October 2010 Coffee News

-Holiday Flavor options
-News from Honduras
-News from the Velasquez Family
-Outdoor Treasures

Holiday Flavor Vote -- coming up
On this beautiful fall day, it seems inconceivable to talk about holiday coffee flavors -- so we won't. You can expect to receive an email with our popular annual holiday flavor vote sometime in mid to late October. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the Seasonal coffees that our roaster offers and email us with your suggestions for coffees that should be on the short list.

News From Honduras
It can be difficult to come up with new content for our newsletter each month, so we often scan the internet for news from Honduras. Several pieces popped up this month about rather contentious issues that we found especially interesting. The first is an informative USA Today article about immigration that features the journey of a Honduran woman --"Immigration Has Grown More Complicated." Even more controversial (especially within Honduras) is a disturbing video from the Real News Network from the perspective of the continuing coup resistance movement in Honduras -- "Honduran Regime Targets Musicians."

News From the Velasquez Family 
Thankfully news from our family members is rather bland by comparison. Just like here in Minnesota, Honduras has experienced heavy rains and flooding in recent days. But our Honduran family is safe and dry, and life is otherwise uneventful. Our Minnesota family still hasn't managed to find a time that we could travel to Honduras (Our last all family visit was in June 2009!). Between Guillermo's work, the boys' football practice, school days and coffee deliveries, it is getting harder and harder to make a trip to Honduras fit. Maybe we'll get lucky and plane tickets will go down over winter break!

Outdoor Treasures 
Since we haven't had a chance to hike in the beautiful Honduran mountains, we've explored a few outdoor treasures right here in the Twin Cities that we thought we'd share while there are still beautiful fall days to enjoy them. 

-Woodview (Or Reservoir Woods) - on Larpenteur Avenue in Roseville between Dale and Rice Streets. Features an off-lease dog area as well as great hiking in a surprisingly thick and remote-feeling forest.
-Battle Creek Regional Park - This park in Maplewood east of McKnight Blvd, South of Hwy 94 is so big we haven't had a chance to explore it all, but we love the huge off-lease dog park and so does our dog.
-Carver Lake in Woodbury - While it is too cold to go swimming now, this was a great find on those extremely hot summer days we just had -- a clean lake and relatively quiet beach within 15 minutes of our house, south on 494, Lake Rd exit, south on Wooddale Drive.
-Swede Hollow Park and the Bruce Vento Trail - If you look hard enough, hidden in east St. Paul, off Phalen Blvd, you'll find this beautiful natural hideaway full of plenty of Saint Paul History. Not surprising to learn that City Pages voted it "Best Urban Hike" in 2010. The Bruce Vento trail goes through the park, past Lake Phalen up through Maplewood where it connects to the Gateway trail. We haven't had a chance to do the whole trail, but hope to before the snow flies.
-Midtown Greenway - Not a secret at all to Minneapolis bike commuters, Cathy just biked the Midtown Greenway for the first time this week. If you haven't experienced this amazing bike corridor yet, you need to check it out.

Cleaning Services from the Velasquez Family
Guillermo's sister, niece and cousin are available for home and office cleaning. Guillermo and our boys are interested in doing yard work this fall. They are all hard working, responsible and their rates are reasonable. If you or anyone you know is interested in their services, let us know and we'll get you connected.