Good grief, when did that happen? I remember when I was little, that I drank tea to please my maternal Grandmother who wanted to instruct me on proper tea party etiquette (just in case I happen to meet up with the Queen of England in the suburbs of Los Angeles). And, because we were an Air Force family, I have very vague wispy ghosts of memories of being served tea in a formal Japanese tea ceremony by my Japanese nanny. Since I was 18 months old when we returned home to the States, all of my memories of that time are very wispy indeed. I also remember a bamboo kind of Morticia Adams chair that I loved to curl up in but mostly all of that time are just ghosts of memories, not very strong memories at all.
I remember in college taking the time to re-learn the Japanese ceremony then practicing on my college friends. This was late 60's, early 70's and we were very much "into" experiencing new cultures. For me to go with the Japanese thing was a bit of a cheat since it wasn't actually new in that sense. Not to me.
So, last night my brain just wasn't ready for sleep even though the rest of me was tired and ready for bed. Normally, I get mellow with a cup of coffee. Coffee perks most folks up but for me, it has a calming effect. But, last night, my tummy was being a bit temperamental and sent up the message, "No more coffee!" The tummy had also had enough hot chocolate (my usual Plan B when coffee is not acceptable).
I needed something.
Then, I remembered the bag of tea samples I was given last month by the local food bank. I go there once a month and beg for the scraps that people donate by cleaning out the junk in their cupboards. When your only income is Disability and you can't pay bills or buy food, other peoples' scraps become your lifeline.
The man who was my volunteer helping me go through the place was very excited about what appeared to be a huge bag filled with individual serving samples of coffee. Coffee is my mainstay and it is a rare treasure that almost never shows up at the food bank. If I ever have money again, I'm donating a lot of food to this food bank and for sure, I'm donating a helluva lot of coffee.
So, I got home and I discover that it's mostly all samples of tea and I'm no longer a tea drinker. I don't drink tea. At all. But, being destitute (poor beyond poor), I never throw anything out.
And last night, when I needed a hot cup of something and coffee was not the answer, I decided to try a bit of Earl Grey tea and I liked it! That was a huge surprise.
I learned something new about myself. And I've got dozens of bags of Earl Grey and English Breakfast Tea to go.
The only thing I lack is a rocking chair on the front porch.
'So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?' asked the father. The son answered: 'I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.' The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Refresh their perspective and appreciation. 'Life is too short and friends are too few.'
--By: One of a Kind - The Cowboy Kind
