Tea Please

I love to wake up to birds chirping away in this tree just outside my bedroom window. The window is always left open, even in winter, to let the fresh breeze in. I always put my slippers on first thing, the hardwood floor can be a bit chilly in the morning. Second thing, I go straight to the kitchen and put a pot of coffee on. It's good for the mornings, nice and strong to wake me up, to get me going. My father is a huge coffee drinker. I was doomed to be one also.

Usually I go on my day just fine. But then you have days where the coffee wears off and I find myself feeling like I have to refuel over and over. My heart is pounding behind my chest and the rhythm is off beat just enough to drive you crazy. I feel like I can't stay still and there are ants running around inside my head. Yes, I am having a coffee overload.

It's the long days that I get home from a stressful work week, or a good friend comes over for a visit, or a Sunday afternoon treat; that is when I feel much more satisfied. Simply because I put that pot of coffee on hold and put the kettle on instead. Tea is much more friendlier. It's perfect for comforting a soul, sharing with a friend, lasting hours without negative affects and curling up on the couch to read a bit. I finally have an excuse to use those cute china tea cups, but I still don't use them. Most importantly, tea and I go way back. My mother is a huge tea drinker. Again, I was doomed to be one also.

Most people drink tea and have their reasons. But before I got married and moved 25,000 miles away, my mother and I use to drink it together. Always at the end of the day, when her and I were the only ones home. We would watch movies and drink tea, talk and drink tea, cry and drink tea, sometimes fight and drink tea. Tea is more of a comfort thing. It's when I'm missing home, missing her, that I drink it most often. It kind of closes in all those miles that separate us and for just that moment while I'm sipping my tea, I can pretend I am back home while enjoying my mother's company once more.

Red Rose. A bit of nonfat milk. A little sugar. Sip. Satisfied.

xoxo