Shorts And A Cup Of Coffee

We woke up this morning and The Boy let out, Oh my god! What the?

For a few days in the last two weeks, he's worn shorts to school. That's how warm it's been. I've been walking around with a t-shirt, light jacket, and scarf for effect. Then this morning, we woke up to snow on the ground. I have an urge to tell the weather guy upstairs to quit fooling around. I don't have my snow tires on any more.

So I sat down and made myself coffee, in my new electric kettle. I can't believe I hadn't done it earlier. In the 20 years of living in this house, I've burned 4 kettles. I put water in the kettle, put it on the stove and walk away. I don't like the whistling sound the kettle makes when the water boils so I lift the lid off the kettle spout. Then I don't know how long later, I hear crackling, and eventually, I smell something burning, like scorched metal. I scratch my head wondering where that smell is coming from. I look outside.

Eventually, when I wander into the kitchen again, I see a black kettle on the stove where my aluminum one should have been. I gasp and turn the stove off.

So last week, when I burned the kettle, I puzzled about a solution with a neighbour on the phone. She said, Electric kettle, electric kettle.

I got one this week. My god, it boils water fast and quiet. No loud whirling and churling whooshes that come out of my old microwave. It stops automatically when the water boils. It takes up less space than the stove-top kettle. I've gained a burner for cooking. It was such an easy and feel-good solution. It is like being on Prozac after the first few days. Why isn't everyone on it?