Orange Pekoe

As you may have noticed I am definitely not a tea snob. I enjoy a bagged tea from time to time. Today was experimental day. I have a bag that I brought home with me. A thought occurred to me that part of the reason I enjoy this one is the water. The restaurant is one block away from where I used to work. The tap water made awesome tea. Our county water is pumped out of the ground right next to the city water pumps. Basically it starts out the same and goes to two different filtration plants. Our county water does not make awesome tea. It has to be filtered to remove the chlorine stench.

There is no chance of making a short story out of this now. So I brew my cup at home. Wait for it to cool. Yeah, most of the flavor elements are there but muffled and twisted more earthy than the lightly smoked leather I get in town. I’ve tried bottled water and it does not seem to help. I may have to start filling up a five gallon bucket once a week in town. I’ve done crazier things. The weird thing is Denney’s is next door to Steak N Shake and our Denney’s tea (Lipton) tastes like fish. Gross as it sounds. Yeah, I don’t go there any more.

My back is better but not great. I took my guitar Sunday (just in case). I had no intention of playing until the Pastor told me the keys player wasn’t going to make it. So I played. It hurt. The third song was a fast and rowdy song where the beat is like galloping on a horse. If you haven’t heard Stand Up Stand For Jesus done that way – you should. I made it through but was out of breath. I am on portable oxygen for those who don’t know. The next song is a beautiful slow song (Your Beloved) where I make my electric guitar sound like an acoustic. I thought no problem. Wrong. I could not catch my breath but made it through. Fortunately, the lead singer had plenty to say before the last song. Back when I took guitar lessons, my instructor and I made up an arrangement to Holy Holy Holy. It’s not Led Zeppelin but it is a lot closer to it than my mom’s version of this song. I made it but it took all day to recover. Next time I do something stupid like that (because I will), I’m loading up on painkillers first.

I enjoyed a cup of this tea on the flight home from my brother’s wedding in New Orleans. The wedding was great, and I especially enjoyed reconnecting with family I haven’t seen in a decade. We flew back safely on Saturday afternoon before Hurricane Sandy hit. Thank goodness we didn’t stick around all weekend for Voodoo Fest or we might not have been able to get home at all! Luck was on our side.

But man, the weather was cold that last day in New Orleans! It was supposed to be sunny and 84 every day we were there. Then on Friday evening, we walked outside and the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees in 10 minutes. Yikes! I don’t think people had turned the a/c off yet either, so we pretty much froze everywhere we went.

The plane ride home was especially cold, so I asked for a cup of hot tea. They served me this Mother Parker’s Orange Pekoe. It wasn’t the best cup of tea I’ve ever had, but it was hot and tasted like tea, so it met my expectations. :) I’d rank it somewhere in between Lipton and Twining’s. Not bad stuff!

This is the bagged tea I get when I ask for a cup of complimentary hot tea on a Southwest Airlines flight. I don’t know what temperature the water is or how long the bag has been steeping by the time it gets to me. Despite this, the cup of tea is remarkably consistent flight after flight. This tastes like black tea. The tastes of “tea,” sweet, bitter, and astringency are all mild and in balance. It is hard to pull any other flavors out. It is better than having no cup of tea on the airplane.

What an interesting few days!
Sunday I had my final baby shower. We also got hit with quite the snow storm. Like to the point where I couldn’t get the car out of the driveway.
Then Monday… well the greatest and craziest thing happened. I had my little boy!
Monday went by like any other day. I hung out… went for dinner with my dad and just as I was about to go to bed that night, I started to get some weird symptoms. Come to find out my water was starting to break but I wasn’t sure if that’s what was happening for sure or not. Anyways I eventually decided to go to the hospital to get checked out and I went from 2cm to 8cm in an hr. Our little guy was born about 3hrs after I got to the hospital. It was the fastest delivery of a first baby ever! Born at 35.5weeks. Isaac William James is 4lbs 11oz. 19" long.

Only problem is his lungs aren’t quite right yet. He’s on a ventilator right now and we’re hoping and praying that’ll change soon. He’s slowly getting there but it’s taking a while. I’m hoping he can stay breathing on his own fully soon.

Alright onto the tea. This is the one they have ay the hospital and honestly it’s not too bad. I’ve loaded the cups up with milk and sugar and there has been something so comforting about it. Maybe it’s cause it’s the only tea I have on hand but it’s been great to have. I’m so thankful for it today and yesterday. I’m slowly getting anxious for loose leaf again but honestly it doesn’t matter. Thinking about tea is just my distraction for worrying. I know the little guy should be fine but I’m really having my moments. And it’s hard not getting to hold him. I’ve only held him once and it wasn’t long enough. And I was in such shock from giving birth that it feels like a dream instead of reality. Hoping today I’ll hold him again.

Wow I’m really using this tasting note to voice all my thoughts and fears. .. haven’t really voiced all this yet. It’s kinda nice to get it out.