ramblings of tea and summer

      Just a little summer in a glass for you.
      What I really feel like though is some Earl Gray in a mug. (Tea for me is a mug thing and coffee is a cup and saucer thing - dyslexia takes many forms.) Twinings -square tin, circle lid, looseleaf. If only I didn't keep forgetting to tack it on my grocery list!
      And a cat. I could really go for a cat. It's the purr, isn't it? I remember the day I discovered cats had sandpaper tongues. It was a summer afternoon in Saskatchewan, I must have been eight years old. Sitting outside in a lawn chair surrounded by unknown relatives catching up and talking about old times, a cat found his way to my lap and proceeded to give his fur a thorough lickdown. During this zealous bath his pink tongue tripped over my hand resting on his side. I remember the shock to find it wasn't slurpy and soft but rough, almost dry. I tried not to move a muscle thinking that if he realized he'd been cleaning two for the price of one he would stop altogether and leave me having to handle aunts and uncles on my own. It was such a sweet feeling, me and my cat, not listening to anything the grown ups were saying, on my chair island in the sun.