I ran out of coffee. It happens. So I rummage in the cupboard and bring out a small bag of peach tea. The good kind with bits of fruit and stuff inside. I got it in June when my daughter took me to tea for my 62nd birthday. (The Grand Ave Tea Room in Escondido- highly recommended) I bring out a pot and start the water. As my tea steeps in its pot, my mind drifts to another time and place...I can remember so well being a little girl in La Habra Ca., waking up before the sun came up and going down stairs to find my father. He was always an early riser. He would be sitting in the in the quiet dark with only a single light on from the stove and before him was a blue enamel teapot, slightly chipped and his teacup. He drank his tea with cream and sugar. It reminded me of how an English gentleman would drink his tea. I would sit beside him on the bar stool and although I don't remember any of those conversations, I remember feeling loved and safe and cared for. He was a hardworking southern gentleman with the softest brown eyes. I will spend my life missing him.
My mother took me to my first formal tea. She insisted we wear a dress and hat. It was a lovely affair in a tea house in Riverside. I still have the book she bought me that day. A recipe book and instructions on how to host a tea. She loved going to tea and introduced her daughters and granddaughters to this Victorian tradition. Both of my parents are gone now, As I hold this cup of peach tea the memories are as rich and sweet as the peach aroma surrounding me.
Tea is comforting. It helps when your sick. Mint tea or ginger tea is wonderful for stomach upset. Tea is part of the medically prescribed BRAT diet ( Banana,rice, applesauce, tea and or toast). Tea helps you when your sad. It softens the mood and lends to introspection. Tea helps you celebrate lifes small unspoken moments too. Tea with a friend, mom or a sister becomes a sacred space. Tea with your husband becomes a romantic opportunity to share and bond. Tea with your children, a time to hear their stories and to receive your love and acceptance.
The very act of brewing and serving tea is as old as time. Its done in all cultures throughout the ages. One of my favorite experiences involved mint tea at the Marrakesh Restaurant in Irvine, Ca. While sitting on cushions, after having our hands washed with rose water, we were served hot sweet mint tea in glass cups poured from a Turkish teapot from a foot above the cups in grand fashion. I could not get enough of that tea. Its done at Buckingham palace (I'm only guessing now) with cakes and sandwiches and all the pomp of royalty. I'm guessing its grand.
I've had green tea in Japanese tea cups that tasted slightly of popcorn. Spiced tea, fruit tea and flower tea. I've seen teabags that bloom into flowers in your cup, smelling of sweet jasmine. I had a tea once that was especially made for me by kahuna in Maui for a healthy pregnancy . I drank it every day until my 2nd daughter was born. Teas were and are medicine. At one time in our history, one of our only medicines. Arnica tea was used by homeopathic physicians in the civil war to treat shock and inflammation. Honey and lemon tea has long been used to quiet a cough ( plus or minus a bit of whiskey). Chamomile tea is used for sleep as well as for stress relief. It is said that a stick of cinnamon in the tea acts as a love spell with the right intentions j/s.
I have a few teapots. I don't really collect them...or maybe I do...anyway. I have a few ( more than 3 but less than 5 so its not several) because at one time I gathered them from thrift stores to host a tea for some work associates. (The one I'm using this morning is cream with gold leaves and on the bottom says ARTHUR WOOD Made in England. It looks vintage and I image it has a lovely history.) Back then, I was a regional nurse in a company with several nursing homes and memory care units. One holiday I gathered the directors of nursing and memory care directors for a holiday meeting and inservice. I served a tea for lunch. I taught them how to make rose sugar from rose petals for their next tea. We shared, we laughed, we bonded. It was a fun time and everyone walked away with a tea cup to remind them to
"take time for tea". Women often need reminding about self care. Nurses and mothers are especially in need of that reminder. You cant drink from an "empty tea cup". Care for yourself so you will be strong an able to care for others. Take time to do nothing. Take time to watch the sunrise/sunset, listen to the birds and feel the morning sun. You don't have to be productive all of the time. Take time to create, eat good food and spend time with yourself.
Eat the cake. Get the dog. Make the tea.
My tea is cold now. Perfect for iced tea a little later.
much love.
K
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