the ritual of tea...

"When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.  Where is beauty to be found?  In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?"

-Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog-

as you can see, lemon lift is the flavor of the month for me...a little warmth for the cold days we have been having.  and the sunny yellow cup - a gift from my sister years ago - reminds me of sunshine and family.  i miss having tea with my mom and my sister.  a ritual we used to have when we lived closer to one another.  my friend ellen and i send tea bags back and forth to one another in the mail sometimes...a small ritual in our far away friendship.  my kids sometimes reminisce about the tea rituals we would have when they were small.  we always used the big pretty teapot that my mom gave me and beautiful teacups from my collection.  why don't we do that anymore?  we really should.  no doubt, i will create something with these tea bags that i so carefully saved.  which brings me to my final thought.  for me, tea is so much more than just tea.  it's love.  it's friendship.  it's memories that i will always have.  it's inspiration.  what about you...do you have any tea rituals?