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Ode to Silver Spoons
Posted By Robin from Rurification On June 9, 2011 @ 1:03 am In Blog | 11 Comments
Graduate school is hard. And long. And in the end, it’s not about your field or your topic; it’s about diplomacy. This was my idea of diplomacy: ‘That’s a dumb idea and I won’t do it.’
I had a lot to learn about diplomacy.
I did learn. Now, this is my idea of diplomacy: ‘Hmm. What an interesting idea. I need to think about that for a while to really appreciate the nuances of every level. I’ll get back to you.’ Translation: That’s a dumb idea and I won’t do it.
It took a long time for me to learn how to do that.
And in the meantime, I had to do heavy duty research and then write about it. I had to work hard. Research was hard. Diplomacy was hard. I whined a lot.
Then I got into the habit of rewarding myself for all that hard work. Every time I finished a chapter, I gave myself the reward of going to the antique mall and hanging out for an afternoon.
Confession: It’s impossible for me to go into an antique store and not find things that I can’t live without. As in, I will DIE if I don’t get this.
It’s ridiculous. And embarrassing. And potentially fiscally irresponsible.
Since I am not independently wealthy, I kept my purchases small and utilitarian–a hat, a teacup, a china plate with little pink roses, a piece or two of silverware. My dissertation was long and I got to go to the antique mall a lot. In time I had a lovely collection of silverware.
I love silver utensils. I don’t care if they’re pitted. Or if the silver has worn off on the back where the spoon rests on the table. Or if they are monogrammed with someone else’s initials. Or if they tarnish five minutes after I polished them because I looked at them cross eyed or waved them in the general direction of brown rice. I love them.
I love the sleek and stylized designs of the 50s and 60s. I love the rococo curlicues of the late 19th century. I love the art deco angles of the 20s. I love them all.
Who knew there were so many types of spoons? From left to right these are: grapefruit spoon (with the little teeth on top), sugar spoon, teaspoon, tablespoon/soup spoon, iced tea spoon (very long handle, small bowl), cream soup spoon (very round bowl, some are quite deep), serving spoon, berry spoon (large, egg shaped bowl).
These spoons and their tined and bladed relatives stayed in my silverware drawer in the buffet for more years than I care to admit. I’d use them Some Day, I told myself. In the meantime, they tarnished. I polished. They stayed put. They tarnished. I polished. They stayed put. They tarnished.
Then last year around Christmas time, I got sick of my old stainless and gave it away. I pulled out all the old silverware and decided to use it every day. I washed it all well and I ignored the tarnish. I figured that with regular use and washing, the tarnish would go away – and mostly it did. We discovered that some of the knives rusted, so they went back into the buffet to stay. We discovered that a couple of the teaspoons are for stirring tea only because they are barely strong enough to carry a spoonful of sugar from the bowl to the cup. They went back in the buffet and on display in my old glass sugar bowl.
The rest get regular use at every meal. That old silver loves being used and with every washing it glows brighter.
Here are some things to remember when using old silver:
Love your silver. It will love you back.
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