one perfect cup

We went to Imperial Tea Court in the Ferry Building Saturday evening for tea class with Master Roy on Pu'erh teas. It was wonderful, though even at 4 hours, it just scratched the surface. Like tango, learning tea takes a lifetime, as well as patience, passion, paying attention and making humble mistakes. It is well worth it. This was just one cup of the evening, topaz pu'erh., fragrant, with a texture and flavor reminiscent of port. We brewed and sampled quite a few teas that evening, and reconnected with an old friend from previous tea classes, radiant Taylor, now with her husband, and her beautiful baby-in-belly, as well as making new acquaintances. There is promise of this class, part deux, sometime in the next month perhaps.
Initially we had planned to go to the Golden Gate milonga after the tea class was finished. As we waited for the F line muni, watching boys doing tricks on their bicycles in the Embarcadero park, I began to feel, well, a little altered. We both had consumed a lot of tea,

on mostly empty stomachs; some of it was a little smoky,and the last sample of Shou Cha was more than 20 years old, with strong mold components. Great flavor, complex, but not necessarily good for my trick brain. It was almost 11 p.m. Finally the streetcar came, and as I sat down, I noticed the classic little blind spot, which progressed into migraine aura. By the time we got off at Mason, to walk to the San Remo hotel, I was in full aura mode. I love city streets at night, and between the lights and colors and sounds and the aura, and the tea, it was all quite psychedelic. I looked up into the sky, and saw Ezekiel's Wheel. I have read several theories about this prophet's vision actually being some kind of UFO. I think it more likely to have been migraine aura. Here are some images to give you an idea:




It's the best I can do, short of sharing the electrochemical disturbance with your brain personally. If you are a migraineur with aura, bless you. If not, count your blessings. In the hotel I took an Imitrex injection, and other meds and homeopathics. I knew there was to be no dancing tango tonight, although I kept hoping and saying, well, maybe it won't turn into a headache. Finally around 3 a.m. it let up enough to sleep a while. Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleeve of care. See, knitting content!