Cup I: Sorting through a sort of former life

Tea: Oolong Darjeeling

Time: Late afternoon

Music: Allison Crowe, various selections: "Crayon and Ink," "Effortless," "Hallelujah," "How Long, "Immersed"

Seems a good day for solo voice and piano, this Sunday afternoon on the edge between summer and autumn, and Allison Crowe delivers the bittersweet goods. If you haven't heard her verson of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," you should. Just prepare to miss, achingly, anyone you ever loved and lost. Ever. It's available for download at her site, or watch the video here.

So, here I am in my kitchen, going through the things I hauled away from the office when I left to strike out (in the optimistic sense) on my own.

And good Lord, do I have a lot of tea. I could have started my own tea shop, I think, with the bags (large and tiny, loose and otherwise) and tins I had in my locker and my desk drawers.

Here, there's more of a storage crunch -- considering I also have a major cache in the kitchen.

And so, an idea was born: To get through the leaves, one cup per day. (Not that I'm forsaking coffee, or tea shops, or ... well, you get the idea. I'm a caffeine addict, and not inclined to 12-step that away.)

It's a discipline. But I could use a bit of that in my life. Freelance writing is going to take a lot more focus than I've known is possible, I think. And caffeine has always helped me focus.

So ... here goes.