Alana of Smoke and Gaslight:
“Would you like an adorable tea cup?”
Of course I would, I thought as I read the summons to head on down to an address on the Upper West Side.
I was distinctly aware that this was no random decluttering on a Sunday afternoon, but the release of scattered rays of light from Jutta’s amazing life. Out of respect, a large part of me didn’t want to rummage through the carefully packed boxes, but Claire took the lead.
Her every move vibrating with happiness and determination, showing me one adorable tea cup after another, and glasses you can’t buy in stores anymore unless it is the knockoff variety.
And of course books. I’m a sucker for books.
In a daze I barely took in the details as they were unwrapped and then repackaged in a box for me to take home. That moment was reserved for when I was standing in my kitchen, carefully unwrapping each one until the floor was covered in newspaper.
Details galore: bright flowers, gilt edges, silver hand painted patterns and glasses as blue as the sky. I’ve never seen cups like these up close...unless you count movies where the ladies wear white satin gloves and pour tea from a silver pot and ask for two cubes of sugar.
This past weekend, I decided I wanted to have my morning cup of coffee in one of Jutta’s teacups. The cream colored one with ornate flowers was my favorite with the word “Bavaria” written on the bottom of the saucer and the cup.
No fancy sugar cubes, but a dash of it, combined with coffee and creamer. I could have stared at the cloud swirls the creamer made on top for hours.
It took a vintage teacup to show me that I have been making coffee wrong all this time. I can’t explain it, but everything blended perfectly. I could savor and taste every part. Thinking that lightning can’t strike twice I made another cup of coffee before heading to work today, with the same adorable teacup.
Thank you Jutta.
**
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