Leaflet No. 11
This week’s leaflet tea tastes like … currant, chai, fishcake mozz corndog, tree crowns, and those little plastic beans inside Beanie Babies
Hello, everyone.
Tea Leaf Tech is a process in which I brew a cup of the Beobab.tree’s blend (its bark, leaves, its fruit, and a dapple of honey—of course!), which is a way to introduce settling and warmth into the day’s spiral of events. During this time of sipping and slowness, ideas and images collect at the bottom of the cup. The readings of the tea leaves laid to rest on ceramic glaze will be the basis of Wednesday’s leaflets. From here, I invite you to sit with your own cuppa and peruse what sensations this week’s tea blend has to offer.
At the end of each month, I invite a guest who will have their fill of the blend and transcribe a leaflet, featured only on Beobab.Tree.
Enjoying:
a beautifully shot film — the mise-en-scène is incredible, and the lighting — heavy on candles to produce warm tones —is gorgeous.
it’s a story I have not quite ever seen before, and I am glad to have watched it slowly unfold — it is like watching
one of those drip candles
that has hidden colors
within its wax
melt.
And seeing what
stalagmite shapes
build at the base
If you have the heart-space for a break-up album…woof, this is one.
I listened to this during my commutes to/from the gym. On the way back when it’s past dusk, when I only know where I am going thanks to my muscle memory and the car’s headlights, the songs vibrate in my body a certain way. Grieving the loss of someone who is still very much alive is hard.
🌺a lip liner with the name “cocoa”
🌺Pulmuone fishcake mozzarella corndogs (bought frozen, then brought to life with a minute microwaves to convection oven toasting)
🌺currants rolls, a Trinidadian pastry with cinnamon and currants —with a cuppa chai
Here is some sweetness:
Inspired by Sally Wen Mao’s Ode to Emptiness
Reading a chapter from Inciting Joy by Ross Gay in the morning, when I can (a habit in process, I’m doing my best).
Witnessing two clear silhouettes at dusk: a kid and their dog running down the sidewalk/into the grass/on top of the road, chasing one another home :’)
Beautiful long grass, the goldenness accentuated by the street light (image below)
I really do enjoy coaching children how to be better climbers. Which is to say, I find meaning in ushering children to be less afraid and more curious of what they can do. Here are some fun moments from the past few weeks (names have been changed):
I was holding a bag of ice for a kid (she’s okay now!), when some other kids approached me—
Them: Why are you holding ice?
Me: …hm…To tell the time! >u<
How can you tell time with ice?
Well, I had like 12 ice cubes, now there are only 8, so 4 ice cubes have passed!
o.O … (>,> ) (<,<)
:3
On time—Lately I’ve been thinking about how to view time differently, where it is of abundance, or of ice cubes. And this has been a shared endeavor by a friend who I spontaneously had dinner (Afghan food under cozy light) with him before we went to celebrate the life of another friend. He said he’s been “receiving” time, and this is both a beautiful and spiritual experiment. Every day, lucky as I am, I am receiving time.
Usually, when I am most present—and this happens when I am with people I love, when I am enjoying soup, when I am relating with nature—I forget time. This is when the word blessing comes in to hang out.
Before her ascent, I listened to Lisa recite a poem that can be found on her TY Beanie Baby’s, Aurora’s, heart-shaped tag. She recited it perfectly, with eyes glazed in a trance-state:
The midnight sun puts on a show
For all the polar bears below
Under ribbons of shining light
Aurora hugs you and says goodnight!Kids generally being silly —like, an “evil” mug as they tell me, “this is my dark side” and a little one, when I asked how high she—at the time, 3 feet from the ground—could go on this climb, yelled back, “60 miles!”.
It is an extremely sweet moment when we experience a breakthrough in their progress. Maybe they’ve just topped a climb we’ve been working on for a bit, or they’ve decided to trust themselves and go a bit higher. Sometimes it feels like I’m coparenting these students with their caretakers. It’s a strange yet nevertheless important feeling I’ve been reflecting.
Watching my bartender’s 4th-grader do his homework with legs crossed from inside the counter. He seemed like he could not be bothered by all the restaurant chatter! His dad mentioned he grew up in NYC’s public school system, so Maryland’s 3rd grade was a review of his son’s 2nd grade. I imagined him doodling robots with angel wings against worksheets about telling time with clock hands.
Images in the tree bark:
I hope your day is kind to you and you are kind to you.
Warmed,
Isabel