Pursuit Of Spark

A cicada emerging from its shell and bounty from a friend's garden for tea this morning.

We sat down to tea with heavy hearts, and took solace in the flowers that had bloomed only after struggle.

Golden Thread Liu An tea, silver threaded spider web, baby blue bug on apricot hydrangea stems.

My teabowl this morning is impressed with the bark of our dogwood tree, and I sipped my tea looking at positive and negative.

Spilled a little tea this morning, and wondered if it could be considered libations for a good week? The locust tree is putting out new growth that glowed, even on this cloudy morning.

Three bowls of tea, thinking about the edges of bowl and flower and sky.

Admired the enormous web woven overnight, but not as thrilled when the weaver jumped on me.

A quickly pinched bowl, with glaze that emphasizes its imperfections, was perfect for tea this morning listening to the cicadas.

While waiting for my tea to cool, I cut three blooms from the hydrangea, and marveled at their lovely theme and variation.

Green tea in a yunomi with pink-haloed spots. The potter didn't brush the pink on the pot itself, instead she put a copper-glazed pot near it knowing (hoping?) that the copper would enter the atmosphere of the kiln and find its way to this yunomi.

When the air warmed up the cicadas began to sing songs from an alien electric planet.

The false sunflowers glow, even on a cloudy day.

Listened to the rain and watched bees dodging the raindrops to feast on the false sunflowers.

A water main ruptured last night. We made tea with bottled water and sat in the garden, still humid but cooler today, thinking about the luxury of running water.

The cicadas are singing their love songs, the lavender has just been cut back, and Maggie and Julie think about how time passes differently in the garden.

Cicada songs created a refrain for tea this morning. Chose deep green sweet Gyokuro and a black and white yunomi whose subtle texture felt wonderful as I sipped my tea.

Sometimes you know something good is inside, but just can't figure out a way in.

Clouds in my bowl: Tea meditation by Pursuit of Spark

Green tea in blue bowls. The layers of slip and glaze give each bowl a sense of history, even though they are just a few weeks old.

Heat rising off the car roof, cicadas practicing their love songs.