Plates and Bowls

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Imagine that.

Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nicolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read

Speaker 1 all the stories you hear on nothing much happens

Speaker 1 with audio Engineering by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week. And this week, we are giving to Make a Wish Foundation.

Speaker 1 They create life-changing wishes for children. Learn more in our show notes.

Speaker 1 I appreciate you listening to this little bit of housekeeping at the beginning of our apps.

Speaker 1 We want to help you at bedtime and during the day.

Speaker 1 So we created a daytime version of the show called Stories from the Village of Nothing Much.

Speaker 1 We've also partnered on a project to make weighted pillows you can hug

Speaker 1 to settle your nervous system.

Speaker 1 I have mine on my lap right now.

Speaker 1 It's my constant companion when I'm recording.

Speaker 1 If you'd like to learn more about our daytime offerings, head to the links in our show notes

Speaker 1 or go to nothingmuchhappens.com.

Speaker 1 So this works by giving your brain a place to rest.

Speaker 1 Like an upturned leaf in a stream of water, it will flow on the current of the story.

Speaker 1 And before you know it,

Speaker 1 you'll be waking up tomorrow, feeling rested and relaxed.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice

Speaker 1 and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 This is a form of brain training, so know that regular use

Speaker 1 improves the results.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called Plates and Bowls.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about keeping a promise to yourself

Speaker 1 after the bustle of the holidays has settled down.

Speaker 1 It's also about a quiet, clean environment that brings some ease.

Speaker 1 Coffee cups and spoon rests,

Speaker 1 smooth porcelain and hand-painted ceramics,

Speaker 1 and finding ways to celebrate the everyday.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 lights out.

Speaker 1 Snuggle down and feel your whole body

Speaker 1 relaxing

Speaker 1 into your bed.

Speaker 1 Maybe this is a moment

Speaker 1 you've been looking forward to all day.

Speaker 1 Well, now it's here.

Speaker 1 Enjoy it.

Speaker 1 Draw a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh it out.

Speaker 1 One more time, breathe in

Speaker 1 and sigh.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Plates and bowls

Speaker 1 There is a little shop in downtown

Speaker 1 whose window I have been looking through

Speaker 1 each time I pass by.

Speaker 1 They sell,

Speaker 1 oh, a variety of things

Speaker 1 pretty wine glasses,

Speaker 1 cozy-looking coffee cups,

Speaker 1 linen napkins,

Speaker 1 and heavy hard cover cookbooks.

Speaker 1 They have a few shelves of fancy salts and olive oils,

Speaker 1 candies and chocolates you can't find in the grocery store,

Speaker 1 and jams made of fruits

Speaker 1 I've never seen in person.

Speaker 1 There are a few old chandeliers

Speaker 1 hanging from their tall ceilings.

Speaker 1 And the light in there is warm

Speaker 1 and inviting.

Speaker 1 There's music playing, barely loud enough to hear.

Speaker 1 Something with cellos

Speaker 1 and violas

Speaker 1 and classical guitar.

Speaker 1 It even smells calm,

Speaker 1 like herbs and lemon

Speaker 1 and clean laundry.

Speaker 1 And all through the month of December,

Speaker 1 each time I passed by

Speaker 1 on my way to pick up the books I'd ordered from the bookshop

Speaker 1 or to get dinner rolls from the bakery,

Speaker 1 I'd pause in my haste

Speaker 1 and stare in through their windows,

Speaker 1 making a little promise to myself

Speaker 1 that after all the business of the holidays was over,

Speaker 1 I would treat myself to a visit there.

Speaker 1 And listen, I enjoy the holidays.

Speaker 1 I love the lights and the gatherings,

Speaker 1 the food and the music,

Speaker 1 gifting and merry-making.

Speaker 1 But the calm that comes after

Speaker 1 the quiet

Speaker 1 and fresh start of the new year

Speaker 1 might be my favorite part.

Speaker 1 So today,

Speaker 1 on this snowy afternoon, with no errands to run,

Speaker 1 no party to go to later,

Speaker 1 I was keeping my promise

Speaker 1 to myself.

Speaker 1 When I turned onto the main street

Speaker 1 and saw that downtown was not busy,

Speaker 1 that parking spaces abounded

Speaker 1 and that there were open booths at the diner

Speaker 1 several small shops showing signs that they wouldn't even be open again

Speaker 1 till the new year.

Speaker 1 I sighed.

Speaker 1 I actually felt my own shoulders

Speaker 1 soften on my back.

Speaker 1 My grip on the steering wheel relax a bit.

Speaker 1 I tend to borrow a bit too much

Speaker 1 from my environments sometimes.

Speaker 1 A busy place can make me feel busy.

Speaker 1 A crowded street, a noisy restaurant,

Speaker 1 a cramped aisle in a grocery store

Speaker 1 can all leave me feeling

Speaker 1 simply

Speaker 1 too much.

