Lector, Lector, Percolator

Don't tell my barista

Attendance at the 8 a.m. service has held steady, but the number of volunteers is down; the stalwarts are enfeebled, have died, or have moved away. And so it was that this Sunday I switched from the late-morning service to become the early-morning lector and intercessor.

At our church the early reader has to do more than just read the lessons and the Prayers of the People; he or she is also in charge of coffee hour. I was at the Safeway bakery buying pastries at 7 a.m. and was in the church kitchen at 7:30, peering at the instructions for the percolator.

My parents had a percolator, but by the time I had become a coffee drinker percolators had been supplanted by drip makers. I had never owned a percolator, let alone knew how to use one. Somewhat apprehensively, I poured 25 cups of water into the pot and 1½ cups of grounds into the filter. I plugged it in, and the percolator began pulsing merrily.

The result was a brew that was rich and smooth, certainly passable for the coffee hour. Maybe I'll pick up a percolator--one that doesn't need a paper filter---and a can of Yuban or Maxwell House. Think of all the money I'll save...