Woke up today and no coffee would do. My Celtic kicked in big time - there is only one drink that will satisfy this, I can hear it in my Nana's Scottish Brogue 'Aye Tea'. When the need for tea takes hold there is only one thing to do...brew!
Growing up and living with Nana & Popa for stretches of time, I became very comfortable with this drink of fortitude. Tea sometimes gets a bad wrap as a poor relative in a java junkie world. I'm not saying for one second that there aren't mornings where I thank the powers that be for that coffee kick (Give it to me baby! HIT ME!!), often claiming to get through a work morning "If I could infuse it I would". Both bevs have their place, but where coffee is the high speed sprint, tea is the meditation, the slow and steady, the corrector of all things. Its mystique is shrouded by protocol, ceremony, and to this day when you think of a quintessential tea ad it's usually an ancient bearded elder propped up in a lush environment in proximity to a sort of spring of life...
As proud Scots we'd love to claim we put tea on the map (we can be shameless!). But we must give credit where credit is due; only the Chinese can make such a claim. They called the drink 'Kia' which morphed into 'Cha' and later 'Te'. Legend has its discovery quite by accident. An emperor was enjoying boiled water in a garden and tea leaves blew into it. He tried it! He loved it! The rest, as they say my friends, is history. And speaking of history...Tea has a pretty prestigious place throughout time! As tea migrated it became available to the Britain, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The desire for Tea helped link the East and West with trade routes. It arrived on our shores in the beginning of the 18th century. Well, we all know what happens when you tax independent hearts - The Boston Tea Party! Tea lovers everywhere will tell you the War of Independence was sparked by there beloved drink! (I know it's a stretch but just let us have it, ok?)
The medicinal purposes of tea abound. And many plants in nature can be transcended to tea. I know science can back this up...to a point! HOWEVER science can only go so far, then faith kicks in - It is in that gray metaphysical area that I've always been most cozy :) I truly believe Tea is good for body, mind, and soul! Being a Scot, any crisis, joy, sick belly, birth, death or chill, could be cured with this bark colored boil. Fever calls for an embelishment of tea with a shot of whiskey(!!!) (The Cure-All of Scottish Culture)- A Hot Toddy and you will sweat that fever out, trust me. You will be back to your fields in no time.
Stuff of Legends? Placebo? Perhaps...but if I'm learning anything on this journey it's this: Sometimes things cannot be explained, but hundreds (let's make that thousands) of years of 'test studies' in caves, on ships, in the damp misty places, near the grave, across the moors, in the chill, near the fires, with the sheep, with the babies, sick in your bed, all of THIS that is the ebb and flow of a full rich life, as well as the recommendations of those that came before us is good enough for me... Tea is a good drink, it'll get you through.... Tea anyone?