Speaker 1 And while I was working on carrying my own calm,

Speaker 1 a deep well of quiet that couldn't run out inside of me,

Speaker 1 it was a work in progress,

Speaker 1 and I let the nearly empty street gift me some ease.

Speaker 1 Salt crunched under my boots on the sidewalks,

Speaker 1 and I stopped to look up at the sky.

Speaker 1 It had been sunny earlier.

Speaker 1 That energizing blast of winter sun

Speaker 1 that gets you moving even in the cold.

Speaker 1 But clouds had begun to move in,

Speaker 1 and I wondered if more snow was on its way.

Speaker 1 I smiled as I turned toward the shop.

Speaker 1 Of course it was.

Speaker 1 We still had months of winter ahead of us.

Speaker 1 Might as well welcome it.

Speaker 1 It was something a friend of mine said

Speaker 1 When you can't get out of it, get into it.

Speaker 1 A reminder to enjoy where you can,

Speaker 1 what you can.

Speaker 1 And that was what I was going to do right now.

Speaker 1 I pulled open the door to the shop.

Speaker 1 I guess it could be called a kitchen shop,

Speaker 1 but that didn't seem to do it justice,

Speaker 1 and stepped into the warmth and glowing lights.

Speaker 1 All those times I'd passed by before

Speaker 1 there had been one section that always drew my eyes

Speaker 1 a long table full of dishes

Speaker 1 stacks of different patterns of plates and bowls

Speaker 1 gravy boats and water pitchers

Speaker 1 I am a sucker for dishes

Speaker 1 my grandmother had one set for every day

Speaker 1 and one for special occasions.

Speaker 1 And they lasted her for many decades.

Speaker 1 But I am not built like that.

Speaker 1 When I can afford it,

Speaker 1 I like to switch them out.

Speaker 1 To have a new set to serve my meals on.

Speaker 1 And I'd saved up a little stash for this,

Speaker 1 my own holiday gift to myself.

Speaker 1 I slipped off my gloves,

Speaker 1 one and then the other,

Speaker 1 and tucked them into my coat pocket.

Speaker 1 I would need to feel the weight of the plates,

Speaker 1 the finish and texture of the soup bowls and spoonrests, rests

Speaker 1 to know what I wanted.

Speaker 1 There were classic sets of shining white porcelain

Speaker 1 and even though I was pretty sure those weren't the ones I would choose,

Speaker 1 I still took my time lifting a few pieces,

Speaker 1 turning them over in my hands,

Speaker 1 and imagining the food I might serve on them.

Speaker 1 They had a very elegant stamp on their bottoms,

Speaker 1 a company name that I recognized as being old and respected,

Speaker 1 and their rims felt delicate

Speaker 1 and sharp.

Speaker 1 Knowing my own propensity to drop and bump things,

Speaker 1 I imagined these would only last a few dinners in my house.

Speaker 1 Beside them sat a stack of thicker dishes.

Speaker 1 They had a handmade,

Speaker 1 imperfect feel,

Speaker 1 and were painted with daubs of bright colours

Speaker 1 against a pale blue background.

Speaker 1 The glaze was fairly smooth,

Speaker 1 but here and there were tiny and I guessed intentional grains of grit from the clay

Speaker 1 that still stood out on the surface.

Speaker 1 All in all, they were not the plates for me.

Speaker 1 But both of these styles had helped me whittle down my ideas and what I wanted.

Speaker 1 I needed something in the middle,

Speaker 1 not so perfect and elegant that they couldn't withstand regular use,

Speaker 1 and not so handmade and rustic that their aesthetic overwhelmed the food itself.

Speaker 1 I clasped my hands behind behind my back

Speaker 1 and wandered around the table slowly, peering down at the other options.

Speaker 1 Sunny yellow soup bowls that felt out of season, but

Speaker 1 whose shape was perfect.

Speaker 1 Wide dinner plates in Robin's egg blue,

Speaker 1 whose color I adored, but whose rim was too wide and well too small for the hearty meals I'd eat this winter

Speaker 1 and then I found them

Speaker 1 They were a hearty olive green color

Speaker 1 The finish shifting a bit lighter at the rim

Speaker 1 and with such a nice heft

Speaker 1 as I lifted a mug from the table

Speaker 1 the plates were round and minimal,

Speaker 1 with a small lip and a humble feel.

Speaker 1 The bowl was low and wide, almost a second plate,

Speaker 1 with a high rim, which was how I liked it.

Speaker 1 Perfect for pasta

Speaker 1 or soup that would cool to the right temp as it set.

Speaker 1 The pieces were smooth but not glossy,

Speaker 1 and I just felt that any meal I ate out of them I would be grateful for,

Speaker 1 I would feel nourished by

Speaker 1 And I could already imagine myself

Speaker 1 plating up a square of spice cake,

Speaker 1 or ladling out my mushroom wild rice soup,

Speaker 1 and handing it over to a friend to enjoy.

