The Infusion (#92)
A meditation over a cup of rooibos chai. Also: two examples of using tea as pigment for works of art.
Who was that first person who looked at a plant and said, “But what if we boiled it with water? What if we let it swirl and make cloudy what was clear, so that we can bathe our own cells in its’ bath water?” (It was, like many discoveries, purely an ancient, delicious accident. The studies are inconclusive in humans as to exact benefits - but there do appear to be benefits.)
Suffused in sunshine, I watch the tendrils of liquid copper in my mug grasp at the warm water. As the liquid works its’ magic, I marvel at the strength of water in such a short stretch. It never seems like enough time or force to tease out the healing marrow from a tea leaf. I mean, how can a mere five to seven minutes be enough to milk one of worldly knowledge?
But then, I consider every meaningful conversation I’ve ever had; those momentary crumbs, scattered over the breath of life, packing a punch beyond their weight or supposed significance at the time they happened.
The chameleon water continues to change as the tea latches on hydrogen and oxygen. I feel a change, too; I feel calm warmth as I grasp at the mug, as if my clutches could encourage the infusion along. I look down at fingers, long but with beginnings of knots. Bone china, trying to meld with the cup.
It is then that I wonder: Would it only take that long to release all the potential energy stored in my cells? Am I that fragile?
Or am I that strong?
Weekly Segments of SciArt
Art in Chemistry (Chemis-tea?)
I love when artists and scientists are partnered to address a question - like this virtual residency and collaboration between a tea scientist (Montserrat Rabago Smith) and an artist (Jo Yarrington).
“They are using tea bags to stain paper…Yarrington is creating the art and sending it to Rabago-Smith, who is analyzing it. The molecules in tea are different depending on the way the tea has been processed.”
Torn Teabags Turned Treasure
Why throw away those tannin-stained pages? Tonia Jenny uses them to great effect in her small works of art. (You can find her self-published book of art, Tea Stain Doodles: 100 Pieces of Art from Intuition, on Amazon.)
I’ve been living the tea life more strongly since I got to Halifax and this really makes me think about that new, delicate ritual.
I love all things tea-related. Coffee is for waking up in the morning; tea sustains the day. The tea-stain art is particularly lovely. Thanks for sharing!