Chocolate Zen

A Snowball and Red Velvet cupcake were present but Chocolate and Russian Tea 

were the preferred substances to document Zen on...

A Day Without Tea

After experiencing the world a neighbor created as a wife, mother, and educator last evening, I meandered about for a bit. Window shopping in boutiques and getting caught up on some reading on a subway platform bench...I wondered what compelled me to her funeral...oddly enough, it was simply because I always loved the many brief and vital exchanges we shared on our street.  There were many completed cycles of life on earth this Christmas and without fail at the completion of each, there was an abundance of love. 

A Few Days After Christmas...

Christmas tea was especially fun with Brenda. She came bearing a special Assam and Ceylon, but we celebrated with a Spring Harvest Oolong and dumplings...Always nice to have friends to share an afternoon with.

Christmas Eve Morning

The night was sleepless, as though it was the night of Christmas Eve.

A bothersome text arrives at 1:21 a.m. inquiring about my schedule for the day. Rather rude I thought  and continue my work until 3. Up at 6, I light a favorite igloo candle and prepare my tea with saffron, cardamom, and honey. A clean, crisp Lipton tea bag made for Russian distribution...I anticipate a warm visit from Santa or the Sandman at a more reasonable hour tonight.

Winter Solstice

Looking forward to longer days to frolic through various Winter Wonderlands.  The first rays of December 22nd is celebrated with a rich, malty Assam and blueberry scones. 

A Celebratory Tea

Invitation answered but not received...

Politics and red tape for leasing rights...

On towers.

Anniversary Tea...

Earl Grey sweetened with honey 

shares a quiet morning

with the words of Rumi.

Invitation remains unanswered.

Move Within

Keep walking, though there's no place to get to.

Don't try to see through the distances.

That's not for human beings.  Move within,

but don't move the way fear makes you move.

                                                                                 

                                                                                              ~Rumi

En route.

Breakfast came early the morning of Game 1.

Morning Tea in Fort Greene Park

Observing the microcosm of the world Obama speaks of while sipping a light brew

of Earl Grey with the day's concoction of cardamom, saffron, and sugar smoothed

with a generous pour of milk...warms me to the fact that I actually reside in a neighborhood

where several languages are heard and a multitude of ethnicities and dog breeds

interact on a  daily basis.

Birthday Tea...

an invitation not to be missed.

In a Daydream...

I fancy the brew of an Oolong from the rocky crags of Mount Wuyi, China to be similar to an Oolong grown between this light post and acrylic flowered tree on Mira Avenue in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia.

Oppositional serves ...

to fan the flames of deceit by neglecting the promise of a warmed kettle.

The Inseparable Element of Tea

Grateful as always for season appropriate temperatures.  

Cool and comfortable we stroll down our block, Olive stops to graze.  I stood by a neighbor's tree as grass still green, grows out of the sidewalk   . . . the first leaf of Autumn fall's for my kitty Olive and I at 6:42 a.m.  I thought it might be the perfect time to warm a kettle for Mr. Chung's Ali Mountain Oolong.

It's all about the ritual of tea and the journey we embrace while we get acquainted or reminisce...