Perspective on Father's Day

This morning I enjoyed getting up at 7:00 a.m. versus my usual early morning routine. Until Monday, I'm still on vacation. I am 'off' for the summer only in that I am not getting paid, and I am not in the classroom. In every other way, I am on. 

                                

Yesterday I wrote about what I like to drink. Iced tea was mentioned. However, long before I ever tasted my first glass of southern style sweetened iced tea, I was a hot tea drinker. I'm saying a long time... I was about five years old, as I recall, when drinking hot tea became a routine for me. We were living in England at the time, and we drank hot tea every morning for breakfast. At that age, there was more milk than tea in the cup, and it was sweetened, which probably accounts for my acquiring a taste for sweet tea.

I'm sure it was my mother who introduced my siblings and I to this smooth morning concoction... and we may have been drinking it even before we left for England (dad was Air Force). Maybe drinking hot tea started when I was living in Connecticut. I don't remember... my memories of drinking hot tea begin in England. I also remember that in the afternoons, our British neighbors had their cup of tea, and I was invited by one of them to sit at the table for a cup of tea. A morning cup of hot tea, with milk and sugar is probably my favorite of hot drinks.

I'm indulging this morning. All that talk about tea yesterday gave me a strong desire to brew a cup when I woke up this morning. I prefer Oolong, Orange Pekoe, or black teas for my morning cup... the caffeine is always a welcomed benefit. Only in recent years did I discover that tea has other health benefits, like anti-oxidants, "which rid the body of free radicals... which are side products of damage done to the body by pollution and the natural aging process. Free radicals in the body's cells are very unstable and tend to react negatively with other important molecules like DNA, causing malfunctions and injury on the cellular level. The destruction these free radicals produce may therefore pave the way for diseases like heart disease and cancer. "  http://www.farsinet.com/hottea/medicalbenefits.html

Drinking tea counteracts these damages! Tea can help keep one healthy. Sweet or unsweetened. Sweetness in moderation, of course, is the key.

Here are some aol tips on how to make iced tea.

The past weekend was filled with specialness. Our anniversary was on the 14th (33 good years, thank you!), Father's Day the 15th, and recognizing our son's step into professional practice in Baltimore.

As we walked along the city streets Sunday morning on our way to the Inner Harbor, I noticed a diverse population, as you would expect in a large city. Knowing that he was not accustomed to living in a bustling city like Baltimore, which resembled a mini-New York City to me, I was worried, only as a mother would worry. Every time I saw a homeless street person, I thought of River. I held my concerns to myself but then I let it slip out. The kind of comment you wish you could take back, that you wish no one had heard.

I told him I was worried that he might not be safe walking down the city streets alone. I was thinking about his morning ride on the subway to the hospital each day, or his having to ride it home again in the afternoons, especially in the winter when it would be dark earlier in the day. I was worried he'd get mugged on the street.

Discussion ensued. He told me, kindly, that I worried too much. Even in Chapel Hill, he pointed out, people were assaulted, kidnapped, and robbed. He wasn't worried about living in the city... he was pleased to be where he was. This is what he wanted... it was a grand opportunity to work at Johns Hopkins and to live in downtown Baltimore.

We walked silently on to the Inner Harbor, my eyes and ears open, trying to see the city from his point of view. This would be his new home for the next two years. He would make new friends, he already knew at least one couple in Baltimore, and he lived within walking distance of anything he could ever need (except a Wal-Mart or Target... I never did see one of those. These he would have to drive to.) Churches, restaurants, entertainment, bookstores, art museums, a science museum, a football stadium, a baseball stadium, Little Italy, a 27-story World Trade Center, the National Aquarium, and the historic district... all within walking distance.

As we walked along the street, the Inner Harbor in our sights, a young father pushing his toddler in a stroller walked toward us, going the opposite way. As we stepped aside to give him room to pass, he looked at my husband and said "Happy Father's Day!"

I was surprised, my husband too. My son drove it home. "And you were worried about the people here in Baltimore, mom."

One needs a little perspective now and then.

Tags: Hot tea, living in Baltimore