Eccentric Tea Woman

Once upon a time, or so the Mystics claim . . . . There was a woman who was quite mad. She wasn't born that way, or perhaps she was and didn't know it. In any case, she was quite, quite mad. It all started when she was a little girl. Her name was (and still is) Livonia Frances Waverly Higginbotham, or as everyone called her - Frog. Frog lived in a lovely little manor nearby a lake, and her parents were free thinking artists. They loved to read to their three children (Frog, the youngest; Charles, the middle child; Delilah, the oldest) and engage them in things that allowed them to embrace the world. Delilah wanted to become a scientist; Charles wanted to be a painter like his father; Frog . . . well, she wanted to stare at clouds. Of course, her parents encouraged her for awhile, only to later notice that that was ALL she wanted to do! She loved books, art, music, everything, yet she never wanted to do anything more than stare at clouds. One day, on a Wednesday (I believe

While attending the 2019 World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, I suddenly had a thought: to learn as much as I could about the Korean Tea Culture. Now, seeing as how I am a lover of world cultures, this  thought did not surprise me too much. However, I will freely admit that I knew next to nothing about Korean Tea Culture, except for what I learned through the World Tea Academy. Thankfully, I have several books on that subject! In starting my self education of all things Korean Tea, I recently tried the Blended Green Wedding Tea from Osulloc - Tea From Jeju since 1979 and WOW. I never knew I could actually taste a wedding in April. As soon as I opened the bag, I felt absolutely feminine. A woman, dressed in special clothing, ready to join her life with the man she loves. The scent of the blended green tea had me swooning and I was more than ready to brew it. First Slurp: The first taste of this tea was simply - delicate, lacy, feminine, flowery, grassy, and honeysuckle sweet.

  (samples from Ichigo Trading and Travel Tea Company - World Tea Expo 2019) Lu Tong (790-835) was a Tang Dynasty Chinese poet as well as a scholar of the Tea Culture. Here is one of his more familiar poems - The Seven Bowls of Tea: LU TONG'S SEVEN BOWLS OF TEA 七碗诗 卢仝（唐. 790~835) The first bowl moistens my lips and throat; 一碗喉吻潤， The second bowl breaks my loneliness; 二碗破孤悶， The third bowl searches my barren entrails but to find 三碗搜枯腸， Therein some five thousand scrolls; 惟有文字五千卷， The fourth bowl raises a slight perspiration 四碗發輕汗， And all life's inequities pass out through my pores; 平生不平事盡向毛孔散， The fifth bowl purifies my flesh and bones; 五碗肌骨清， The sixth bowl calls me to the immortals. 六碗通仙靈， The seventh bowl could not be drunk, 七碗吃不得也， only the breath of the cool wind raises in my sleeves. 唯覺兩腋習習清風生。 Where is Penglai Island, Yuchuanzi wishes to ride on this sweet breeze and go back. 蓬萊山﹐在何處，玉川子乘此清風欲歸去。 (translation b

Once upon a time, or so the Mystics claim . . . . When her feet touched the porch, the cicadas fell silent.  Violet lowered her head; it had been like this ever since her daddy...died. Such a song of the South. She walked off the porch and into the front lawn that faced the cemetery across the street. Why won’t they come, she asked herself for the third time that day. Why won’t they come back? Violet thought about her mother, draped across the bed upstairs, with her bottle of gin sitting next to her. Always willing to help her when the darkness came. Always willing to be a friend. The cicadas began to sing again. Violet stared at the cemetery and waited. Her daddy didn’t die, she thought. At least, not by me. She took a step closer, followed by another, and another, then stopped again. The sun began its descent into the ground. Violet narrowed her eyes, in hopes that she wouldn't miss anything.  "Violet!" screamed her mother from the house. "Violet!" Viol