The old kettle

My grandmother María de los Dolores Reyes de Irureta Goyena would often tell me about the Filipino patriot José Risal and of his 1887 novel Noli Me Tangere. When I asked her the origin of the Latin term she told me that when Mary Magdalene faced the resurrected Christ in his tomb, He told her “don’t touch me”.

My grandmother often quoted a saying to me when she wanted some space, “touch me not for I am a teapot”.

Both these memories came to me today when I finally decided that my 30 year-old- kettle that stopped working would have to be replaced. This I did. That immediately brought to my head an expression that I have just coined, “Let’s settle on a kettle”.

When I looked at the old kettle I knew I would have to write my idea and feeling that inanimate objects have an element of humanity because they have been touched by humans. Even my two cats’ stainless steel dishes have a bit of that.

Rosemary in the years that we had that kettle used it. Her touch on it is a memory that I will carry with me all the way to Kent Street recycling when I get rid of the kettle. Something like our Stickley bed and the mattress bring to mind a thought. I can feel what I call her absent presence when I am on it.

And I will finish this with my hilarious idea that inanimate objects have free will. It particularly applies to my digital Fuji X-E3 camera that does stuff on its own (which I usually do not want).

On an interesting note (to me) in Mexico a kettle is called a cafetera even if you heat water to make tea. In my native Argentina a kettle is a pava. A pava is a female turkey and the name comes from the shape of the neck of a classic kettle.