Teapot Joins in Family Routine

Hot summer days are perfect days for family recreation. During the winter months the nearby park is closed except for the boat loading docks for fishermen and locals who know the way for long walks. But once summer hits, the park is open for camping, swimming, boating, and picnics! There's even a pavilion that gets rented out for weddings,  quinceaneras, family reunions, and picnics. [I wonder about a tea party in the pavilion and how that would go over with the crowds!]

Our nearby park is a place that holds and harbors many moments in personal history. A walk to the park can serve as a reminder of when our children were toddlers and went sliding or swinging on the park playground equipment or climbed trees by the riverbank. It has served as a meeting place for a piano party for the kids [have keyboard, will travel] and as a place to work on craft projects in the shade.  It speaks of friendship and long walks with friends. For some, like a friend in the community, it serves as the place of their beautiful wedding. In the winter when the park is closed, we take our dogs and they run to their hearts content. In the summertime, when so many people are there, our dogs become properly civil in harnesses and walk with leashes. Bald eagles inhabit the park during the winter months, soaring overhead as we walk. In the summer they are replaced by gaggles of Canadian geese and their young. There is always something happening at the park!

It's a place to meet new people and chat. Or to observe the interesting things that people do.

Right now it's filled with campers galore. Walking through the campground is as interesting as can be! Beautiful diesel pushers with tip-outs and every luxury are parked next to trailers and campers of all sorts. Tents dot the scenery as families and scout troupes share nearby spaces. Cherry season is in full swing, and transient laborers have camps set up as temporary homes among the recreational campers. But what does this have to do with the traveling teapot?

The traveling teapot is an object that has joined in with our normal family events during this month of June. Making tea a part of daily life, one sip at a time, is a concept we embrace and have for many years. The little plum teapot has been added to our traveling tea basket and has become a part of our tea ritual. We are a family who enjoys hot tea rather than iced, so even during the dog days of summer, the tea kettle is on. On a hot summer day at the park, the teapot graces a picnic table. We enjoy chocolate oolong and fortune cookies in the shade! Together we share tea, pleasant conversation, observation of the world around us, and a relaxed time. It is always good to stop one's busy life pace to enjoy a moment or a day. Having a traveling tea basket packed and ready to go makes it happen. Just add a thermos of hot water, grab some fresh cookies or scones, and you'll find you are set to go!

Do you have a traveling tea basket? What does it contain? Do you have special tips or ideas that you can share with others so that they can be inspired to make their own?