SEESAW WEATHER

This is already a strange year for weather here in rural southwest Alabama. At the turn of the year, it was 15 degrees. Now it is 72 and porch weather. To tell you the truth, I kind of like this seesaw weather. It gives us the best of both worlds – hot and cold. I don’t know how I’d fare in a world of shoveling snow for 4 months or more a year. Snow has always been a romantic fantasy as in “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” or “Let it Snow, Let it Snow. Let it Snow.” I became a huge fan of the television series “Northern Exposure” when it was on back in the 90s. I have always romanticized about wintering over there just once since then.
When we have a day of snow down here, it paralyses everything. Schools shut down. Nobody goes out anywhere if they can help it. We all make big pots of something bubbling on the stove, pop popcorn, and make hot chocolate. It’s like a minor holiday of sorts. It is a passing fancy. We are not like a consultant that I work on projects with from upstate New York. When we were planning our next meeting, some one suggested February. She looked skeptical, and then laughed. There are no February statewide meetings where she is from because all the snow makes it hard to get together. They have had a particularly hard year this year with winter storms. Here, we’ve just had a little taste of bitter cold.
Right now, my laptop and I are sitting on the front porch contemplating life in 72 degree weather, which to my way of thinking, is just about perfect. I have on a long sleeved shirt, but it is cotton. I am barefoot. The wind chimes tinkle gently in the breeze
I have a big glass of iced tea nearby. Tea is a passion of mine.
I had a major tea adventure Saturday afternoon. A group of friends went over to New Orleans for the day. Yes, we are within eating distance of the Food Capitol of the United States. We can get there in a little over 4 hours. If we are with a group of friends, we can use that time to catch up with each other. We all live in different places and don’t get to visit as much as we’d like. We all meet up in the Mobile area and travel together.
The New Orleans trip was on the cusp of the bitter cold weather, but turned out to be a balmy day. We enjoyed time in the French Quarter eating around, but the highlight of the trip was having tea at Windsor Court, a small British boutique hotel on the edge of the Quarter. As you know, the British take their tea seriously d they price their afternoon tea accordingly. Some things are worth it. This is one of them. I am a tea drinker. It is my morning beverage of choice. Whenever I travel, I buy teas and have quite a collection. Rarely do I find one I don’t like. One that I didn’t like was a chocolate orange hazelnut green tea I bought in Baltimore. It sounded better than it turned out to be. Windsor Court serves none of that nonsense. Theirs is real British tea leaves made in pots to order. There were 5 of us, so we each got a different kind of tea. We had great fun passing the pots around and trying them all. Between us, we got Earl Grey, Jasmine, Pomegranate Oolong, Christmas Spice Tea and Gunpowder Green. I think my favorites were Earl Grey and Pomegranate Oolong.
One of my friends tells a wonderful tea story that I always think of when I drink Earl Grey tea. She said she was having afternoon tea at the Adolphus Hotel in Houston with a newly rich third wife oil heiress who was trying to learn the habits of civility. She looked at the tea list and said “Gimme some of that Early Grey tea”. I love that story.
I know that tea drinking has a reputation for stuffiness, and places like Windsor Court are a bit formal in their service. I wondered if we would be under dressed for the occasion in our jeans and weekend wear. I shouldn’t have worried. There were women at tea dressed in Ohio State jerseys that were in town for the national football championship game. There was also one chick dressed in what could only be described as hooker clothes. She had on a red sequined bustier over black satin Capri pants. These folks were treated with the utmost civility by the staff. I’m glad to see the world relaxing.
The food with the tea was not thrilling. There were 3 courses of foods. They were beautifully presented on fine china and silver stands. The sandwiches were a bit dry with no butter or mayonnaise on them. The scones were delightful, with their accompanying clotted cream, lemon curd, and raspberry preserve, but were heavy and filling. The chocolate and bite sized desserts were from a purchased source. Well, you don’t’ go to tea at Windsor Court for the food anyway. It’s the atmosphere. There was a chamber music group playing during tea time. The Christmas decorations were still up on Twelfth Night. They were beautiful and quite tasteful. There were swaged garlands made entirely of magnolia leaves gilded and twined with little gold lights. There were matching wreaths in all the windows adorned only with a red ribbon lined with gold. In the Center of the lobby was a Christmas tree the size of a swimming pool. It was the experience we went for. I feel very civilized just sitting here on the porch contemplating the memory.
Maybe when the weather turns cold again, I’ll have some friends over for afternoon tea. It will cold again soon. It is January, so we can count on it. At least we won’t have to worry about shoveling snow!