Just tea, thank you.

I have been driving my mom to and from work occasionally this week. On one of these trips, I noticed a building downtown called "J. Alfred Prufrock's." Having just completed a Modern Poetry course and reading "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" I got really excited. I asked Mom what the building was, eager to try a coffee shop I had never been to. It's a Martini Bar, which I am not old enough to visit, nor would I.

Disappointment set in. It would have made sense for it to be a coffee bar, "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons." (Eliot) I would have eagerly gone with pen and paper and spent hours writing while, "In the room the women come and go, Talking of Michelangelo."

I like coffee, specifically "froo-froo" coffee as my mom's old boss so aptly named it. It has to have a flavored creamer and at least one packet of Splenda. It's just the way I roll. 

Now, my favorite beverage (aside from Diet Coke) is Earl Grey tea. There are other teas that I will drink as well. And I will drink it hot or cold, brewed inside or out. I just love it. (With a packet of Splenda is still the best.) 

And if Prufrock can measure out his life in coffee spoons, why can't I use tea spoons? 

Not only do I enjoy tea because it tastes good, it is also a form of connection for me. See, when I drink a cup of Earl Grey with a sewing project underway or a story coming forth from my fingers I feel connected. I feel connected to my dad who enjoys cold tea, and my mom who enjoys hot tea. I feel connected to those that have influenced me: Tolkien, Lewis, Austen. I am sipping tea with Hobbits, Professor Kirke, and the Bennets. 

I hope that some day there will others who will sip tea and feel connected to me, not in relation to these Greats, but as a connector to them. 

"Can I get you some tea, or perhaps something a little stronger?" [Bilbo Baggins]