There have been wonderful moments, from the time I had tea in a high rise New York apartment building with a view of Central park. The people in the room were some of the most knowledgeable and well respected people in the East Asian tea world in the New York City area, and here I was, a nobody, in a room with just four other people, several of which could almost rightly be considered tea masters in the most literal and figurative senses of the word. There have been downright sad and tear filled moments from the death of someone I never met yet still felt very close to personally. Every time I look at a particular kyusu in my collection, I can not help but think of and pray for Ian's wife and young daughter he left behind. Yet also think fondly of the evenings chatting with him while he told stories of brewing and sharing tea with his little girl, and how she wanted a tea set just like daddy's. To the downright weird but great experience of drinking sencha brewed in the trunk of a car in the parking lot of a mall in Pennsylvania. With a husband and wife pair that have become great and supportive friends, especially all the more recently, who I believe I owe the credit of starting me along the way to my pottery addiction. Hopefully I've mostly tamed the addiction into an appreciation now. Then the downright heartwarming and comforting, yet wholly unexpected part of receiving an email from someone halfway around the world I had never met, or even exchanged correspondence, expressing concern. Hoping I would get back to blog posts, and youtube videos soon, as they have really helped them a lot, and inspired them to share their passion with others as well.
However this blog will not hit its seventh birthday, as the domain name expires in a few days, and this blog will not remain beyond that. Hopefully when I am well again I will be able to return to youtube videos, as I still refuse to give up on sharing my passion of tea with the world. If you go into life, and things in life with passion it is not just the places you'll go, but also the people you'll know! In the end the things you do and experience are wonderful, but connecting with others about a mutual passion creates a bond stronger than you would believe otherwise. So if you happen to see me, and *know* me through tea, please do not hesitate to say Hi! It has been such a pleasure writing for all of you for so long.
