Daddy-Daughter Tea Picnic

These last few days the weather here in Seattle has been amazing. Today, during my son's nap time, my daughter C and I went outside for a little tea picnic under the cherry trees. We spent a glorious, barefoot hour sipping Bai Mu Dan (白牡丹) and nibbling raisins and muffins. A gentle breeze stirred the wind-chime, while occasional blizzards of white cherry petals fell from above.

Bug's eye view.

C sips her tea.

Checking on the Tea Plants.

They appear to be happy.

Apple tree is in full bloom.

Cherry blossom snow.

Happy Birthday Little C!

Today is my darling daughter's 4th Birthday! She is a sweet, sensitive and brilliant girl who fills my heart with love and pride.

She loves to brew tea with me and I think this wonderful quote perfectly illustrates why:
"What the adult does, feels, and thinks are all imitated by the child under seven years, so complete attention to the task in hand, with a care, love, and joy in the doing, actually helps in the formation of the child's physical body." - Rudolf Steiner

Blueberry Tisane

Today the Association of Tea Bloggers is presenting a new Blog Carnival. Our topic is, "Write about how you brew one type of tea." To find links to all of the participating ATB members' blogs please visit the the distinguished tea guru known as Gongfu Girl.

I chose to write about how I brew Blueberry Tisane. I don't usually drink herbal beverages or tisanes (Ha. If only I had a dollar for every time a "serious tea drinker" makes this claim!) but lately my three-year-old daughter has been requesting "Blueberry Tea."

I don't have any blueberry tea... but I do have frozen blueberries... so I came up with a new recipe.

Here's what you do. First, gather the equipment: a little mortar and pestle and ceramic teapot (my preferred teapot is Sapphire). Then take the blueberries out of the freezer and pop a few in your mouth for good measure.

The key to making it so delicious (and it really is) is to smash up the berries. I've been using around 10 berries per cup but I find that you can't use too many. The stronger the better in my opinion.

It also helps to make sure your teapot is very hot before you begin. Steep the pulverized berries for at least 10 minutes with boiling water. Placing a tea cozy over the pot while it steeps will help keep the water as hot as possible. If your infusion doesn't have a dark purple color it will probably taste too weak.

À votre santé!

On Warmth

With credit entirely due to my brilliant wife, 2010 is the year I discovered Waldorf education. The ideas, rhythms and rituals that I have recently learned from my daughter's "Waldorf Tots" preschool and from certain books on the subject have really helped me on my journey towards becoming the parent I want to be.

One of these new ideas for me has been the concept of Warmth. Waldorf teachers have stated, "warmth is an essential ingredient in transformative work." This simple quote is often included in passages about young children and their complete dependence on their caregivers to keep themselves warm. The idea is that growing up is a transformation. As a new parent I can wholly relate to that idea, but as I delve deeper, the quote reveals for me other layers of meaning. I now believe that feeling warm, safe and comfortable benefits everyone spiritually just as much as it does physically. Maybe that is why we humans have developed so many wonderful ways to keep ourselves warm and cozy. I'll bet some of these methods, such as relaxing near a crackling fire, snuggling with our loved ones, and sipping delicious hot beverages are even coded into our DNA.

Many people can relate to the euphoric feeling associated with smelling and sipping a fragrant cup of tea. Sometimes the feeling is so powerful you have to stop and sit down for a minute. When drunk with an open heart, any type of tea (or sometimes even plain hot water) can be helpful for spreading warmth throughout your body.

Happy Solstice!

(Art by Alanna)

Blanket Time

My wife and I are blessed with two small children. Our daughter is two and a half, and our son is almost three months old. We want our kids to grow up with a deep love of nature and a feeling that the world is filled with goodness and magic. We also believe that children learn though play and thrive in an environment that is closely connected to daily and yearly rhythms and rituals.

A new family ritual that has been happily received by my daughter is "Blanket Time." It started about a month ago when our close friends were visiting from California. They were sleeping in the living room of our small house and my daughter woke up early, ready to play. I had just made myself a cup of tea and decided that we should go out on the back deck to drink it so as not to wake our guests.

The air outside was crisp and the foggy ocean mist was thick and fragrant. Because it was a bit cold, we took along an orange fleece blanket to wrap around us. We cuddled together under the blanket and chatted while I sipped my tea.

My daughter and I had an unforgettably wonderful time talking about the trees and the sky and the sounds of the morning birds. We made guesses about the day's weather and even named a tall pine tree "Woody."

It quickly occurred to me that this didn't have to only be a one time event, so I came up with the catchy name "Blanket Time" and made plans for us to do it again. We have since repeated this pleasant domestic ritual almost every morning (except on those days when I had to be at work too early). Often times my wife and son now join us too.

When I later told my friend Arthur (an artist and father of two grown children) about our new family ritual he smiled and suggested that this tradition would probably be a part of our lives forever. Even when my kids are all grown up and living on their own, we can still perform our special morning tea ritual regardless of where we may be living.

Blanket Time is always evolving. My daughter now wants her own mug of tea (so I give her herbal or "watered-down juice tea" but I'll still let her taste mine too). She also likes to play with her fairy family as we sit together. But we still always start by talking about nature and saying good morning to Woody!

Fairy Family!

This post is my contribution to the September 2010 Tea Blog Carnival as presented by the Association of Tea Bloggers. Our theme for this carnival was "write about a memorable outdoor tea drinking experience." This month's carnival was hosted by myself and links to all other participating posts can be found here.

Kubota Garden in the Spring

There are many reasons why I love living in America's most diverse zipcode. One of them is Kubota Gardens, the gem of Rainier Beach.

This afternoon my buddy, his son, my little girl and I went for a beautiful afternoon walk throughout the garden. The rhododendrons are blooming right now which made for an extra colorful visit!

Here are a few shots of our beloved South Seattle garden:

The welcome rock

Pretty in pink

Little waterfall

I see a bee

Original skyscraper

Reflecting pool

Red Bridge in tree-filtered sunlight

Red hot Rhodies

My favorite tree at Kubota

The old lantern

Sweet pink Rhodies*

Beautiful white speckled Rhodies*

On a bridge with an amazing Japanese maple behind us*

*Photos by Jon G.

The laid-back person's guide to brewing a nice pot of imaginary tea

Step 1 - Fill a real teapot, a toy teapot, something that looks like a teapot, or an imaginary teapot up with imaginary water.

Step 2 - Pretend to boil the imaginary water. If you don't have a toy stove you can use a real stove or a pretend stove, but either way it's very important to only use imaginary heat!

Step 3 - Find a box of imaginary tea leaves. For best results, imaginary tea should be very fresh and super high quality. So you should pretend to buy the very best!

Looks like I'm running a little low on my imaginary tea....

...Oh wait... I actually have a whole other unopened box!

Step 4 - I generally use about one teaspoon of imaginary tea leaves per imaginary cup of pretend water. But that is just a basic "rule-of thumb" and because imaginary tea is so forgiving I have found that it often tastes the same no matter how much imaginary leaf I put in the teapot.

Step 5 - Carefully pour the imaginary tea into real or pretend cups. If you're using a real teapot you may want to hang on to the lid so it doesn't fall off.

watch how the master does it

Step 6 - Sip your imaginary tea slowly and mindfully while saying silly things like: "mmm this is delicious tea" and "may I have some more tea please."

Thanks for reading and please join us next month when the laid back person's guide will take an in depth look at "how to boil water."