will feel hanging out for extended periods of time.  Nevertheless, the owner’s earnest desire to make a contribution to the health of this neighborhood, to aid in creating bonds of friendship and reducing anonymity in what used to be an iffy neighborhood, is worthy of support.

Our discussion this morning was pinball-like re what’s going on in our lives.  D, in  helping his Buddhist community look for a site for a new home, was super frustrated trying to get building/planning information from overwhelmed City staff; Family-wise he’s proud of the New Yorker’s positive review of a new French restaurant in Manhattan that his son – not academically trained – co-designed; G’s son in NY is surviving so far as the NY Daily News website editor, after a similar gig in Denver;  for his garden G scored a batch of new plants at the Sandy High School FFA sale, and Grocery Outlet, where he likes to go to compare wine and cheese prices; and H touted the great prices surprisingly at Rite Aid for certain craft beers.

6923 SE Foster                                                   http://www.carneliancoffee.com