I have two favourite coffee cups.

I will reach for either of these cups before I will reach for any others.

I will even go so far as to rinse one of these two out occasionally if they are nearby.  This despite the fact that a cupboard of dozens of cups could be two feet in front of me.

On the surface it seems very much about volume.   I see myself sitting on the end of the sofa or  at the top of steps of the deck.

It is quiet

It is  quiet time and I have a few moments to be contemplative.

The coffee cups are vessels for moments of  uninterrupted introspection and perhaps appreciation of a thing pleasurable.

Often there is the appreciation of dawning light or a fresh morning. My mind is undisciplined and I like it that way.  However, the ritual of the morning coffee  is  partly a ritual of honouring the bits of wonder that catch my attention.

So, what the two cups have in common is volume.   I like the promise of a longer, sustained period of time with my coffee.   The large volume promotes this by having a greater thermal mass, which means that I can be quiet for a longer period of time with my hot coffee – it will not grow cold quickly – ( is the same true of life? do we have a spiritual/psychic/emotional/relational/other thermal mass that holds the heat of our lives?  Can this heat be replenished with infinite top-ups? Can our vessel be exchanged for another? Does our warmth continue despite or without endless cleaning? Is the flavour of our life more or less palatable to us depending on what we put in?)

I do not like my time of serenity to be interrupted.   A large cup allows me to simply be in one state longer.

Of the two cups, one was a gift from students at the end of the school year.  My students know me as a hopeless coffee addict and this particular mug is a tall brown mug that had been made by a local potter.  An artesanal mug, if you will.   I like its balance and its colour and most importantly its volume.

The other mug that I prefer is a large, plain white mug that is red inside and has the logo of the Nova Scotia Cattle Producers on the side.   I first saw this mug at my mother-in-law’s house and somehow it came into my possession.  ( I cannot recall if I asked her for it or if she saw that I liked it and just gave it to me – either way, she did consent to my ownership of it.)

Two things draw me to this mug.   The first is its volume.  It has a wide diameter  and a good height (although not as great as  the artesanal mug) and so holds a lot of coffee.  The second is its wide mouth.  This feature allows me to  be bathed in coffee aroma as I hold the cup to my face, and I so love the smell of good coffee.  I also like that the mug is not a precious mug, and I need not worry about its care – except that it has become precious to me.   It is in fact being filled at this very moment by my loving Sweetie.

I think I will go and have a sip!