Have you got the tea in you?

If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty.
– Japanese Proverb

If this is true, I should be well on my way to understanding a great deal of truth and beauty at this moment! And today I had my tea in a brand new cup, purchased only yesterday at a local antique store. I collect tea cups in a very desultory way, always on the lookout for the perfect one that speaks to me. This one, being from Germany, spoke in German and said, “Achtung!! Ich bin sehr schön.” I agreed and we left the store together.

I think I’m turning Japanese

For us, no visit to Chicago longer than a few days is complete without a trip to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/cica/eindex.html,  the enormous Japanese grocery store that on weekends seems to draw every Japanese person in the area (and from the surrounding states) to eat, buy Japanese books and magazines, and stock up on Japanese supplies of every kind.