Coffee Run to Khepri Cafe
Khepri Cafe opened this week. I've been stopping by regularly on Saturday mornings, so this coffee run entry is really a combination of a few weeks' worth of visits. It's an easy 1 mile run to its location next to the Kedzie Brown line stop, and I've been varying my routes to add some distance, even if it's just an extra few blocks: head east on Ainslie towards the river to Western then back west on Wilson, or run east on Montrose via Pulaski and around back to the train station. I'm playing it casually these days.
Coffee: I had a latte with oat milk for my first visit, and various lattes and regular drip coffees with refills since. I believe their source is an unknown roaster to me, but they carry a few local roasters like Bru Coffeeworks, which I have yet to visit.
Drawing: Drawings done here are getting more refined. It's partially because of the amount of time I'm spending seated after my runs. It's also because of the beautiful light that exists at the Khepri windows. You can stare out onto Kedzie Ave and watch passersby--it just feels good to be in that warmth. I feel like a cat. The baristas stop by and bring me refills if I linger, and they are always friendly. During the last weekend visit (when I did the drawing on the upper left, March 14th), the owner was telling me how dead it's been because of the health crisis. Only one other person stopped by to get a drink that morning so I lingered and left a bigger tip than normal. A couple days later, all Chicago area restaurants were ordered to close and only offer delivery/pick-up, then the stay-at-home order came soon after from Governor Pritzker.
I've returned to this cafe consistently to support the small businesses in the area, and I've been in conversation with the owners about leading a possible bookbinding workshop in the near future. That is all up in the air at the moment due to Covid.
The yellow legal pad sheets come from old work-related note pads. For several years I was using these pages as sketchbook sheets and adhering them to pages of my handmade 9" x 12" books. I recall spending many afternoons after work at the Lake Forest Beach (when I lived at Ragdale) staring at the horizon of the lake, or drawing the trees behind me. I've always been drawn to the yellow tint of the paper, the patterns of the lines, and more recently, the reflective glow from my jacket and how it's emphasized on the paper. I realized my ink was running low in this pen. The lines I made were now subtle and thinner, ghostly at times; everything fading.
