A book to read: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Usually not a fantasy reader, I spent much of the past few years ignoring social media posts as person after person extolled the virtues of this little book with a weird cover.
Then, I finally just drank the latte and read the book. And lo, it was just as cute and sweet and heartwarming and cozy as everyone promised. My ten-year-old daughter (who actually does like fantasy books) also read and loved it.
This book like made millions of readers dream about moving to a small town and opening a coffeeshop with a little apartment on top, just like the main character (the green one) is doing. This is 100% my daughter’s new life plan.
I love teaching and writing too much to dream about quitting my job and opening coffee shops, but I get the desire. Something about living on top of a quiet little main street coupled with the ability to slip downstairs for coffee and cinnamon rolls sounds very appealing indeed.
A place to explore: The Bailey Hotel in Humboldt, Kansas
Luckily, I didn’t have to quit my job, sell my house, and squeeze my family into an apartment to get the experience. A couple weeks ago I was sent to Humboldt, Kansas by The Matador Network and the Kansas Department of Commerce. My hotel was an apartment-style suite just above the town’s only stoplight, right above the HoneyBee Bruncherie. There’s a coffee shop across the street.
It was exactly as cute as you would think.
The Bailey has a long history of welcoming visitors to Humboldt. Back in 1913, the space was a 20-room hotel and café. It closed in 1940, opened again in the 1990s, closed again in 2006, and just recently reopened.
The newly renovated place has five guest rooms, a common room with deep blue velvet sofas, fancy yellow mood lighting, ornate art and a cozy fireplace. There are board games, books, a kitchen space, and a ping pong table (I’ve never seen a ping pong table in such fancy surroundings). There is a fancy bar downstairs.
The room I stayed in has a cozy/modern feel, with a poster bed, a cute little SMEG refrigerator, and a tiled walk-in shower. I stayed in the Eider Room, but hopefully I can return with my family and stay in the Lark Suite, with better-than-a-bunk-bed set up. There are stairs (not a ladder - actual steps) that lead up to a loft bed, and the lower bed is tucked into a cozy enclosed space beneath. My girls would L-O-V-E it.
Humboldt is also just as cozy as Thune (the town in LEGENDS & LATTES). A quick flight of stairs deposits you in the middle of downtown, where families whom all seem to know each other have businesses set up along the main street across from the town park. Just like how, in LEGENDS & LATTES, the whole community shows up to rebuild when tragedy strikes, the people of Humboldt also show up for their town. When the Great Recession hit, the owner of B&W, a local company, sprang into action. Joe Works didn’t need his employees manufacturing trailer hitches at the time, so he paid them to work on public works projects around town instead, improving fair grounds and ball fields.
I guess coziness and community go together just as well as lattes and legends.
A Lesson to Teach: Cozy corners of my new classroom
In hopes that coziness does indeed inspire community, I’ve made an effort to cozy up my classroom this year.
I do not usually have a cozy classroom. Or even a nice looking classroom. You know all those young blond teachers on Instagram who show off videos of their adorable classrooms?1 Picture the opposite of that. That’s my classroom.
I am no interior decorator. My classroom is a mish-mash of student work that I’ve haphazardly slapped on the wall along with strange old paintings I inherited from my grandma that I don’t want to put up in my house but I also don’t want to part with.
Also, for the past five years I’ve been teaching in a tiny classroom with peeling paint, a broken closet, and zero windows.
A couple weeks before school started, my AP called,2 wondering if I wanted to switch rooms. The new spot would be bigger. There would be windows.
It was actually a tough decision to move. I love the teachers I’d been next to, but the opportunity to start fresh and actually try to build up a cozy classroom was just too tempting.
Here’s move in day:
And here is what it looks like currently. Still a work in progress, but it’s coming along. I put a blank timeline (i.e. receipt tape) along the top of the wall. Every time I teach something, I’ll stick a visual of that thing on timeline so students can remember what they’ve learned and see how it fits into the rest of history. Hopefully I’ll remember to post an “after” picture of the timeline in June. Stay tuned!
Am I getting there? I think I need a loveseat or something. How else can I cozy up this space? Help.
That is, before they tearfully quit teaching in order to focus on their careers as “content creators” and “career coaches” who help people transition out of teaching. Gross.
The Assistant Principal. This was his opening line: “Don’t worry! I’m not calling to ask you to teach a new subject!”
As a pub connoisseur, I would have to say that coziness —> community
I’m so envious of all of your natural light! In truth, I think it’s more challenging to make middle school and high school classrooms feel cozy. I’m a big fan of plush furniture so if you can get some beanbags chairs or couch, that would definitely up your cozy factor!
What if you found an old circular dining room table to put in the center of your room for community gatherings? You could have kids working in small groups at a big table.