Fresno Famous

Religious men don't normally associate with devils...

But then again, the most sanctified,
so often,
if being honest?
will speak the truth and say that if there is anything
saintly to us, it comes from elsewhere.

The washing by a Savior,
The prayers of our mothers
The eyes of our fathers
The passion of honesty and focus
Hard work
The joy that we bring to those we love that further confrims the reason to be good to begin with.

His name is Diablo.
He looks nothing like the Devil...
He acts nothing like the Devil...

He's a coffee roaster.
His table is under a folding tent on VanNess and Olive.

I need to back up a bit.

He's an engineer, a highly intelligent man who understands many sciences and
passions.
He loves music and art,
He loves this town,
He knows coffee very well, and works with it the same way some of us work
with a guitar string, or a pallate of grumbacher oils mixed with just the
right blend of linseed...

Mostly? He's one guy, under a tent, with four jars of beans that he just
roasted the day before.

Beside him?
A woman with the most beautiful eyes.
She is in this too.

She knows the game of actuaries and keeping things covered,
But she's also a baker, and a darn good one.

Both of their ancestors?
Mexico.

And they bring the laughter and fierce embers in their eyes with the easy
smiles and ways that speak not with pride nor arrogance, but a quiet,
'hello, It's nice to meet you at last, how may I help you?'

I should explain that this is all about coffee.

This is all about someone who really knows coffee, and believes that a
person, if they love coffee should be able to be treated to a solid honest
cup, (for free,) so that you'll know what it is that he's trying to present
you.
It's not about the sale, (though at ten bucks a pound for freshly roasted
beans, it's a steal,)

No, No...

This about the culture of sharing, the desire to bring something good from
earth to someone, anyone, with the desire to simply pass along the richness.
This is pointing out something beautiful to somebody who is simply walking
down the street, for no other reason than to see their faces light up, -and
Diablo admits the love of doing this freely.

Diablo is modern,
He has taken courses.
He has a plan.
He's an entrepreneur.
He's thought this out, and is building on not just his own talents, but the
advice that others have shared too.
He loves his city, knows it well, and simply wants to bring it something
good.
He is someone simply wanting to bring you something.
His heart is pure.

He's quite different from todays world,
He cares about others, listens to you, and will be happy to explain to you
what you are experienceing, and how to enjoy things more,
-or he'll stand quietly with a smile, and let you make up your own mind.

For someone with such technical skill and knowledge, he is not a snob, he is
not aloof, he's somebody like the rest of us, who grew up realizing that
sharing something cool with anybody elevates this simple dusty existance
into the transactions of God.

The coffee is astounding.
For this writer, who will not endure bad coffee without inner complaints and
not even warning my insides, (afterall, they'll be after me soon enough,) to
drink something so smooth and rich, with no bitterness and no acidity to
taste, I let the rest of me find out what is going on as it wishes...

This is strong stuff, and I find myself responding to the caffiene with
chattering about everything including my shoelaces...
(Amazing, like a fine cigar or pipe, all that there is to realize is the
liquid cloud held in a paper cup, waiting to glide you, a myth come alive on
the hot macadam parking lot...)

Diablo knows this, he and his lady have held this secret and shared it with
others for some time.
But as any fine craftsman or artist knows, the joy is in watching others
find these things on their own.

This is about coffee afterall.
He does have a business, and he's looking to grow.
He and his lady have plans, (the excellent coffee,
the delicious pastries,
the heritage, passion, love,
all the days of their ancestors comeing down through their hands,
all while hiding in their voices and the shining eyes of generation upon
generation.

Go there, on Friday Evenings, or Saturdays, (VanNess and Olive,) and look
for CafeCorazon.
You will find Diablo,
just a goatee on a broad smiling face, a small glint of the devil perhaps
still in his eyes.

And what does this religious man have to do with such devils?
It is the simple fact:

Corazon is Diablo's lady.
Of the strongest and richest of blends, this one truth is most apparent.
This man loves and respects coffee, but it looks like rank hatred compared
to his love for her.
It is she who he works for, who he seeks to win with every gesture and
glance,
and obviously he has, for the smile on the girl is so, so deep.

There is a legend, maybe it's a truth.
The fiercest of devils, the most ruthless, can only be answered and brought
into gentleness and grace, made pure and sanctified,
by only the truest of loves, and that love of a woman.
(I suspect this may be of the most basic elements of this creation.)

Perhaps there was a time when Diablo was a dark force, with more red flames
and smoke.
Now?

No sulphur, no acrid sense,
Nothing but peace, as you walk under this little canopy,
look at 4 large glass cannisters of exotic names,
and see a smiling couple who just enjoy your presence,
who give you a free cup,

then sincerely look you in the eye, and ask, '...so what do you think of our
coffee...?'

I am telling you these things because they are true.
I am telling you these things because you need to go and see for yourself.
You will not be dissappointed.