Violin in C Sharp

In case you hadn't figured it out - NEWS FLASH - I love tea.      Like several other tea aficionados in my extended friend group, I have managed to make my love of tea more than a simple appreciation of a beverage - I've developed my love of tea into a full blown hobby.  I collect different blends, I follow different tea companies and their blend collections the way some hobbyists follow card sets.  I have multiple drawers and shelves full of tea related paraphernalia, I have an electric water kettle that has multiple temperature settings specifically for different types of tea.... tea is a part of my daily life.  When I take a vacation someplace special, I try to find a tea cup to bring home for my collection.  For Mother's Day last year, I took my mother out to a fancy tea house to treat her to a Mother Daughter afternoon tea as a way to mark the celebration of the day. I LOVE tea.      With this in mind, it should come as no surprise ...

 I don't remember a time when I didn't understand what death is. Isn't that strange?  I'm sure there must have been a time when I didn't understand - after all, none of us are born with an understanding of the concept that we too must one day die.  Still, I can't remember when the moment was that such understanding came to me.  Nor do I remember any point in my life when death wasn't with me fully. When I forgot to give my pet hamster water too many times and he died of dehydration, I knew fully the scope of what I had done to him.  I knew with certainty that my negligence was the cause of his demise, that I was entirely at fault and that he was thus gone forever.  I still feel guilty over it even over 30 years later. When my grandmother gave me her ring and explained that she was doing it because she was going to die soon - I had no confusion over what the moment meant.  Nor did I believe for a second that she wasn't telling me the full truth.  I...

 That moment when you know you need tea - but you don't know what kind you're in the mood for - and so you stare into the vast depths of your tea cupboard and are suddenly intimidated by your own collection.  The bags and tins and boxes stare back at you and each label your eyes read seem to make a new demand.  "I should be the one you choose!" they each state to you with absolute confidence.  "I am the blend - the only blend that can satisfy!"... and yet two tins over you read a new name and the same claim is made with the same confidence. Bergamot, lavender, clove, and ginger all vie for dominance in your craving centers even though you haven't even decided if it's white, green, oolong or black that calls loudest to you this day.  And so, the jumbled cacophony created from the clashing voices of Russian Caravan, Victorian Chai, Ginger Turmeric, Yorkshire Gold, Dragon Pearl, Genmai and so many others reaches up to you from the shelves to fray at you...