The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham news and links for Thursday, June 16

good morning and happy thursday hoddlers.

Your hoddler-in-chief is in need of a drink on this Wednesday night. To your hoddler-in-chief’s horror, the instrument needed to open said alcohol has been packed away and taped up.

And that is because your hoddler-in-chief is moving to Washington in the coming days. Boxes are packed, the goodbyes have been said and all that is left is to put his belongings in the U-haul vehicle.

I have been reflecting often in recent weeks. It’s difficult to articulate these thoughts now as it is very late in the evening and I am in need of sleep. The idea of me packing the u-haul and driving for hours and hours is exhausting to even imagine.

Still I reflect on my finals weeks here. Of the goodbyes I have said, the places I will not visit again and the challenges to come. I won’t miss Connecticut. It was never my home. But in the years I have spent here I have found myself to be fortunate.

I will miss my friends. I will miss my running routes, the Long Island sound and the chubby canine who was carried along in a wagon by its two dutiful owners. I will miss waving hello to them. And I will miss my bookstore, record store and the coffee shop that served as my sanctuary for years.

There are things I won’t miss as well - various career and personal setbacks. Yet we continue, because we must.

So I will be continuing my own journey that will take me to another place with its new gifts and challenges. I know this foreign environment will become a haven for me, as the park in Darien became my refuge during the height of the Covid years.

This always felt like the right move for me. It will be difficult, of course. Saying goodbye to my closest friends was not something I enjoyed at all, holding them for a little longer than I normally would if only to squeeze every moment possible out of that moment. Sitting in the park for a couple minutes more, staring at the chlorophyll-rich leaves above me.

“If only I could remain here for just a little longer,” I thought to myself sitting on the bench. If only I could keep time still, to freeze it indefinitely and luxuriate in the gifts it has given me at this exact moment.

If only I could stare at those gorgeous goslings forever.

Alas, time moves on. And moves on still.

So I ask of myself to luxuriate in the gifts that await me elsewhere. Let time be still.

fitzie’s note —- Your dearest hoddler-in-chief will be occupied the next handful of days. Please do accept guest hoddlers-in-chief in my absence. I will be back soon.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Time to Move On, by Tom Petty

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: Tottenham sign Irish youth goalkeeper Josh Keeley

Harry Kane says he backs England manager Gareth Southgate ‘without any question’

Marcelo Bielsa reportedly nearing managerial return to Athletic Bilbao

Premier League expected to scrap Boxing Day and New Year’s fixtures

Former Russian football captain Igor Denisov speaks out against country’s war on Ukraine