Summer Daisies and Chrysanthemum Tea

I know it's Fall, not summer,  and daisies are not seasonal at the moment, but our house is currently full of both. It has helped cure my empty nest syndrome. Two Chinese girls named Summer and Daisy are being housed in the empty bedrooms our sons recently vacated.

Decorating in more feminine styles after decades of boyish blues, action heroes and alternative band posters was a pleasant change. Now the decor is shabby chic, distressed white with soft green hues. Asian flower panels adorn the walls.

The girls study, shop, cook, swim at the neighbors and otherwise add a sweet atmosphere to the house.

They are great gift givers. I've received an book on the Chinese Opera, a red coral necklace and recently two lovely canisters of chrysanthemum tea shipped halfway across the world.

I nearly cried when I saw the tiny cream colored miniature blossoms, dried and pale yellow in the canister. Memories of the graceful petals floating in my piano teacher's tea cup washed over me.
I was 19 again.  While playing Mozart or Milhaud, I would watch her pour the tea from a thermos and was mesmerized by the octopus-like slender petals floating in the yellow gold liquid.

The flowers are farmed in a special part of  China, on the top of a hill over looking an equestrian area. The climate is perfect and produces the finest chrysanthemum blossoms for tea making. Much like areas of California and France that grow premium grapes for great wines.

With barely contained excitement I fixed my first cup last night, of music, memories and a bouquet of buds pivoting and spinning in the silky sea of lemony green tea.

Something as elegant as chrysanthemum tea should be carried in a Lenox carafe or a silver tea pot.  But Miss Jennie Wong would bring it to the university in a common thermos. In between pieces she would pour the tea into the plastic cap or a stained mug. The graceful petals danced in the amber liquid to the music of Beethoven's Pathetique, and Brahm's Intermezzo in D.

Today I gave Summer, my Chinese guest, a piano lesson. I felt a sense of music legacy coming full circle. My Chinese teacher taught me the finer points of piano, and I am passing it on to another Chinese 'sister.'

I know it's Fall, not Summer,  and daisies are not seasonal at the moment, but our house is currently full of summery daisies, chrysanthemums and lots of music.