Tea For Tue: Tea With Whimsy Continued

To continue from last week.  This was originally posted on Tea With Whimsy on October 10, 2013.  The post was called More Thunder, Toast and Tea

So now, where was I?  Oh yes.  I am lighting the lamps in Whimsy's front room.

Whimsy lights this room with 3 oil lamps.  In fact she doesn't have electricity in her home at all.  Why should she?  She lives simply.  She considers electricity a distraction.  She does her dishes by hand with heated water from the kettle, She has a wood cook stove.  She has a fire place in the front room, and she uses the oil lamps throughout the house.  It's just 3 rooms.  Like I said simple.

I raise the glass chimney on the first lamp and light the wick, and one corner of the room glows into existence.  I see books lining the wall, some have worn spines.  There are a few paper backs, but mostly they are old and bound in cloth and leather.  There is an arm chair here with a foot stool and a small oak table with an almanac on it and a pencil.  There is also a basket nearby with a pair of wooden knitting needles and some soft wool yarn in a light color.  It's hard to tell in this light--maybe light gray?  The wick in the lamp is smoking a little, so I adjust the wick before moving to the next lamp.

With each lamp lit, more of the room comes to life.  And as I am lighting the third lamp Whimsy comes in wheeling her cart before her.  It's one of those old tea carts, and it's filled with what promises to be a small feast.  There is a low round table in front of the fire, and we fill it with the contents of the cart before wheeling it back into the kitchen.  Then we seat ourselves as comfortable as aching joints will allow on a chilly night and warm ourselves by food and fire.  We wrap ourselves in shawls and sit on large soft cushions and talk and laugh and hold bread on toasting forks over the fire and drink tea, and maybe a little port.

A short time later, I'm laughing so hard my sides ache and my throat hurts, and the tears are literally streaming from my eyes while Whimsy tells a particularly earthy story passed down to her from a favorite Aunt.  Dark humor.  Sometimes it's good to laugh at dark things.

Another flash of light outside and still Thunder seems very distant.

Eventually the conversation winds it's way back to where it began earlier in the evening as I declare how very good it is to laugh with a dear friend.  "I really needed that".

Whimsy nods in agreement.  "Yes.  How are you holding up with all this extra activity you've taken on?"  She is referring to the fact that I am simultaneously working 3 jobs at once.

I pour myself a little more tea, still miraculously warm under its cozy.  I take a moment to answer, stopping to breath in the bouquet of the tea, an amazing blend of herbs and flowers, and to sip it appreciatively.  Contemplating my teacup in this moment I can not think of a single thing wrong with my life...and yet I'm not sleeping. 

She gets it, of course.  At least the gist of it, without me having to say a word.

"Not sleeping, eh?"

I shake my head..."Well -- some.  A little.  About 4 hours.  There is just so much to do.  I'm loving doing it all, but I'm bone weary." 

"And I have to pee!"  I announce emphatically, changing the subject.  "All this delicious tea."

We get up and go into the kitchen, grabbing lanterns on the way out the door.  It's very late, but not as bright as it was when I first arrived.  The Moon is now being partly obscured by fast moving Clouds, flying past her face and veiling her from sight for long moments.  A gust of wind, sends my long hair whipping over my face, and we quicken our steps to the small building used as a work room and laundry.  She also has a composting toilet out here.

"Ah! There's nothing like an empty bladder" declares Whimsy after taking her turn.

Then we step back outside into a fully lit landscape and are both stopped in our tracks by a breathtaking view of the nearly full moon surrounded by clouds,  and for the moment not obscured.  Her brightness lights the yard and I can feel my cells absorbing the reflected rays, just as the plants all around us are drinking in that marvelous light.  There is a sense of a collective sigh of contentment and it feels like my heart is shining as brightly as that moon.



And since I just caught myself asleep at my computer once more, I guess it's time to shut this thing off and go meet up with my pillow.   May your dreams be sweet.


And that was another installment of Tea With Whimsy revisited from 2013.  These early versions of the story were the foundation of a much more detailed work which evolved over time.

Thanks for reading.