Hot Tea Month

January is Hot Tea Month.  It is not very wdell advertised.  If I were Twinings or Bigelow or Lipton, I would have that plastered on all my ads and in all my commercials.  But then....they have not consulted me on their ad campaigns. I do not imagine any of those companies need my input.  Come to think of it, when was the last time I saw a commercial on television for hot tea?  It is the dead of winter and a good cup of tea takes the chill off a winter evening.  It has to be better for you than hot chocolate.  There is no sugar in tea except the heaping teaspoons the drinker adds and in my house Equal is the king. 

Regardless, this is Hot Tea Month and I for one intend to give honor.  As I work on this post I am sipping my favorite:  Twinings English Breakfast with Equal and a bit of skim milk.  It provides inspiration.

There are several sites devoted to the history of tea. A History of Tea Timeline and History of Tea are good places to start for the novice's guide to tea.  Kinds of Tea is a good source for tea varieties; but, there is another way readers can get this information wrapped in fun.  Laura Childs has a wonderful series of books called "The Tea Shop Mysteries."  She disguises the tea education by working the names of various blends into the titles such as Shades of Earl Grey and Death by Darjeeling, by including wonderful "doable" recipes in each book, and by creating the majordomo of tea blends, Drayton Conneley.  His regal bearing and vast knowledge leads the reading willingly into the world of tea.  Having little to do with the mystery aspect of the series, this character is the heart of the tea shop.

Admittedly, I take the easy way for a cup of tea.  I usually pop a K-cup into my Keurig or steep a bag in my cup of hot water but Drayton makes me wish I could wander into Theodosia's tea shop for the "real" thing.  I will settle instead for waiting for the latest installment in the series Scones and Bones which is due out in March and for my English Breakfast Tea.

Hail to the Redskins

I have been a fan (truly a fanatic fan) since 1950 when I was born.  Well let's be honest.  I probably was not a fan until I was old enough to sit up in the rocking chair with my grandfather Pappy, so make that 1951.  I will never say that we are a pitiful team; however, there have been some sorrowful years.  But, oh, have there been some glory years.  There have been Super Bowls and Pro-Bowls.  We have had the Hogs and the Fun Bunch but none more wonderful than The Over the Hill Gang.

No one has to remind me that they were old retreads hanging on my their last shoe laces, but they brought something almost better than wins.  They brought hope.  Hope is something we are sorely lacking now.  Oh I HOPE we will beat the Giants today.  That kind of hope ranks right up there with "I hope I will win the lottery" and "I hope I will lose weight this year."  The hope we need is that of a wobbly Billy Kilmer pass, an "I Like Billy/I Like Sonny" tussle, a Dancing Bear lumbering down the field and that is the hope we lack.  The Redskins need some characters  Oh they need some character too, but that is another post.  What they need is the underdog that inspires enthusiasm not pity.  We need an owner who is not afraid to spend money on players his coaches want.

I worked once with a guy who loved to bet on games, not just football but any sporting event.  I think in his spare time he was a bookie/numbers runner but I am not sure.  He told me I would never win money as long as I bet with my heart not my head.  Mr. Snyder you need to follow that advice.  I am not insinuating that Dan Snyder is betting on games.  I have no doubt he wants a winner as much as I do (at least I hope so).  What I mean is that Mr. Snyder you are a fan.  You buy and sign with your heart not your head.  Leave the figuring to the experts and you worry about the figures.  I do not know if Bruce Allen is as smart as his father, but the bloodlines are there so give him a chance.  Enjoy your owner's box.  Count your money.  Sign the checks.  Let the experts do their things.

Oh, and Mr. Snyder one more thing.  Nobody likes a tattletale.  Talk to your players.  Ask about their families, their charities, their interests.  Do not listen to tales from the locker room.  That is beneath your dignity.  If you have a question or a concern, take a page from the military play book:  Follow the chain of command.  It goes both ways.

I hope for a good 2011 season.  I hope we win the Super Bowl next year.  I hope I win the lottery.  I will lose weight.

Happy New Year!

In the first entry from her book Simple Abundance Sarah Ban Breathnach begins with a quote from Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.  "There are years that ask questions and years that answer."  This quote presents the opportunity to move beyond setting resolutions and to move closer to an analysis of the year gone by in order to use that data to create a road map for the new year.

Some years seem to ask more questions than they answer; they leave us with more opportunity to look for answers in the new year.  It is not easy to deal with the questions.  Questions are often associated with trials and disasters.  Certainly 2005 presented more questions than answers during the hurricane season when Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.  It may be that those questions still have not been answered.  Years in which we lose love ones pose questions that may baffle more than clarify.  As we enter 2011 a new decade in the 21st century hopefully answers will come in volumes and questions will come with new directions and instructions included.

Part of my day will be used to examine 2010.  I am looking for the progress that I have made using the questions from the past. But part of my day will be used to examine the BCS Bowl progress.  Football is an important part of the day.

I am tucked up in my easy chair with a cup of hot coffee, a book, and the remote.  Ring in the New Year:  Go Gators and Roll Tide.  Happy New Year dear friends.