I am back

I apologize for not posting the last couple of weeks.  It has been a crazy summer.  The intensive is complete, the craft show was a success, and now my son is a married man. What a beautiful wedding and fun reception.

In the meantime, here are a few events coming up this weekend:

Chanoyu Presentation at the Portland Japanese Garden

1 pm and 2 pm at Kashintei, the tea house

FREE with Garden admission

3rd Annual
C.H.A .  Art Show & Sale
Sat. & Sun., August 21 and 22, Noon to 6pm


This Show represents a collection of artisans who study Chado ~The Way of Tea
~a way of beauty
~a way of life.


Together, with a few Guest Artists, we offer our work in the spirit of peace & hospitality.
Ellen Ankenbrock ~ Richard Brandt
Patrick Gracewood ~Rebecca Owens
Duchess Patrick ~jan Waldmann ~ Margie Yap


Address: 8855 SW 36th Ave., Portland, Oregon, 97215
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
(The street view is old. The peach trees in the lawn are in Barstow for an extended vacation.)


***Look for the Giant Japanese Banner***


Directions: I-5 South, Exit Multnomah Blvd. Turn Left (South ) on 35th Ave.
Continue straight, do not fork to left.
This becomes SW Spring Garden Ct. which winds to the right and ends at Dolph Ct.
Turn left on Dolph Ct.
Turn right, almost immediately, onto 36th Ave.
8855 will be on your right. Park on street.


(Checks and Cash Only. Thx!)

A life with tea

An interesting article by Dr. Andrew Weil about the health benefits of green tea.  In part two he talks about drinking matcha in the morning.  I also drink matcha in the morning much like Dr. Weil.  I don't go through the whole ceremony, but I do warm the bowl, scoop tea and whisk it to a froth.  I always sit down to drink my matcha rather than stand in the kitchen and drink it.

When I was in Midorikai, I asked my sempai if I could make him a bowl of tea in the mizuya after class one day.  I was very casual about it and didn't do a good job whisking it.  He told me that every time I make a bowl of tea, I should whisk it as if I was making tea for the grand tea master: that I should put as much care and thought about making the tea as if I were in the tea room.  Every bowl of tea, he said, was the real tea.

So make yourself a bowl of matcha and take the time to make a real bowl of tea.

Tea house in Seattle

July 28, 2010
Recycled bottles pop up again, and this time they're a teahouse
By LYNN PORTER
Journal Staff Reporter

Architect Christopher Ezzell will spend next week in Occidental Park in a teahouse he fashioned from recycled plastic bottles.

The structure, created with the help of the Seattle branch of the Urasenke Foundation and others, will be made of 800 two-liter plastic bottles. Half of the bottles were previously used for a temporary art installation titled “waste not” in Pioneer Square's Nord Alley.

The cut-up bottles will be tied together with fishing line to make walls. The walls will hang off an aluminum hoop structure supported by aluminum poles, almost like a shower curtain.

“But hopefully it's going to look nicer than a shower curtain,” Ezzell said. The roof will be of Mylar previously used as a sail. Despite the effort at sustainability, some of the materials won't be green. “We couldn't be 100 percent LEED-certified,” quipped Ezzell, who heads a Vashon Island design firm called e workshop.

The project is equal parts architecture and performance installation. The idea is to build a three-dimensional structure where visitors can experience the intimate tea ceremony in which host and guest celebrate together.

“The experiment here is ‘can we have this experience in a busy urban setting and enjoy the values of (it)?'” said Ezzell, who is a student of tea at Urasenke. Inside the teahouse will be a platform made of reused cedar and cardboard, a flower arrangement and poem card that speaks to being in the moment. Ezzell and foundation members will demonstrate the tea ceremony Aug. 2 through Aug. 7, although the structure will be up through Aug. 8.

The teahouse is part of artSparks 2010, a program of King County's 4Culture and the city. The installations and performances — from street theater to temporary sculpture to music — will run through October in Occidental Park. The series began June 3 with “Build Here” by Room for Assembly, an artist collective that experiments with architecture.

Ezzell, who has a bachelor's in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, practiced architecture in New York City for 15 years before moving to Seattle. In 2004 he founded e workshop. The firm's work includes residential projects, Long Provincial restaurant and sidewalk cafe in downtown Seattle, the butter London shop at Sea-Tac, and the plaza and pedestal for the Alki Statue of Liberty in collaboration with Cast Architecture.

Copyright 2010 Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce

Charcoal heat vs. Electric Heat

There are pros and cons about using an electric burner while making tea. It's nice not having to worry about flying embers setting the tea room on fire, spilt water extinguishing your coals or carbon monoxide poisoning. It may be faster to adjust the temperature of the water with a twist of a nob. But in my humble opinion – in the age of the electric burner – tea practitioners are losing something unique to the experience of chado.

I say this because yesterday during class I made tea using live charcoal for the first time. I had no idea how different it was! The sound and behavior of the water in the kama is completely different. You have to be more attuned to the singing, like the particular pitch of the kama when the fire is dying down. This signals the guests that the chaji is almost completed. It's too bad it can be difficult to obtain and use charcoal outside of Japan. I think it really adds something to the overall aesthetic of the way of tea.

What differences have you observed in regards to charcoal heat vs. electric heat?

Donation received

I would like to take the time to publicly acknowledge a donation to the blog I received last month.

Thank you Robert for your kind donation to help keep this blog going.

If you would like to make your own donation, please use the Paypal button in the left column.  It will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for reading,

Margie

Edited:  I'd like to acknowledge and thank Katie for her generous donation to the blog as well.  It is so good to know that people are reading and appreciate what I post.  Thank you.

Margie