Life in these strange times: reimagining our earth

Good morning, and happy Earth Day. As I write, I watch the snow falling. It has been snowing on and off for several days. Almost as if to say, "stay inside; it is okay."

Today's challenge is to invite one of my blog readers to have coffee with me. Well, I prefer tea to coffee. Also, I'm reading a book called The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See, so I'm all in for tea right now. Tea has a great deal of significance in many cultures. In the book that I am reading, it's all about the Pu'er tea of the Yunnan province of China. On the first day of my travel adventure story, I visited Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which is in the Yunnan province. You can get excellent Pu'er tea there that has been fermented over about five years.

I truly enjoyed the Pu'er tea. And now, the journey takes me to Tajikistan, where I am thrilled to see a few bloggers who have decided to spend the day with me. They had planned to surprise me with this visit. And surprise, they did! It was great to see Vidya, Roy, Jeanine, Doug, and Martha, who brought her granddaughter with her.

We go to a tea shop to enjoy some delicious tea with milk, called sirchai. We are encouraged to come and visit during the summer months, when delicious green teas are served. Green tea is the national beverage of Tajikistan.

We drink our tea out of small mugs. As is typical of Central Asian teahouses, we sit on cushions piled on the floor. Our food and tea is placed on a low table. We eat traditional Tajik foods that are served at teatime, which include halwa, samosas, and mantu (meat dumplings). We talk about the beauty of our earth in this place where we look out the windows and see the jagged peaks, as well as the glaciers. But the glaciers are retreating, and that is not good for the future of these mountains.

It is Earth Day, time to reimagine our beautiful blue planet. Time to reimagine generations to come sitting on cushions in teahouses, near and far, eating traditional foods and drinking tea steeped in culture and history.