Shakespeare speaks of the eyes being the windows to the soul...They seek out like. When I saw this little teapot in a random store called "The Food Barn" I had to have it. I had been back in my house about 3 years and was still making tea in a small sauce pot.
I just couldn't find anything that really struck me as a 'desire'. A glass one wouldn't survive a week in this house, an avant garde one just wouldn't fit and I would become resentful. I needed something as comforting as a real wool blanket. Though it sounds silly, tea is a very big part of my life. It's kind of a Celtic thing I believe. Tea will get you through most things. It's there at Births, Funerals, Big News, Little News, Sick bellies and when a chill hits you just right.
So there I was getting a H.U.G.E. teenage boy sandwich when I started walking around this store. It seems to be misplaced, like some converted double garage on the outskirts of the local air strip in town. Yet it trucks on. I believe they bought inventory from yet another this-n-that store in town that had become collateral damage to the big box stores. No longer could you get a unique gift, or canning supplies, or real hand dipped candles when these shrines to consumerism moved in but we watched in horror as our beloved 'haunts' went under one by one. Throw in a back breaking economy and cheap as hell crap from china and it spelled certain doom for our local True Value, Ben Franklin, and Rockaway Sales stores that my generation grew up on.
So the Food Barn seems to sit there like a little rebel, a hold out, a stand off - I frequent these spots as much as I can. So while waiting for a sandwich, I started browsing. And there She was like a little lady with a classic dress on...My Little Tea Pot. She's just metal - almost like a little issued mess-kit to go camping in. Her lid has a little black button type top and the handle will pull the skin off your hands if you don't use an oven mitt. Still... She's a charmer. I flipped her over and spotted the worn orange price sticker $3.00.
And she's been with me ever since. She's smaller than a big box pot...you will only get 2 cups at a time with her. She's tough (like her owner), she can handle a few small dents, a drop, and has gotten her ass burned more than once. She scrubs up pretty good though - a soak in vinegar and water and a steel wool pad shines her up nice. She's constant - always there when I need her.
It's proved a good marriage for she still makes me smile. The best $3 I ever spent!
