A Cuppa Tea

27 January 2011

I'm basically a dog-in-the-lap, puppy poop, dog hair on my clothes kinda person. I'm not the kind of person who dressed up and hosts or goes to tea parties.

It's not that I don't like them. It's just not the sort of thing that is usually part of my social activites. I don't even attend virtual tea parties on line -- our CompuServe group has had them, but my brain can't go there in fantasy, so I usually skip them. But, as I said, it's not for not liking tea parties (lots of sweet food...what's not to like?). I still remember with great fondness "high tea" with the cousins in Petaluma and with my friend Mary in Sacramento (as well as a nice high tea at Kew Gardens in the UK and at Harrods with my mother).

So it was actually very nice to go to a tea party today. But first there was lunch.

After postponing it two weeks because of her flu, my friend Ruth and I finally got together for lunch today. The article about her had been published yesterday, so she was very happy about it and even treated me to lunch as a thank you.

At 3, I had been invited to join others in celebrating the 80th birthday of my Scrabble buddy, Joan, held at the home of one of her daughters.

It was really lovely, as we settled in around the fireplace, in ever-changing groupings to chat with one another.

I knew many of the women there, from different groups, but I was particularly happy to see the two other members of our apparently defunct writing group, Nancy and Peggy.

There were also several people I knew from the Davis Comic Opera Company and from PTA days. And, as usual when I attend a gathering like this, a guy came up to say that he used to love reading my stuff in the newspaper, but was sad that I hadn't written anything lately. I laughed told him that I was in the paper all the time, which he vehemently denied. Then I asked him if he had read last night's paper. He assured me he saw nothing by me in the paper. Ruth's article only takes up the entire page, including a photo. I suggested he go back and look at the paper.

He was, of course, referring to my letters to the editor, which I kind of cut back on when I became a critic. Once in a great while I'll still write something, but my "stuff" is in the paper sometimes three times a week. It's just not on the editorial page any more.

More satisfying was the woman who told me that she always reads my reviews.

But it was just a lovely event. I sat there drinking delicious jasmine tea and eating finger sandwiches and cookies and not only talking with people I know well, but meeting other new people.

Happy birthday, Joan--and thanks for including me in on the fun!