hi there kids...
i know, it's been a while. since i last wrote, my site moved to a new server, i set up a nifty mailing list so you all can use it to publicly emote if you fell the need too - well, if public is counted as a small handful of family and friends... anyway, i've also changed jobs at work, and changed cars... but i'm not really writing about any of that today.
as the autumn winds begin to blow across the state, my mind starts to drift with those winds. i know it's the 30th time i've been exposed to it, but i seem to always look to it with a certain expectation of change, and time to relax with those you know.
change is always hard when you don't want it to happen, and it's not always for the better. sadly, i'm experiencing one of those moments now. it's hard to believe that i could grieve for a business, a little coffee shop, but i do, and that's why i'm writing. cath is closing it's location in meridian/kessler (south of broadripple) - now i know that most of you don't know anything about cath, so i'll try to explain as i go. cath coffee shop "CATH" was opened by Cathy Peachy twenty one years ago in the indianpolis city market. my exposure however began with their little shop out of the city market that moved seven years ago to a little old oil change building in the parking lot of another lost local business - atlas foods - (for those of you who don't know, it was a little mom & pop chain of i believe two stores, maybe three - and where David Letterman learned his well honed grocery bagging skills). anyway, they made this little old oil change shop into something more than a coffee house. at least to me, and i think to a lot of other people.
cath could almost be considered a little part of the heart and soul of the area. it's a small building, and if i were to list it off by specifications it wouldn't sound too interesting (a handful of tables with a few chairs around each, a couch, a few more comfortable chairs, a large rocking horse, two of the chairs have writing all over them, and are quite interesting to read, the counter, display, and all... maybe it can sound interesting) - but it goes beyond that. cath was my favorite place to see live music from great artists as their skills grow and often friendships with them. cath was a place where i would look forward to see my friend Edie Carey swing through as she would be touring through the area, back when she had this poor old ford escort that had more than it's share of miles. cath was a place for me to sit and listen to artists express themselves with their music, and through their music hear my own heart. there's so much about it that has to be experienced, and will not be able to be experienced for those that have not already. sometimes, cath was just a place to sit and be.
i know that it's nothing that can change, as they sustained an oppressive rent for all that time, even with competitors around, and now they are being asked by the landlord to leave. i'd like to beg and plead that they stay, but there is a lot of competition. a lot of good places to buy your beans - before and after being turned into coffee. but i can't think of another cath in the area. i don't want to sound like i'm ranting against the landlord, but i do wonder if he/she knows - really knows - what they are closing.
i'm moving back to the area when i can. i've been looking for a while, but it feels like a little hole opened up in me when i realized that i *wont* be able to walk over to cath once i get moved in. i *wont* be able to see old and new friends and artists there, and that touches me somehow far more profoundly than one would think it should. and i'll just smile and nod if you think that i'm off my rocker on this, because it's something that can't be argued or defended, it can only be felt.
enough with all of that for now. i guess i just want to say that i've loved the place from the first time i stepped foot in the door. i am ever thankful to Nora and her crew for keeping it running so well for so long through so much. i take my hat off to you all. and i will always remember the smiles, the shows, the coffee, and the heart - in mine.