LIVING: TEA TIME

Tea is a big part of my day. It began many moons ago while I was still in college. My then boyfriend (now husband) was an avid tea drinker. I remembered my mom went through a faze where she drank tea religiously, but I didn't catch on at the time. So, in an attempt to further connect with my college sweetheart, I too began drinking hot tea. It began with deep dislike, heating up water in the microwave - always too hot or too cold. The tea tasted like flavored hot water. Not good.

Then I tried vanilla tea and I fell into a healthy like. That's all I remember of my first moments with this lovely beverage. When I started my first full-time job, I began drinking tea instead of coffee in the mornings and through the slow hours. I became hooked. Chai, hibiscus, chocolate, peppermint, blueberry, Earl Grey, and lemon all had their unique flavors and were picked based on my moods. I now despise the microwave and refuse to use it unless I'm reheating my tea. I learned that green teas and herbal teas can become bitter with boiling water poured over it, so it's best to pull the kettle off right before the welcome whistle. I rarely take anything with my tea, unless it's a black tea like English Breakfast. Or a little whiskey for a hot toddy late at night. Yes, tea appeals to the Anglophile in me; however, for us Southerners, tea is also home and invites community. So I may not sugar mine up on a daily basis, but this is how I connect with my kin and how I connect with my dreams of overseas. Tea reconciles my two worlds and simply makes me take moments of my day slower, more intentionally.