I'll Put The Kettle On

 

In more than half of UK dramas and books, someone will say, "I'll put the kettle on."

How true it is I discovered when I was first in Switzerland. I was home in my tiny mountain village when the telephone rang on a Saturday, It was a friend from Boston telling me a mutual friend had been stabbed to death in her home.

She'd managed to call the police. The cop on duty thought it was a hoax and did nothing. When the chief listened to the call the next morning, he sent someone to investigate. The woman had just died and probably could have been saved.

My two Japanese chins were of little comfort and I decided to go up the mountain into the office even if no one would be in.

However Caroline, who is very English, was in, catching up on paperwork. She looked at my face and asked what was wrong. When I told her, the first thing she said was, "I'll put the kettle on." Of course the tea couldn't have brought my friend back to life, but the tea upped my coping skills.

It doesn't have to be a murder to make (stew, brew, steam, draw, steep -depending on your region) tea.

When I'm still in bed mornings reading, and my husband is in the kitchen I can hear the kettle bubble. I know he'll bring me my bowl of tea. What type is a surprise and that is a lovely way to start the day. The aroma of regular tea, spices, caramel, mint or vanilla waft their way over to my bed. I don't always finish it immediately, drinking it with breakfast or taking it to my computer.

This Sunday we were at our Swiss neighbors. They were leaving our French village the next morning to go to their Swiss home. Usually when they are down here, we manage to share a meal, an exhibition, a concert, a light show, something or somethings). This time we were inundated, in the good sense of the word, with people we'd not seen for far too long and they were equally busy. No time to get together.

The solution was a cup of tea and a fruit tart he'd made between packing chores. Since we are all Swiss where promptness counts, we arrived exactly as the church bells struck four. The tea was Earl Grey, her favorite. We may see them in Switzerland later this year.

Growing up our tea kettle whistled. Here our tea kettle is electric. What matters is there is a kettle to put on and tea to share.