But not for the reason you think (a.k.a. caffeine).
Sometime in the last decade or so, the concept of the coffee-house has its 500th birthday. The modern edition of the institution is relatively banal compared to the hothouses of political ferment and male exclusivity that used to be their hallmark. And thank goodness for that.
In the last couple of decades, cafés have taken the place of the small meeting room (and sometimes even the office) for small businesses and freelancers. As such that makes them (yet again) a challenge to the accepted order, but the Powers That Be--at least in Western culture--have had to grow up and get used to the idea.
Twice in the past two weeks, I've had the good fortune of meeting other freelancers for coffee. These are folks in the same line of work as me, just in different facets. Despite that, I've had at least one forehead-smack-why-didn't-I-think-of-that epiphany per meeting. Not to mention a lot of enjoyable side-conversation.
My only regret in living out in Cottage Country (apart from the fact that I could almost swear they've been ploughing Highway 530 with a zamboni this week) is that there's considerably more driving and time involved than there would be with a home office in, say, Moncton. Even so, the extra time (and the planning it requires) has always more than paid for itself. Because there are awesome people in the area, and I'm grateful for the chance to learn from and be inspired by them. Especially over a good cup of coffee.
