Our May Segment on an oriental theme was for me a very special one. One of those perfect workshops that just happen from time to time. We borrowed two wonderful pieces from the ceramics collection - Musician on Horseback (7th century Tang dynasty as far as I remember) he is beautiful even with many signs of age and a loss of colour; and Chinese Teapot in travelling tea-case. These precious objects were put safely out of harm's way in a glass case so we made green tea in our own pot (a brown Betty) during the break. One of our group had been to the States and had brought back some fortune cookies so we had fun writing about our fortunes too.
I also found a few words from The Book of Tea written by a modern Japanese writer - Kazuko Okakura, in which he describes "Teaism" as a sort of religion. (Free to download on Kindle if you're interested)
A final thought - The full teapot makes no sound.
Next Segment Monday June 6th - and our theme will be Weather - another British obsession.
A poem came in from Stephen on the subject of tea....
Tea Nation
Stephen Parrott
Tea glorious tea
There is nothing quite like it
A cure for all our woes
Tea, morning, noon, and night
Warm sweet succulence
Moistening the throat
Warming the person
Stimulating the mind
Eat, drink, and be merry
At the Mad Hatter’s tea party
Tea, endless tea
Some like it sweet
But others like it bitter
But no doubt tea’s an institution
Ask - Would you like some tea?
Tea at home, tea drunk out
Oh what would we do with out
England without tea
What an unthinkable disaster
There would be riots
Outcry, uproar, protests
An Englishman or woman
Needs their tea
More tea vicar?
More tea mother?
More tea child?
And we haven't run out of steam just yet - here are some more thoughts on tea.....
The Full Teapot Makes No Sound
Sonia Greig
A full teapot makes no sound
As we gather round
Idle words need not be said
Instead
Serenity prevails.
Inane gossip of the day is gone
Verbal challenges no longer prolong
Puffed up opinions lost in thin air
In silence we prepare.
Memories of proverbs invade the mind
‘Empty vessels make the most noise’
In life we so often find
Voices that fill the empty chamber
Have really nothing to say
Roar their words, and refer
To topics of yesterday
They beat the hollow drum
The noise increases
Not one listens -
In another place
The tea is poured
And with gentle grace
We sip, noiselessly
The Full Teapot Makes No Sound
Yvette Sutton
The kettle was whistling as I heard the doorbell ring, I turned off the gas and ran up the hallway. There standing on the step was Katie, somewhat dishevelled and a face like thunder. “Bloody train,” she mumbled as she manoeuvred backpack, large black sack -probably next week’s washing and ironing project, laptop bag and bulging case through the narrow passageway. “Good to see you,” I said leaning forward for a kiss only to see the mountain of bags move slowly in front of me heading for the kitchen.
Our daughter Katie had just spent the last three years at uni and these unannounced visits had been a characteristic of her time spent there. Why, oh why, she couldn’t pick up her mobile and call to let us know she was on her way was a mystery. She did, after all spend a great deal of her time with this form of communication glued to her ear. One thing for sure was that she had a problem, either with her peer group or more importantly with her final exams.
The aforementioned bags duly ditched in a heap on the kitchen floor, I rekindled the flame under the kettle and in true British style made a brew of tea. The banana cake freshly baked for Katie’s dad, one of his favourites, was duly cut and a relieved sigh expelled from our youngest offspring. Perhaps now was not the time to find out what the problem was but patience would I know reveal all. Her silence and reason for the visit was after all the most tell-tale fact that a crisis was brewing!
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