I am not sure if it is a cup, a little cup, a glass... a little glass(?!) maybe [hesitant...]. I need to check the dictionary for a definition.
There it is [referring to the definition]: let’s call it cup. It’s short and sounds like a little drop on the water. I like it. As I like the cup itself. Well designed! I could try to learn more about its design: who made it, when was made, how many were made, for how long... BUT is it relevant? Not for what it means to me.
It is just a cup.
It is orange. No handle. If you don’t touch it you would think it is made of paper. It was designed to look-like that. And to look like it was dented. Not destroyed, just a little gentle dent on one side. Should I say side? It is conical, so, by definition, there are only two sides: inside and outside. Anyway, this bruise fits your thumb as if your thumb had done the damage. It is soo comfortable! It also has vertical lines where the paper would overlap to give the conical shape. Clever! It is made of ceramic material, at least that is what it looks like to me, I am not an expert in materials. I know it is not plastic, nor glass, and, definitely, not paper. But it resembles the latter(1), in many aspects.
[(1)I had to make a big detour to find the word latter. I have been listening to this expression former/latter constantly, and, of course, I understood what it meant, but I didn’t know how to spell it.]It is light. It feels warm easily in your hands. It is thermally efficient. When filled with a hot drink you can hold it safely.
I use it daily. During my workdays, it would be at 6:10 am, after I got dressed. I go to the kitchen to grab my lunch and to drink my coffee. I don’t like coffee. And I’m not sure if I will keep this habit for much longer. I am concerned about the long term side effects associated with coffee consumption (dementia, mainly). But for now, it helps me with energy to do my work. So coffee is a sort of medicine, hopefully, I am not addicted to it. Also, I suspect the wake-up effect it has on me is a placebo... Tricky thing to test... I could ask my partner to help me with a blind experiment (I have an idea! It involves decaffeinated...)
The cup is my favourite tool used in this morning ritual (I don’t like this word, I need to review this). There is also a little spoon, a metallic one. A teaspoon, as they would say here (I guess). It is hard to describe. It is elegant. The shell fits my thumb as if was a mould of it. The arm (or handle?) is cylindrical/conical shaped, with no sharp edges. It is smooth and polished. It is an old spoon, so there are many scratches, nevertheless, “polished” is a quality that belongs to it!
I have my own coffee recipe. Surprise, surprise! Yes, I am footing this path... I am making my own meals(2).
[(2) I am hesitant to use the word “food” because it could imply I make the ingredients, that I don’t!]So, there are 5 ingredients:
cinnamon, because I love the smell and it is a reminiscence of an old ritual from the time I lived in Portugal;
ginger, because I like the effect in my tongue afterwards, and it hides the next ingredient flavour which I don’t appreciate necessarily;
turmeric and black pepper, because there are scientific studies (3) that refer to the benefits of these two combined in preventing arthritis (which I have);
[(3) I may update this with some links in the future… Not a promisse!]and finally:
coffee, the instant type.
and water!
So, I should say 6 ingredients. We always take water for granted, don’t we? Hot water… No, boiling water! by the way.
The ingredients are placed in this same order because it helps to mix them. The cinnamon being the first does not glue at the cup if this is wet, and the coffee being the last make the mixing more fluffy what helps to absorb the water when poured. The other ingredients could be placed in any order since they remain in the middle. Either way is not important for the drink itself, it just makes the process a little easier, in my experience.
So, the cup, because this is about the cup (isn't it?), helps me with the pleasure aspect of a habit: Make it pleasant! The act of holding the cup is good. It is a pleasure. I feel it in my thumb, in my hand, in my lips. With my eyes also: It is a beautiful thing to see!
When I drink this recipe more diluted, during the days I stay at home, I have to say that I actually enjoy the coffee... But, with the little cup, I just swallow the drink. It is medicine, as I said before.
It is just a cup.
But it has memories associated with it. Things (places, people, conversations) that I miss.
It reminds me of the cafés in Portugal, meaning the places where they sell coffee to you and other stuff that you can consume right there while enjoying the ambience... What do they call it here? Coffee shop? Cafeteria? In Portuguese we use the same word café for everything: the place, the drink, the meeting time... We also have the word cafeteria, which the British probably imported into their vocabulary, but it is too long so we rarely use it.
My cup reminds me of my friends. And time to myself. And creative. And solitude (not loneliness). And companionship, even when we are alone.
There are other objects that are related/involved in these same memories/affections, but they look like satellites around the cup (which would be the sun) of this prototype experience of having a coffee: sketchbooks, mechanical pencil, comfortable clothes, iPad, headphones, a stylish bag, Brell playing at the background... (this is a private choice, of course), a table, a chair... a window/view...
But, it is just a cup.
Would I take it with me if I went to Mars [I would go to Mars if I had a chance, I believe...]? I could. But it is not essential. It is something that I like. And I want. I don’t need it. It is, so, in a high position in my maybe-to-keep list.
In this pandemic time, living the third lockdown, going to a cafe is something that I really miss. I still could do it, and maybe I will do it soon. Just change the coffee shop for a garden (there are so many here, and such beautiful ones), bring a flask instead of the little cup, wear warm comfortable clothes... take my bicycle, my iPad and enjoy myself. Sounds nice. Sounds doable.
It will not be the same. I will probably struggle with the cold, my frozen fingers... but life moves forward and I am still able to develop new memories/rituals...
And, as we can notice, the cup is no longer needed in this new version of coffee time.
Goodbye cup.