Time for Tea

I love a good cup of tea.

I didn’t grow up drinking tea, so I’m not sure when or where this love developed, but there is something so soothing and relaxing about drinking a cup of hot tea, especially with a good book and a cookie in hand.

Lately I have been loving Darjeeling organic tea with a bit of half and half or whole milk, but most of my favorite teas are actually herbal infusions, since they don’t come from the Camellia sinensis plant.

Mint, chamomile, toasted barley, lemongrass, ginger, cinnamon, clove, rosehips…so many mouthwatering flavors. I probably have 10 different teas in my cupboard right now, and I am always resisting the temptation to buy more. Regardless of the type of plant used to brew a hot cup of loveliness, I call it tea since it all serves the same function for me: to calm, to heal, to soothe, and sometimes, to stimulate.

Drinking a cup of tea is my idea of peace, of relaxation, of warming and nurturing my soul. The heat of the liquid combined with the aroma of the leaves causes my body to relax and my mind to escape into thoughtful reflection (or some rare moments of simple nothingness). It is a time of rest and tranquility.

This Mother’s Day, I spent the afternoon with my mother, mother-in-law, and four-year-old daughter drinking tea and eating all sorts of delicious tea sandwiches and pastries at a tea shop. We sipped from fancy porcelain cups, ate from beautiful plates set on crisp, white doilies, and thoroughly enjoyed each others’ company.

This was my daughter’s first time to a real tea party (although she had hot chocolate, not tea), and as I remember that day, I think about how much I love my family and how much I want to establish traditions such as tea on Mother’s Day for my children. The tea was wonderful–summer spiced peach–but the drinking of the tea with my moms and my kiddo were priceless. There is always a bit of time for tea each day, and there is also time to spend with those I love, and perhaps, when I’m lucky, time to enjoy both together.