My Daily Tea

Coffee drinkers may not comprehend this, but tea is as much a ritual as a habit. It either defines or complements the moment. It’s something to be savoured, if not treasured, and if it doesn’t taste good, there’s no point to it. Even the vessel can be specific to the blend. Today, a writing Friday, I would normally use my tea tumbler; however, I bought a new flavour yesterday and it wants to be steeped in my glass pot, then sipped from a little tiny cup. It’ll take up more room on my desk, but when tea speaks, I listen.

This one is called Ginger Pear and is the Tea of the Month at David’s. White tea with ginger, pear, cinnamon, vanilla, apples, rosehips and a few other boosters—how can it go wrong? White tea is a delicate thing, though, hence its desire to be sipped from a daintier vessel than my clunky chunky tumbler. Being new to my collection, it hasn’t been assigned a character yet … but in a way, it sorta kinda has.

My first thought this morning was to start a piece called “The End”. The vision was so strong that it was like a movie playing in my head. I got all excited to hit the computer and let the magic happen … and then my mind turned me toward all the unfinished projects, listing each by name and suggesting that I at least attempt to complete one of them sometime before the Second Coming and certainly before I start yet another story.

Sigh.

Actually, I’m in a good spot with each of the unfinished stories; I could pick up any one of them and do something worthwhile. That said, my other plan for today was to have a Newsroom marathon if HBO would oblige with the last three episodes of the second season. I watched the same three episodes twice last week, so surely the final trio would be scheduled for today.

Nope. No joy. Rats.

Hey, wait a sec. Shouldn’t I be happy about having a whole day in which to write? When I remembered that, I got pumped up again—and a little confused about what to write. My stupid schoolmarm mind has judged me guilty of neglect, but I’ve decided to go ahead with “The End” because it was the first thing on tap when I was still half-dreaming and every guru Ter has read agrees that the first thought of the day is the most important one, the real one, the one that will set the tone and be the most successful if you surrender to it.

So, Ginger Pear has just been assigned to Cassandra Stannard. She’s serial novel material, so I’d better get enough GP in stock before it’s discontinued …