Coming Clean

She's two now. It's humbling. Any parents out there will know exactly what I am talking about. We've been busy enjoying our time together. We're also getting ready for a move at the end of this month. Most of my tea is boxed up and ready to go. Two large boxes now house most of my tea (not nearly as large as Hobbes', but maybe someday) and my box of samples is getting a lot of attention right now. It's strange to know that in a couple short weeks, this place that has been my home for the past year and a half will be locked for the last time until some other tenant decides they like large porches as much as I do.

There have been several humbling musings lately. The move, the conversations over warm tea cups, and the discussions that put dinner preparations on standstill. Through lots of laughter and plenty of tears, I'm finding myself at a much better place than I was a year ago. I found myself hanging onto a lot of things that until earlier this year, I wasn't ready to let go of.

Coming clean about everything in your life to a loved one is a very difficult thing to do when it hasn't been my way of life for so many years. Finding myself in a relationship with someone who wants to know everything about me without judging me is an absolute delight, no matter how hard it is to let go of the reins that hold the walls up.

Best advice: let go.

The kettle is still hot. I think this tea still has another four or five rounds of life in it. Thanks Brett for the Alishan High Mountain Tea (read more about it here). It's carrying me through tonight.

...and the train barrels onward.

It's amazing how quickly life starts to catch up with us when we spend our time rediscovering the world through the eyes of a child. I hear from old friends time and again whether it be Alex, Greg, Scott, or a whole run of other people I used to talk to in the world of tea. Yet I find myself time and again running out of spare time to just sit down and write. So I carry on, enjoying a cup whenever I can. Most of my sipping cups find themselves filled with Apple Juice so Grace can join in for a session every now and again.At one point, it becomes less about what's in the cup and more about who is handling the cup.

Yesterday I took her to her first baseball game. At one point, I looked in front of me and saw a camera man, so I placed her in the aisle. Next thing I know her face is plastered all over the big screen on the scoreboard and I can hear people all through the ballpark going "Awwww!"

After the game, the fireworks caught her completely off guard. She buried herself in my chest and said "Daddy, I don't like those!" Eventually she calmed down and said "Is that one red?" The cautious optimism and curiosity of a young mind taking hold of the fact that there really is a lot of world to see and explore is an amazing thing to be part of.

It will likely be some time before I seriously sit down and blog here regularly again, but I will definitely post pictures here and on my other blog (http://lifeinaphotograph.blogspot.com) if anyone would like to keep up with it.

In the meantime, my heart and best wishes go out to all of you!

jamus~

Late Nights

Almost everyone I've spoken to in the tea community generally drinks tea in the morning or throughout the day. They all tell me that the alertness they feel from being tea-drunk keeps them up all night. I'm not sure if it's because cans of Pepsi and Coca Cola mixed with package after package of sweets loaded with sugar and partially hydrogenated soybean oil and whatever else we feed our children in this country has made me immune (or at least moderately desensitized) to everyone's favourite alkaloid. To that, I have no answer. The truth is I've never lost sleep because of tea; only a wandering mind keeps me awake...well, that and the occasionally fussy baby.

It's also been a very long while since I've found time to sit in front of the keyboard and let ideas flow freely. I haven't been buying much tea at all. I haven't been drinking much either. Most of my sessions have been shared with other people and the tea merely compliments the conversation, which, in my opinion is not a bad thing at all. Unfortunately, with the state of the economy, I'm faced with a potential tightening in finances. I'm not even allowed to discuss what is happening at work without fear of losing my job, but big changes are coming there. I'll know more soon, but the plan for the year is to simplify my life as much as possible and be in a new house by the year's end. If I can pull through this, then perhaps I'll be investing in some of the 09 pu-erh, but at this moment I'm on hold.

