Thursday, November 10, 2011

Hot Tea and Cold November

I am again in Amalfi - I am hoping it will warm me up.  LOL

The weather is hustling right along into November normality with cold rain.  Some brave bird is still singing and the geese are flying from night quarters to feeding grounds.  What a huge flock - there must be 100 or more, in waves of chevrons, taking a full minute to cross overhead.  Did you know they take turns being point man?  It is the hardest place, as the others benefit from the point goose's breaking of the air resistence.  The point man goes to the last place when he's tired - the easiest - while the next one steps up and they keep rotating as they fly.  I don't know who steps up to lead when they take off, perhaps the oldest.

Our buck now has 3 points on each side and at the moment seems to have lost his herd, as he is wandering up and down the road alone.  All the deer have transitioned into their gray brown winter coats and it can be hard to see them against the trees.  Not so hard when they are eyeing the bird feeders, however.

Boston Tea Company sent me some samples and with an eye toward Thanksgiving, I am trying one today.  It is Organic Cranberry Lemon, in a "whole leaf sachet".  Sure enough, there are nice big leaves, and bits of cranberry and lemon peel.  The sachet itself is quite large.  There's not much scent, but wait, as it brews, it gives off a milk and lemon sugar cookie aroma.  The medium amber brew tastes sweet, fruity and of lemon peel.  I found it hard to distinguish any cranberry flavor.  In fact, it leaned more toward bubblegum than anything else.  My friends in the fruity tea league will enjoy it.

1 comment:

Alex Zorach said...

I find it fascinating how geese rotate being the "point man" as you call it. I also have heard that ducks will sleep in a row, and the ones on the end keep their eyes open and half-sleep, then when they're tired, they shuffle back to the inside of the row and the ones on the end half-wake up.