A Curious Turning Point

I pushed past the kitchen entryway, seeking mechanisms rather than monuments this morning. Upon the cool granite counter sat an old wooden coffee grinder, its curved cast-iron crank handle poised in patient suspension. Rather than admiring its silent curve, I grasped the smooth wooden knob at the crank's end and leaned my full weight into it. With a stubborn, rusty creak, the wheel yielded, rotating a quarter turn and dislodging three forgotten, glossy coffee beans down into the brass hopper below. They fell with a satisfying, percussive rattle. Why admire machinery when one can simply initiate the performance?

1 Nauk