Sacred Herb

The main altar in the oldest church in Vienna. I believe it is St. Peter's.

Yesterday we were very early at the church where my husband was the substitute preacher. A friend had told me that the store right across the street carried a lot of teas, so of course I knew where to spend some time. It is the Masonville General Store, on the northeast corner of the intersection there. It's the only street light in town so you can't miss it. Masonville, NY is a little west of the bulk of the Catskill Mountain resorts, on Rte 206, and if you are there or live nearby, this store is worth a visit. It is a very large natural living store with everything your heart desires from camping equipment to facial scrubs, with sashays into home baked goods, teas, herbs, shopping baskets and magazines. The first tea I saw was some Tulsi teabags, which I had been wanting to try, so that is what I bought, even though I was tempted by many others. They have teas from Frontier Herbs, The Good Earth, Organic India and many others.

My Tulsi Tea was from Organic India and I bought the plain, although that company had several flavors such as mint and orange. Tulsi is also known as Holy Basil and can be found on every doorstep in India. It is revered as being sacred and is considered an overall good tonic , especially for stress relief. This particular version came as individually wrapped teabags and it smelled divine, minty and lemony and fresh with some hints of cinnamon and clove. I was looking for more of what I recognize as a basil smell, but I didn't catch that. I brewed it up with a cup of boiling water for 5 minutes and it continued to smell wonderful. It is kind of a yellow orange liquid and is very pleasant tasting. I think it is primarily lemon and mint with a touch of a medicinal taste, just like it smells. I let some get cold and I didn't find it pleasant or even with much taste. I don't know if it will reform my life, but I would certainly have it again.

Today some of our new friends from Owego helped us move some packed boxes and two of them are tea drinkers! Life just keeps getting better. They said our house was messy! How could this be? The cats think it is marvelous - all those boxes to play in and on. I think it's icky. But it will soon be over.