Senryu : tea

sit still a moment
good friends share the zen of tea
quiet your mind’s noise

senryu by M. Nakazato LaFreniere

Sometimes slowing down allows something special to happen.

Strawberry & Cream Pockets

Today Tammy and I met near Prep & Pastries to go geocaching.  I thought P&P was a bakery and restaurant from their name so I popped in to ask if I could photograph their pastries.  Turns out it wasn’t a bakery although they bake their own pastries for breakfast, brunch and lunch.  Kevin was kind enough to let me take photos although we didn’t have time to stop and eat.

Tammy loved tea.  Seeing the lovely jars of loose leaf teas, she ordered Relaxing Mint Herbal to go and they were fine her bringing in her travel mug to pour it in.  When I saw the Creme Brulee Black tea, I had to order it. Creme Brulee is one of my favorite desserts.

Kevin brought out an empty to-go cup and two tea presses filled with our teas. A tea press looks like a French coffee press.  He explained we needed to let it steep and then slowly push the plunger down.  As he demo’d the slow plunge, he said that it would be better because doing a quick push can break the tea leaves which can make the tea taste bitter.

Chamomile Chocolate Chip Scone

Suddenly Tammy and I were no longer in a rush, to do our thing and go.  Sitting there, taking a moment, reminded me of my friend Takako in Koriyama.  She was studying tea ceremony, had been for years.  We sat while she slowly stirred the tea, everyone quiet, contemplating.  Inside the tea press, the leaves unfurled, expanding in the hot water, as the water shaded from butterscotch into browns.

I slowly pushed the filter down.  There are moments when the past and present merge, where every moment is part of the present.  Poured my tea. You don’t get those moments when you rush.  You have to take a moment, be still, breathe.  I sipped my tea, the flavor of black tea dancing with caramel filling my mouth.

Life sped up again.  Tammy pointed out Prep & Pastry’s irreverent sign and I thought looking at the list of mimosa’s, I’ll have to come back and try one of those next time.

As we drove away to go geocaching, I sipped my tea, the taste of a quiet moment flavoring the day.

 

 

References:

Prep & Pastry
3073 North Campbell Avenue
Tucson, Arizona

Zen & Noise
RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku

Sweet
Weekly Photo Challenge
Daily Post

Font: leaf and twig by Mellow Design Lab
Note: this font was in a package of 147 fonts for $18, a lot of them are cursive/handwritten styles which I liked because I want to start doing my senryu that way but my handwriting is not that great so I love these.

Photographs by M. LaFreniere