Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Mugs I Have Known


What object most closely represents the comforts of your home? You know, the thing you long for most when you travel. Your bed? Your shower?

For me, it's a good cup of coffee in one of my favorite mugs.

My recent travels made me once again realize how much I value brewing my own coffee. Europeans drink tiny little cups of espresso or milky cappuccino squeezed out of one of those noisy steam machines. They're good, but not as good (from my American perspective) as a mug of good strong brewed coffee.

I have had a series of favorite mugs over the years. In the mid-'80s, I loved my purple cup, which I once photographed on a matching bedsheet. (I took a whole series of these photos, and a few years ago I posted them here.)


I no longer have my purple cup. I eventually gave it to charity because it was too small. It was replaced by this -- a Laurel Burch mug I bought in Tampa in 1992. I loved this mug so much I took it with me to Morocco when I served in the Peace Corps, and the joke among my fellow volunteers was that when it broke, I would quit and go home.


Here it is sitting on the big cushion I used as a bed, in the courtyard of my Moroccan house. (I slept outside in the summers because it was so hot indoors.) Fortunately it never broke, I stayed my full two years in Morocco, and I still have the mug.


I don't drink out of it as much these days, though, because I have these -- Starbucks mugs from my hometown of Tampa and my brother's current city of residence, Jacksonville. They're even larger than the Laurel Burch mug. I use these or one of my other Starbucks mugs almost every day.


Finally, there's this monster, which is even larger still. (It really is ridiculous how big mugs have become.) We have two of these, which Dave's mom bought us while his parents were visiting last summer. I like them and use them often, but they're almost too big. I can never finish my coffee when I drink out of them.

Ah yes, the comforts of home!

9 comments:

jo(e) said...

I often bring my own mug ad tea bags when I travel -- especially if I'm going on a writing retreat. I can't write without a cup of hot tea.

Reya Mellicker said...

This is awesome!

I love my favorite mugs, too. Funny how something simple like that can make all the differences.

I'll email you re: the condo - it has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. You and Dave could come across - I would be happy to pick you up in NY or Newark. I'll send info. Think about it!

Ms. Moon said...

I have my newest favorite mug right beside me now with good coffee in it. It has blue pansies on it and fits my hand perfectly. The lip is not too thick and not too thin. It holds enough but not too much. I like to pour half-cups and that way my coffee is hotter. I would rather get up and go into the kitchen and pour another half cup than to fill it up and save a trip and end up with cold coffee.
We are such creatures of habit, aren't we?

37paddington said...

I have my favorite cups too which are closely tied to my morning g coffee ritual. I think I will do a similar post one of these days as I have some unusual mugs; my daughter looks out for them to give me as gifts. And she also made me one, it was red and white with a big blue ceramic heart, at summer camp last year (she was a counselor not a camper) after I told her I secretly had always loved those colors together. Wow. You got ne started thinking about mugs and the eras they represent. Whet an unexpectedly rich subject for a dedicated coffee drinker like me.

ellen abbott said...

I prefer a coffe cup to a mug. Mugs are too big and the coffee gets tepid before I can drink it all. And I only allow myself two cups of coffee a day. Which I love and my coffee drinking time in the morning is probably my favorite time of the day.

The Bug said...

I don't drink coffee (blech!) but I always take a travel coozie with me for my soft drink cans - ha! I should secretly pack Mike's favorite mug for our next trip - we'll be staying in hotel for several days & their cups are entirely too puny for him :)

P.S. I feed the fish when I come here too. I like to see them all race around.

Lynne said...

I certainly hope you are not the kind of person to toss and turn in your sleep. Falling off that precariously narrow bed and hitting your head on the rocks below would not have been a good thing.
:)

Peter Bryenton said...

Big kidneys too?
;-)

Linda Sue said...

your mugs are homey and cozy and make perfect sense! I agree about brewed coffee , I make an eight cupper in the morning and by evening it is gone! WOW two years in Morocco would be a LONGGGG time! You really have staying power- patience, they say, is indeed a virtue- you have loads! Thanks for the look at your mugs, I so get it- my morning is somewhat ruined if I can not have coffee in my favorite!