I have been dabbling a bit in oolong teas, which I must confess I know very little about. I'm presently seasoning a pot for oolongs, and it's starting to develop both a beautiful patina and a delightful aroma. I find myself prepping the pot before I even add the leaf and spacing out while I take a deep whiff of the pot. Thick buttery soup, tastes and aromas reminding me of vegetables, cinnamon, and even sweet fruity tastes are taking turns pummeling my tastebuds. This is quite a different experience from what I'm generally accustomed to. It almost makes me think that oolong would be the most likely candidate for a 'gateway tea.'

The things I have figured out thus far is that many decent oolongs don't cost a terrible amount of money. Don't get me wrong, some of this stuff is just downright expensive and likely to be damn delicious, but you don't have to fork over your child's college savings to afford a decent cup. Also, for brewing, I already caught myself dumping the first infusion. I'll likely post a memo somewhere near the sink basin that reads:

"Hey stupid, you're supposed to drink the first one!"

I've also been told that any good oolong can handle water that is fresh off the boil. If it chars the leaf, it means the tea was likely made from lesser leaves....not necessarily bad, but unlikely to be anything spectacular (although I'm not sure to what extent this statement holds water because I've been told that is not the case with dancongs).

So, while I find myself learning the differences between tieguanyins and baozhang (which is one of my favourites thus far), wuyi and shui xian, please bear with me; for this is going to take some time to sort out. Fortunately, Bryan from Teajournaling and I have been drinking together again and have had plenty to share between the two of us.

Here's what I'm presently digesting:

Norbu Tea: Diamond Grade Tie Guan Yin - Fall 2008 Harvest, 2007 Fall TGY (to play with roasting)
Floating Leaves Tea: Taiwan Wuyi, House Oolong, and Baozhong "Farmer's Choice"
Jing Tea Shop: Wuyi Grade 3 Shui Xian Oolong, Feng Huang Milan Dancong

I'd be more than welcome to any suggestions to help me get a better understanding. ^__^

An Excellent Day in Tea

I recently received a very exciting package from Hobbes and inside found a couple of gems that got some attention this afternoon.

From Hobbes; a 2004 Baijiguan Yancha and a 2006 Dian Hong!
From Teddy; something a bit older...

Video now; reviews later. Thanks Hobbes, your package was most generous!

Springtime is finally here

The other morning I woke up and it was nearly 60 degrees Farenheit (somewhat less for those of you who live in the world of Celsius...which is probably most of you) so I decided to bust out the rake and clean up my front lawn for the first time all year. Grace caught wind of what I was doing and said "I wanna help you rake daddy." This was her noble effort, and even though the object that stood before her absolutely dwarfed her, she didn't give up until she had pulled it across the leafy grass the very same way she had seen me do it. The fact that she kept on with it made me wonder just what she was trying to say. Was it just a means of replicating what she saw her father doing? Was it a means of saying "Hey, I can pull my weight too!" Was it just a game? Expression? Art even? Is it really that different from the little shapes she likes to draw on everything when she gets a crayon, pen, or pencil into her hands?

How does this differ from the way we carry ourselves through our days? Do we have that kind of dedication to stand up in the face of the things that seem to dwarf us? Do we keep on until we've been able to replicate the results of the people we know have come before us and carried a task to the point where it becomes an accomplishment? It's almost like children are pre-programmed with the right wiring of morality without ever having to work for it. Little buddhas following the eight-fold path. Right views, purpose, speech, conduct, vocation, effort, awareness, and concentration. They ask for love and basic needs. Remarkable little people they are.

Makes me wonder where and how we sometimes fall off that almost righteous path. Where our innocence fades, and where we first learn to cut corners. To not give our best in a world that is smaller than ever. It doesn't make sense but I'm guilty of it as well. It all becomes part of a better balanced life. I often think that is why my mother seems to be such a happy woman. She carries herself as a very content woman, and I think a great deal of it is because she does everything to the best of her ability. She doesn't cut corners, she doesn't do work with an ego. She truly has it figured out.

