Reading the Tea Leaves

Already I have lived longer than my dad and brothers. At 68 I find myself living happily in Longbranch after a lifetime as a third-generation Californian. We moved up to be closer to our grown kids and grandkids. We quickly realized that the freeway system here isn’t what it is down south, so the frequency of visits was an early dream. Now we are settling in, knowing that winter is on the way and the season will be punctuated with welcome holiday family visits.

So now in Longbranch, I find myself reading and watching the tea leaves of nature: the turning leaves, the moving clouds, the shifting breezes. I can tell now when the rain will stop as the birds quickly return to their feeders. If only I could have read the tea leaves of my life more carefully in the past. I had no idea how different and how good my life would become. Not saying it hasn’t been difficult. As parents, we have watched our kids struggle while they attempt to read the tea leaves of their own lives.

We are observing a cataclysmic upheaval of hatred play out in various parts of the world and also in our own country. It has become so easy to target one another with hate. Did we collectively read the tea leaves correctly? Are we intended to live this way?

Are the world leaders consulting the teacups? Where are they obtaining the wisdom needed to safely guide us all to a safe harbor? They need to sit down with many cups of tea, I think, to consult the leaves, to speak with us, and to listen to each other.

Here in Longbranch on this gray day, I am sipping on my chai spice tea and hoping to see good things for all of us at the bottom of the cup.

Suzanne Brint, Longbranch