Speaker 1 Suddenly, I was looking forward to the months of winter yet to come as I carefully stacked some plates

Speaker 1 and began carrying them over to the register.

Speaker 1 I'd found a way,

Speaker 1 as I couldn't get out of it,

Speaker 1 to get into it.

Speaker 1 Plates and bowls

Speaker 1 There is a little shop in downtown

Speaker 1 Whose window I have been looking through

Speaker 1 each time I pass by

Speaker 1 They sell

Speaker 1 oh a variety of things

Speaker 1 pretty wine glasses

Speaker 1 Cosy looking coffee cups

Speaker 1 Linen napkins

Speaker 1 And heavy hardcover cookbooks.

Speaker 1 They have a few shelves of fancy salts and olive oils,

Speaker 1 candies

Speaker 1 and chocolates

Speaker 1 you can't find in the grocery store,

Speaker 1 and jams

Speaker 1 made of fruits I've never seen in person.

Speaker 1 There are a few old chandeliers

Speaker 1 hanging from their tall ceilings,

Speaker 1 and the light in there is warm

Speaker 1 and inviting.

Speaker 1 There is music playing,

Speaker 1 barely loud enough to hear

Speaker 1 something with cellos

Speaker 1 and violas

Speaker 1 and classical guitar.

Speaker 1 It even smells calm,

Speaker 1 like herbs and lemon

Speaker 1 and clean laundry.

Speaker 1 And all through the month of December,

Speaker 1 each time I passed by

Speaker 1 on my way to pick up the books I'd ordered from the bookshop,

Speaker 1 or to get dinner rolls from the bakery,

Speaker 1 I'd pause in my haste

Speaker 1 and stare in through their windows,

Speaker 1 making a little promise to myself

Speaker 1 that after all the business of the holidays was over,

Speaker 1 I would treat myself

Speaker 1 to a visit there.

Speaker 1 And listen,

Speaker 1 I enjoy the holidays.

Speaker 1 I love the lights

Speaker 1 and the gatherings,

Speaker 1 the food and music,

Speaker 1 gifting

Speaker 1 and merry-making.

Speaker 1 But the calm that comes after,

Speaker 1 the quiet

Speaker 1 and the fresh start

Speaker 1 of the new year

Speaker 1 might be my favorite part.

Speaker 1 So today,

Speaker 1 on this snowy afternoon,

Speaker 1 with no errands to run,

Speaker 1 no party to go to later,

Speaker 1 I was keeping a promise

Speaker 1 to myself.

Speaker 1 When I turned onto Main Street

Speaker 1 and saw that downtown

Speaker 1 was not busy

Speaker 1 that parking spaces abounded,

Speaker 1 and that there were open booths at the diner,

Speaker 1 several small shops showing signs

Speaker 1 that they wouldn't even be open again

Speaker 1 till the new year.

Speaker 1 I sighed.

Speaker 1 I actually felt my own shoulders

Speaker 1 soften on my back.

Speaker 1 My grip on the steering wheel

Speaker 1 relax a bit.

Speaker 1 I tend to borrow a bit too much

Speaker 1 from my environment sometimes.

Speaker 1 A busy place can make me feel busy.

Speaker 1 A crowded street,

Speaker 1 a noisy restaurant,

Speaker 1 a cramped aisle in the grocery store

Speaker 1 can all leave me feeling

Speaker 1 simply

Speaker 1 too much.

Speaker 1 And while I was working on carrying my own calm,

Speaker 1 a deep well of quiet

Speaker 1 that couldn't run out inside of me.

Speaker 1 It was a work in progress,

Speaker 1 and I let the nearly nearly empty street

Speaker 1 gift me some ease.

Speaker 1 Salt crunched under my boots on the sidewalk,

Speaker 1 and I stopped to look up at the sky.

Speaker 1 It had been sunny earlier.

Speaker 1 That energizing blast of winter sun

Speaker 1 that gets you moving

Speaker 1 even in the cold.

Speaker 1 But clouds had begun to move in,

Speaker 1 and I wondered if more snow was on its way.

Speaker 1 I smiled as I turned toward the shop.

Speaker 1 Of course it was.

Speaker 1 We still had months of winter ahead of us.

Speaker 1 Might as well welcome it.

Speaker 1 It was something a friend of mine said,

Speaker 1 When you can't get out of it,

Speaker 1 get into it.

Speaker 1 A reminder to enjoy

Speaker 1 where you can,

Speaker 1 what you can.

Speaker 1 And that was what I was going to do

Speaker 1 right now.

Speaker 1 I pulled open the door to the shop.

