Sometimes You Just Need Cheap Tea

Or, a Wednesday musing

I love tea. I also appreciate the differences in different teas even more after reading For All the Tea in China by Sarah Rose a while back. I try to keep a few different types in the house – I love English Breakfast, but sometimes need something a bit stronger. Or I go in the opposite direction and drink Darjeeling. And I really need to cut down on my caffeine, so I also drink a lot of rooibos. Some would probably say I drink tea completely wrong by adding milk and sugar to everything. But this weekend I found myself wanting one specific tea and only that tea. It was, in fact, the one my grandmother always had in the house – and the one I drank before I even knew you got stuff like Darjeeling and Assam.* And this weekend I felt especially nostalgic.

Doctor Who mug by Ophelia's Gypsy Caravan

I needed that tea. It’s a strange thing when you sit at a place you haven’t been to in years and then suddenly bam! Everything that ever happened there suddenly hits you between the eyes – the good, the bad, everything. You start to think about everyone you haven’t seen in years, the ones who passed away, the ones you left with your heart breaking in a million pieces. And the only thing I wanted was comfort tea.

I guess it’s a good thing the tea we always drank wasn’t an expensive one and that you can find it in every supermarket. So, when I picked up some cat food (because Sir T now decided he only wants to eat that specific flavour of food and nothing else) I decided to get a pack of the tea as well. Because, you know, it’s silly to go all the way to the shops when you already have tea in the house...

And somehow, curling up with that and a book, it made me remember the good times. And even the bad times suddenly didn’t feel quite as bad. Sometimes you just need a cup of cheap tea.**

* I grew up in my grandparents' house.

** I’ll rather not give the brand name – they may not take too kindly to me calling it “cheap”.

All the Small Things

The large tree in my garden (although, in truth, the tree just about makes up the whole garden) seemed to have turned yellow overnight. Trees decked in yellow, red and brown line most of the streets to and from the office and crisp mornings are quickly turning cold. I admit, the two seasons I love most are Autumn and Spring. Not too cold, not too hot – and I’ll just leave it there before I start sounding like a fairy tale.

My "Autumn Tree"

Shortening days are usually also the time when the passing of time between New Year and Easter and Easter and my birthday*† becomes all the more apparent. By this time those careful plans written out at the beginning of the year have most been left half-done or thrown out because there just isn’t enough time in a day to go around.

It’s those little unplanned things...

You make your New Year’s list of No-These-Aren’t-Really-Resolutions thinking that the worst coming your way is a bout of flu or a new pair of glasses and then you end up on crutches for over a month and suddenly realise again how lovely it is to be able to climb a flight of stairs while carrying a cup of tea. Your flu turns to infections leaving you on drips and too fatigued to concentrate on your studies after a day of work.

But you also meet new people, make new friends and in the dark hours find a hand to hold on to, even if that hand is on another continent.

So, all in all, the first four months of the year have been, at the very least, very interesting. And the next four? New beginnings, a very good friend getting married, some friends’ babies are due during the winter (though not the friend getting married) as well as “more of the same” as I try to catch up with all the study time I missed during the past few weeks**.

*The few days afterwards usually spent in constant existential crisis – which most often leads to eating more cake than is healthy.

† My birthday is halfway through the year.

** Yay for study leave!!

Perspective

The downside of planning posts beforehand is that there are some weeks where so much other STUFF happens that you get struck once more by just how much can happen in one week. Last Tuesday I switched on the radio just as I turned off my alarm clock; just in time to hear the words “two bombs exploded” – then an earthquake, flooding, one of the lecturers at UJ (myalma mater) murdered, and some very sad news from a friend. This has certainly been a week in which my heart and prayers have gone out to all those who have been touched by these events.

An interview and Making Mediocrity Acceptable

The last week truly passed in a whirlwind of work and (unfortunately) sinusitis. Although I did not get much studying or writing done, I did do some worldbuilding and told myself that watching Thor was a good way to look at the way in which Norse myths are changed to fit a specific story. I couldn’t think of a productive reason for watching all the other films, though…

A story and an interview

But, back to interesting stuff – one of the members of the Anomalous Sandbox (the writing group I am part of) had a story published in December and his interview is now available at the site as well. Read his story “Deprescience” over here and the interview over here.

Making Mediocrity Acceptable and other musings

I’ve also started to slowly but surely post over at Storylane. I am planning to do more non-fiction and opinion pieces over there. The first piece is quite close to my heart, and is titled “Making MediocrityAcceptable”.

*If you’re new to the blog – my dissertation is about the use of Norse mythology in Afrikaans and Dutch literature.

Inspiration Friday: a haunting song by Koos du Plessis

(This post first appeared on 26 August 2011.)

One of the earliest songs I can recall hearing and seeing a music video for, was one of Koos du Plessis’ songs. Titled “Sprokie vir ’n stadskind”, or “Fairy tale for a city child”, it also formed part of various Afrikaans poetry lessons.  Much like his “Kinders van die wind” (Children of the wind), it is a beautiful and haunting piece with multiple layers of meaning. Of course, about twenty years later, the song’s meaning to me has grown and evolved, but I can still remember the whole family watching the bittersweet song on the television. Du Plessis made his own translation of the song – “The neon rainbow” – but I could not find it. So, I made my own translation. It is posted below the Afrikaans text, along with a video where the song is sung by Du Plessis.

