Blog 3345 – 12.30.2024

Percolate

One of my best buddies in elementary school and later middle school, was a near neighbor, George David Mason. He had an electric guitar and he loved to play and I was a fan and was often an audience of one when he performed. At that time like many teenaged boys, myself included, he dreamed of being a rock star. G. David Mason instead became a Doctor of Dental Medicine and I a mechanical, welding, and utility inspector in the oil and gas industry, but as my business card says, I aspire to be a Writer, Speaker, Singer-Song Writer, Teacher.

At a fortieth reunion of our ninth grade class in 2005, Dave Mason paid me the highest compliment. He called me a “Word Smith.” Though he made a good living as a dentist I know that Dave at heart will always be a musician and his compliment was definitely music to my ears.

Now let me do a little word smithing.

The dictionary defines percolate as:

I call your attention to the third definition of the verb (used without an object): “to become active, lively, or spirited.” I am remind of a Bible word “quicken” which means made alive. A friend I met in college, Andrew James Mitchell was from Australia and later returned there. Andy love to use a Bible quote to describe the two types of pedestrians in Sydney rush hour traffic – “The quick and the dead.” Quick in the Bible phrase means alive and and in Andy’s joke only the fast (quick) Sydney pedestrians had any chance of staying alive.

The first time I ever heard the term percolate it was in reference to the pot my mom and dad brewed their coffee in. It was called a percolator. Maxwell House Coffee, one of their favorite brands (they also like Folgers) had a great TV commercial in the nineteen fifties that had a coffee pot percolating to theme music that went “Bump a bump a bump, bump… “

Many coffee drinkers (I am not one, though I have tried several times to take up the habit unsuccessfully) say they need that “bump” in the morning to come alive. I say whatever floats your boat, or percolates your pot, to wake you up, be that the smelling coffee brewing, bacon and eggs frying, the smell of flowers or freshly cut grass, that being perky and alive is a feeling we all enjoy.

The best part of waking up is not Folgers or Maxwell House in your cup, but having your cup overflowing with life and enthusiasm. Here’s a little waking up music for you. The link below ought to get you percolating, especially you coffee drinkers

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

Maxwell House Coffee – Just Listen – Vintage Commercial – 1950s – 1960s

Maxwell House Coffee – Just Listen – Vintage Commercial – 1950s – 1960s

Author’s Note:

The inspiration behind today’s blog was a conversation with my son about installing a septic system on our property near Bon Wier, Texas. He said we might need to have a percolate test performed in the area to insure the soil is suitable for a septic system.