Speaker 1 I guess it could be called a kitchen shop,

Speaker 1 but that didn't seem to do it justice.

Speaker 1 I stepped into the warmth. and glowing lights.

Speaker 1 All those times I'd passed by before

Speaker 1 there had been one section

Speaker 1 that always drew my eyes.

Speaker 1 A long table full of dishes,

Speaker 1 stacks of different patterns of plates and bowls,

Speaker 1 gravy boats,

Speaker 1 and water pitchers.

Speaker 1 I am a sucker for dishes.

Speaker 1 My grandmother

Speaker 1 had one set

Speaker 1 for every day

Speaker 1 and one for special occasions

Speaker 1 and they had lasted her

Speaker 1 for many decades.

Speaker 1 But

Speaker 1 I

Speaker 1 am not built like that.

Speaker 1 When I can afford it,

Speaker 1 I like to switch them out

Speaker 1 to have a new set

Speaker 1 to serve my meals on.

Speaker 1 And I'd saved up a little stash for this.

Speaker 1 My own

Speaker 1 holiday gift to myself.

Speaker 1 I slipped off my gloves,

Speaker 1 one

Speaker 1 and then the other,

Speaker 1 and tucked them into my coat pocket.

Speaker 1 I would need to feel the weight of the plates,

Speaker 1 the finish

Speaker 1 and texture of the soup bowls and the spoon rest

Speaker 1 to know what I wanted.

Speaker 1 There were classic sets of shining white porcelain

Speaker 1 and even though I was pretty sure

Speaker 1 those weren't the ones I would choose,

Speaker 1 I still took my time,

Speaker 1 lifting a few pieces,

Speaker 1 turning them over in my hands,

Speaker 1 and imagining the food I might serve on them.

Speaker 1 They had a very elegant stamp on their bottoms,

Speaker 1 a company name that I recognized as being old and respected,

Speaker 1 and their rims felt delicate and sharp.

Speaker 1 Knowing my own propensity to drop and bump things,

Speaker 1 I imagined these would only last a few dinners in my house.

Speaker 1 Beside them set a stack of thicker dishes.

Speaker 1 They had a handmade,

Speaker 1 imperfect feel

Speaker 1 and were painted with daubs of bright

Speaker 1 against a pale blue background.

Speaker 1 The glaze was fairly smooth,

Speaker 1 but here and there

Speaker 1 were tiny

Speaker 1 and I guessed intentional grains of grit

Speaker 1 from the clay

Speaker 1 that still stood out on the surface. surface.

Speaker 1 All in all,

Speaker 1 they were not the plates for me.

Speaker 1 But both of these styles had helped me whittle down my ideas

Speaker 1 on what I wanted.

Speaker 1 I needed something in the middle.

Speaker 1 Not so perfect and elegant

Speaker 1 that they couldn't withstand regular use,

Speaker 1 and not

Speaker 1 so homemade and rustic

Speaker 1 that their aesthetic overwhelmed the food itself.

Speaker 1 I clasped my hands behind my back

Speaker 1 and wandered around the table,

Speaker 1 peering slowly down

Speaker 1 at other options.

Speaker 1 Sunny yellow soup bowls that felt out of season,

Speaker 1 but whose shape was perfect.

Speaker 1 Wide dinner plates

Speaker 1 in robin's egg blue,

Speaker 1 whose color I adored,

Speaker 1 but whose rim was too wide,

Speaker 1 and well too small for the hearty meals I'd eat this winter.

Speaker 1 And then

Speaker 1 I found them.

Speaker 1 They were a hearty olive-green color,

Speaker 1 the finish shifting a bit lighter at the rim

Speaker 1 with such a nice heft

Speaker 1 as I lifted a mug from the table.

Speaker 1 The plates were round and minimal,

Speaker 1 with a small lip and a humble feel.

Speaker 1 The bowl was low and wide,

Speaker 1 almost a second plate,

Speaker 1 with a high rim,

Speaker 1 which was how I liked it.

Speaker 1 Perfect for pasta or soup

Speaker 1 that would cool to the right temperature as it set.

Speaker 1 The pieces were smooth,

Speaker 1 but not glossy.

Speaker 1 And I just felt that

Speaker 1 any meal I ate out of them,

Speaker 1 I would be grateful for,

Speaker 1 I would feel

Speaker 1 nourished by.

Speaker 1 And I could already imagine myself

Speaker 1 plating up a square of spice cake

Speaker 1 or ladling out

Speaker 1 my mushroom and wild rice soup

Speaker 1 and handing it over to a friend

Speaker 1 to enjoy.

Speaker 1 Suddenly I was looking forward to the months of winter yet to come

Speaker 1 as I carefully stacked some plates

Speaker 1 and began carrying them over to the register.

Speaker 1 I'd found a way,

Speaker 1 as I couldn't get out of it,

Speaker 1 to get into it.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.