Write Team: Mug collection brings a story with every sip

Sometimes it’s best to just come out and admit it so OK, here goes: My name is Jonathan and I collect coffee mugs. There I said it. Boy does that feel good to have off my shoulders. Very cathartic.

Not entirely sure when I started my hobby, but it has at least been longer than I’ve had kids. My hobby and subsequent collection of mugs has even garnered me one entire cabinet in the kitchen for my little treasures. A browse through the shelves of my coffee mugdom will reveal a bit of those things that trip my trigger, and to be honest, have helped get me through another year and more specifically, a hot summer.

Thank goodness, the skies have recently given us showers of blessings. All we could hear about early in the summer was the drought that was causing our lawns to look like a straw patch and increase the fear of a fire. Thankfully, I’m not a fast runner, so the chance of igniting my lawn from my speed was minimal, but not completely out of the question.

But that’s where my coffee mugs come into play. The inventory of my mugs spans a world of memories and brings each tasty sip one step closer to better times. Better times in this case not being a hot and dry summer.

For instance, this morning I drank the brown elixir of life in a mug from The Blackbird Inn, a great little bed and breakfast I stayed at in Napa, California a couple of years ago. I usually try to hit wine country in February and while we may see some rain, the temperatures are usually north of 60 degrees.

The day before I had coffee in a mug from the Maui Ocean Center, billed as one of Hawaii’s top-rated visitor destinations. You have probably seen the Center on TV – it has a long, glass tunnel you can walk through where fish of every type, including sharks, swim just inches from your head.

The week before I had my coffee in a mug from Marshall Field’s. Ah. Just let that sit there a minute. They can change the name all they want but there was truly no other shopping experience in the world like visiting the State Street location of Marshall Field’s. Even now, I’m jonesing for a box of Frango mints.

One of my favorite mugs is the one from Full Sail University, my youngest daughter’s alma mater. Full Sail not only gave my daughter a wonderful skill set to excel in her chosen profession, it also gave her the skills to excel in life. It broadened her independence and sharpened her street savvy.

Not all my mugs are that exotic. For instance, I have a mug from White Castle, the antithesis of exotic. I also have a mug from Ozark Airlines, gone now since 1986. Nicknamed “Krazo Airlines” (simply Ozark spelled backwards), when it merged with TWA, it was well known as one of the best airlines in the country. Keeping with the airline motif, I also have a Southwest mug, I got one year from then Southwest president, Herb Kelleher.

So a quick shout-out and thank-you to the Jonathan Freeburg Coffee Mug cabinet. While delivering some great memories of the past, you have also gotten me through this unbelievable horrible winter. Bottoms up.

Jonathan Freeburg is an Ottawa transplant for the past two decades-plus and a regular contributor to 1430 WCMY Radio. He can be reached at newsroom@shawmedia.com.