Holiday Cheer

Although the weather was mild today, the calendar and Christmas songs on the radio tell me that we're getting ready to head into winter in earnest, halfway through December. It's the time of year when a hot cuppa is especially welcome, and as I drove to work, I thought about tea. This is not particularly a surprise considering I do have a (somewhat neglected) tea blog, and I drink a high volume of the stuff.

This morning, I was thinking about the properties of tea. It is a beverage that we drink for medicinal purposes, both for the body and soul. My grandmother to this day does not enjoy hot tea, because her mother made her drink it as a child. Tea infuses our memories with richness, even with memories of illness. With my grandmother, I think of sweet tea sipped out of Dixie cups on her porch, sharing a chaise lounge with a friend. I remember my first tea party, one New Year's Eve, surrounded by dolls and out of a doll-sized china tea set. That was before I drank hot tea, so my beverage was cold.

Later it makes me think of snowy days and pots of Constant Comment, curled up in a wing chair with a book while my feet dried and warmed.

Tea warms us and heals us. How many women (and men, perhaps) have sat down in a kitchen with a friend, giving a sympathetic ear and a cup of tea? Coffee holds its own as a conversational beverage, but there is something especially soothing about tea.

And then on top of all that, it just tastes so darn good!

Have a cuppa and enjoy the holidays. Take a break from the rush to really savor that Assam.