Moja Mama


It is the first day of spring! And I am having a cup of tea. Its sweet hot rich flavor flows perfectly over the curved lip of my new cup. I may never drink tea in a straight-sided mug again. My cup has a potbelly curve and smooth glaze that makes it as wonderful to hold, warm, in my two hands as it is to drink from. I look at the dark green geometric design that borders the clusters of pale currants that were handpainted by an artist in the country that was home to my Mama and I think about her and all the tea that we shared together. We had chamomile tea when we were sick and linden tea when we could get it. We didn’t have a linden tree but I heard stories about gathering of linden blossoms from her. Mama didn’t care for peppermint but almost anything else could become tea. She added hot water to canned strawberry juice for a delicious strawberry tea. Boiling water over a couple lemon drops provided instant lemon tea. She used loose tea leaves in a small blue teapot to make a concentrate by adding boiling water and letting it steep. Then a small amount of that with fresh boiling water provided many cups of tea. Teabags would have seemed silly to her. There was always a fresh kuchen to have with tea and flowers on the table. I grow chamomile now and have a linden tree that I harvest the flowers from. I grow peppermint and lemon verbena to dry and I have her blue teapot. Sometimes I use fresh tea leaves and make a concentrate in it. Sometimes I have fresh flowers on my table. Right now I am just having a perfect cup of tea to savor memories with.