Orphan Rescue

Two weeks ago I went to make coffee and a 1/4 inch black plastic bubble resembling a piece of seaweed fell out onto the kitchen counter. Our 20-year-old automatic coffee machine would no longer work. The carriage that holds the filter would not close without the plastic bubble. I saved the piece that had fallen out and showed it to Bill. He examined the mechanics of the machine and discovered where it had come out and glued it back into place using super glue. Do you think it will hold? It will for a while. The machine continued working fine each morning, but I made a mental note to keep my eye out for coffee maker parts at yard sales and thrift stores.

I consider this machine special because my bio father let me have it along with three upholstered swivel office chairs when he cleaned out his NYC office. The coffee maker was about seven years old when I got it and that was 13 years ago. One Thanksgiving I brought it to my sister-in-law's house to make coffee for the family. When I packed it in its bag for the trip home I forgot to secure the glass pot. After I got home I reached in the bag for the machine, and the pot slid out and smashed on the floor. Because this machine was one of the few heirlooms I had from my father, I sent away for a new glass pot, and kept the machine alive.

A few days ago I was walking Lily and I spotted a black coffee machine poking out of a light blue trash bin out on the sidewalk. I noticed it was the same brand and model as ours and it was only missing the glass pot. I could use it for spare parts! I thought about it all night and decided the next day that I would walk back with Lily and, prepared with my big canvas bag, rescue it. Sunday I got up early and when Lily and I got there it was sitting on top of the pile in the light blue bin. I scooped it up and put it in my bag as if I had rehearsed the move all night in my mind, because I had. When I got home I was thrilled to discover the machine seemed brand new. It didn't even smell like coffee. I rinsed the dust off of it and plugged it in and ran water through it into my glass canister. The water came out hotter than in my heirloom machine.

This morning I loaded coffee into the new maker and started her up. I got a whiff of cigarette smell and potpourri - an olfactory image of the previous owner's life - and then the fresh coffee scent took over. I decided I would keep the heirloom coffee maker as the spare and now use the orphaned machine. Sorry, Dad.