Today I was invited into a new friend’s home for a cup of tea. We sat on cushions on the floor and, surrounded by Chinese flute music, he steeped tea the old-fashioned way. I always wondered how those tiny Japanese pots were used. He poured fresh boiling water into the little pot, swooshed it around in raw tea leaves and then poured the infusion into our miniature cups. We spent two hours sipping tea and talking about beautiful parts of the world, natural movement of energy in the body through martial arts, and his plans for the future. He said that his favorite thing was to sit quietly with friends sharing tea and talk.
He then showed me his apothecary of herbs from organic gardens in China and India and wild mushrooms that he collected from the mountains after a drenching rain. He is passionate about his new calling as an herbalist and all that he has learned about natural indigenous remedies.
In this world where there is such sorrow and strife, it is nice to slow down and share a cup of tea with a new friend.
As long as it’s decaf! (Or, morning)! 🙂