I recently started rock climbing again. It had been over seven years since I last climbed. I went once last week and the feeling overwhelmed me again. The feeling of the holds beneath my fingertips. Launching off in a dyno and grabbing onto a hold that would otherwise be just out of reach. All the simple applications and no room for cutting corners. It wasn't but two days later I went out to purchase an entire set of climbing gear and last night I found myself bouldering for almost four hours straight. I found a path I was interested in tackling. Right foot on the stone beneath me, left foot, both arms on the starting stones. Left hand reaching up and grabbing onto the next hold, the next piece of the problem. At first, I fell numerous times just getting to that point. Then I figured out how to reach both hands to the same stone, and suddenly my left hand was free to reach the next hold. Right foot came over to shuffle and my left foot was already well on it's way to the next foot hold. Before long, I found myself making these moves without thinking. It was totally automatic and suddenly my slips and falls all felt very natural and almost vital for me to be able to see this out to it's conclusion. There were several other stones I could have used, but none of them were part of the path that lay before me. All of the muscles in my arms and hands are feeling it today; very alive and stretched in ways they're not used to.

I suppose this collection of words and ideas doesn't really tie into tea so much aside from the fact that my hands are still warm from the gaiwan that steeped the tea I am presently drinking, but it's more than that. It's the fact that I slowed down part of my day to enjoy this. I warmed the kettle, prepped the wares, cut the leaf from the bing, and every step was done very deliberately and carefully. When I am done, I will be sure to empty the kettle and clean out the wares because it's all part of the process. It brings this thing to completion and when I am ready to enjoy it again, I know it will be ready to go. I won't be cleaning up messes from a prior instance.

Perhaps it's clear to say that there is a recurring motif in all of this. It's about slowing down to enjoy simple things as well as standing up to the obstacles that seem to tower over us. The growth of a child, learning how to overcome my physical limitations on a wall. Even small things like making music or even enjoying a properly brewed pot of tea. They all carry with them the idea that love and respect must be present for anybody to benefit from them.

I can't think of a better thought to carry with me into Spring.

Reading and Marking

Since my daughter likes to make funny faces and play ALL THE TIME, I've been on a bit of a vacation from writing lately. My leftover effort and energy has all gone into reading more than anything else. I constantly find myself kicked back on the couch with my nose in a book and a pot of tea on the table next to me. It's an excellent deviation to just drink it without a pen in hand.

I was actually having a conversation with my friend Amy yesterday about books and whether or not one should mark in the books that they read. I told her that I can't bear to mark inside of a book, and she said "remind me to never let you borrow any of my books then" because she marks them up and down. She brought up a few points about taking notes to see how your feelings and opinions have changed whenever you get a chance to re-read them. It's a fantastic point, but I still don't think I'll find myself marking up my books anytime soon. It does give me an interest in revisiting some of my old tasting notes to see if my tastes have changed in the past couple of years.

On a side note: Tonight as I was putting her to bed, Grace's sleep playlist was going and the Christopher O'Riley version of Fake Plastic Trees came on to the player. Grace started listening intently but couldn't hear the words. She finally said "Can't hear that music daddy" with a look of exasperation on her face. I replied with "Well baby, that's because they aren't singing and there aren't words." She stared at me for a moment and said with a firmness only a child could muster up, "Sing it daddy."

At that moment I did the only sensible thing a father is to do when a nearly sleeping child makes a request; I sang every word of the song to her and by the time it was finished she was sawing logs in my arms.

Moments like that make all of this madness well worth it.

I'll get back to blogging about tea again sometime soon; I promise.

Serenity

Spent all of today with Grace. She is finally healthy again, as you can see from the above picture. The afternoon consisted of playing Hide 'n' Seek, going shopping for groceries, making a big dinner, reading a few books with Gracie that Amy picked up at the John K. King library downtown (best library ever!), and a session with the 2005 Dehong Purple Varietal. Amy is picking up some food after she get's off of work, and we're watching Serenity this evening. A glorious evening for Browncoats everywhere! Hope everyone enjoyed/behaved themselves today.

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar!"