Sprokie vir ‘n stadskind

                                                – Koos du Plessis

As die reën van stof en roet verby is,

en die rook verdwyn,

 sal daar in die sterrelose hemel,

’n neonboog verskyn.

En kyk maar goed,

want as jy hom vind,

vertel ek vir jou ’n sprokie, my kind,

van ’n skatkis met ou kettings gebind

aan die neonboog se punt.

Volg hom elke nag oor swart riviere,

 oor kranse van beton.

As jy aanhou stap vir tienduisend ure,

 sal jy dalk daar kom.

Maar hier moet jy jou nimmer laat bind,

want so lui die ou, ou sprokie, my kind,

as jy geluk en vrede wil vind,

soek die neonboog se punt.

Volg hom elke nag oor swart riviere,

kyk nie eenmaal om,

dalk vind jy die land

van blou saffiere

en, dalk, ’n brokkie son.

Fairy tale for a city child

When the rain of dust and soot has passed,

and the smoke disappears,

a neon rainbow will appear

in the starless sky.

And look well,

for if you find it

I’ll tell you a fairy tale, my child,

of a treasure chest bound with old chains

to the end of the neon rainbow.

Follow it every night across black rivers,

over cliffs of concrete.

If you keep on walking

for ten thousand hours

you may get there.

But here you must not let yourself be bound,

for so runs the old, old fairy tale, my child,

if you want to find happiness and peace;

find the end of the neon rainbow.

Follow it every night across black rivers,

do not look around once.

Maybe you’ll find the country

of blue sapphires

and, maybe, a small piece of the sun. 

Have a wonderful weekend!
A Agrai tellarias or s’agrélar silássa.

Reads and Links: Book Arts (Part 1)

Do you think every traditional – i.e. ‘dead tree’ book – is just a plain old block of paper with a cover?  Think again! The book arts are alive and well! And they have their own e-journal (which is free to download and read), making the world of bookbinding and book arts accessible to everyone with the right website address…

I give you The Bonefolder.

During the next couple of weeks I hope to showcase some of the best the book arts have to offer – small presses, handmade books and the people behind them. They show me just how out of the box a book can be and gives me a chance to re-think the creative spark behind a few random ideas… You don’t need a lot of words to tell a whole story.

Cover of The Bonefolder, Volume 2, Number 1

Some other links and reads:

One of the very good things about digitizing old or out-of-print books is that you can read it without hunting across the world for a copy too expensive to buy or simply find out if it’s to your liking before you buy the book. For instance, here you can read GK Chesterton’s works. 

Worldbuilding Wednesday - The Keepers: Their Beginning and Their Houses

The start of the Keepers was during the time of the Great Sundering, when there was a consensus that the knowledge of the peoples of Airthai must be kept in a safe place during the wars, attacks, earthquakes and floods across the lands of Airthai. At that time the greater libraries on the eastern coast of the newly formed Continent gathered together all the copies of books and annals and even artworks that they could. The people who gathered these books were called the Gatherers of the Keepers of Knowledge. Books and scholars even came from the Eastern Isles, brought on the trading ships for safe keeping.

When the Saerímavolk was attacked by the Flotaferan - which saw part of the Saerímavolk trek inland and form the Eargestreon - it was decided that a type of army should be formed from the surrounding peoples; who could be called upon immediately to keep their people safe. With them there would be scholars well-versed in the politics and the history of the peoples involved who could act as diplomats.

A fortress was built just north of the Saerímavolk lands and this was the first House of the Keepers. These Keepers later became known as the Eastern Keepers once other Houses were built.

The second House that was built was that of Holt Haliern, in the Midlands. The third and fourth houses, which were built nearly simultaneously, were the Houses of Théotriewe and Eamidtheo. These three Houses are all in the Midlands. Although the names of Holt Haliern and Théotriewe have stayed the same, that of Eamidtheo changed to Ameragh after the Lady Wíslic Ameragh's death. Because of this, and his great sorrow, Síldu did not return to this most southern House of the Keepers for many years, but stayed at Holt Haliern and Théotriewe.

In the Southern Lands, first the towers of the Khallahna and later the Khalné's Tower, along with the libraries of the countries of the Southern Lands, served as the repositories of the books and knowledge. Only after the Dragon Keepers had left the southern shores was a true House of Keepers, known as the Southern Keepers, started in the Southern Lands.

In the Western Lands, the first House of Keepers built was the House of the Rún; situated on the west of the Ealdbergs. A second was built on the western coast of the Continent. In the Northern Lands only one House was built; known as the House of the White Dragon.

The Sign of the Keepers of Holt Haliern

Next week: The Keepers: The Wíslic and the Elders (And I’m hoping to have the pre-Sundering map finished by then as well.)