Thou mayest

Because good things come in small packets of tea...and soggy tissues.

I have a cold. Or something of the sort. It’s got me stumped, because my head is stuffed to the max, but my body doesn’t hurt and there is only a slight bit of fuzzy-headedness involved. I don’t feel awful, but cannot seem to make myself move any faster than the tortoise.  (Not the one that won the race, the 98-year-old one with bad arthritis and bursitis and any other itis you might like.)

Thank goodness I was off today, when what I’m hoping is the brunt of it hit. In all honesty, I know where it started. Thursday Andrew told me he was stuffed up and sniffling. What ensued was a three-day road trip. 9 pm-9 am to Baton Rouge, followed by a Friday of driving through the hell that is Baton Rouge traffic, followed by a Saturday of 11 am-11 pm of driving back. Sunday morning, BOOM, sickness has hit.

However, today was wonderful. I spent the day catching up with Kelsea; how work is going, how Sam, her boyfriend, wants to buy a house from 1909, how she’s cheating on Roxanne (her car) with a Ford rental.

After that, I read Aunt Lisa’s blog for about an hour. Aunt Lisa, if you’re reading this, DON’T stop writing!!! I enjoyed every second of it, and so many lines and phrases shook me to the bone.

Later, back in my little apartment, I forced down a Vitamin C packet Andrew insisted I eat like candy. Then my eyes landed on it. A little cream colored box sitting on top of my fridge, antique black font on the front. Andrew’s Vanilla Caramel tea, I hadn’t noticed it. You see, he is in the process of moving into a house with a friend, and with all of his belongings in storage, I scored on all the perishables. So here I am, drinking my first cup of team I’ve ever made for myself. But that’s not the reason I love this tea, with its lovely box and lovely font. I love this tea because the last time I took real note of it was in Maryland. It was my first visit to see Andy. I remember standing in the drafty little room, thinking it looked nothing like I had pictured if for the last four months. Against the wall right by the door was a mini fridge, its only contents were frozen Nutty Bars. But on top of the fridge sat the tea. “What a funny guy,” I remember thinking, absolutely unable to ever pin him to any kind of category (except devastatingly handsome…there, that should ring in the embarrassment ;)

What is it that we find about tea bags so beautiful? We paint them for pete’s sake. The little dangling tab, the motion of the repeated douse. I don’t know why but I love it. 

Thoughts as of late:

.           Why doesn’t “its” possessive have its own apostrophe? It makes no sense to me. The thought brings me back to Maddie’s conclusion about “amen’t.”

.    I have a new car. She was the reason for the crash course trip to the BR. I love her dearly. However, today I got word that after his long drive from Augusta to BR, William Shatner died on the interstate, completely shut down. I have a feeling it’s the result of broken heartedness, like those dogs in Where the Red Fern Grows.

.         I have no more toilet paper or paper towels, a relentless stuffy nose, and a now very inconvenient urge to tinkle.

.     I am in love with East of Eden. Listen to this:

Lee smiled. “My Father said she was a strong woman, and I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she has love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is almost indestructible.”

Adam made a wry grimace.

Lee said, “You’ll see one day, you’ll see.”

-Lee, on his mother.

The next excerpt is from a discussion on God’s punishing Cain. Lee notices that there are two version of the story, the King James version and the American Standard version. King James quotes that God tells Cain “thou shalt rule over sin,” while American Standard tells Cain “Do thou rule over sin.” Lee traces back to the original Hebrew word which translates, thou mayest.

“And I feel that I am a man. And I feel that a man is a very important thing-maybe more important that a star. This is not theology. I have no bent towards god. But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed-because ‘Thou mayest.’ "