Letter 83

March 11, 2022

On tea

There is an old Tumblr post I think about a lot that says “sometimes making tea is less about drinking it and more ab it keeping you company.” Every morning, I make a cup of tea—sometimes hot black tea, sometimes matcha, sometimes an iced chai—and it keeps me company whenever I need it. In the morning to start my day, in the afternoon when I need a boost, at night while I get ready for bed. It is a constant friend in my life and I’m grateful for it.

Jillian

Leila Chatti has this really wonderful poem titled “Tea,” that has the line “in my hands I hold / a warmth I make.” I think this really gets at the core of my relationship to tea—I drink it in the middle of the day when I need something comforting, drink it with breakfast when I am with my family, drink it when I am feeling any kind of under the weather and can’t handle coffee. I’m trying to get the energy to make a second cup, right now—I need to be warm!

Summer

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Jillian