Dandelion Tea Prose
I wanted a cup of dandelion tea. Sounded sweet and simple, until I wondered if I preferred tea made from the blossoms, leaves, or roots—the roots roasted, or not.
Reminded me of the foreigner arriving in New York City, not knowing a word of English, getting hungry. He formulated a plan: follow someone into a restaurant, and if what they ordered looked good, try ordering the same thing himself. Things went quite well, as he listened to the folks ahead of him order bean soup; it looked appetizing, and smelled good. “What will you have?” “Bea-n Sou-p, pl-ease!” He enjoyed eating it that meal… and ordered it the next meal, and the next. Now he wanted anything but bean soup. He got in line, unknowingly behind regulars — who placed a ham sandwich order. He didn’t understand a word anyone said, and waited to see what showed up. The sandwich looked very appetizing, and a whole lot different from bean soup. When it was his turn, he repeated in his best English, “Ha-m Sa-nd-wi-ch, please!” “Plain or rye?” “…??? … ??? … … Bea-n Sou-p, please.”
Blossoms? Leaves?? Or, roots??? Well, I made dandelion tea using the whole plant!
July 16th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Good, complete explanation. Comprehensive, long. That was Barry’s story. I may make some dandelion tea when the weather is cooler. I saved you a dandelion stem over two feet long and forgot to give it to you when you were here. This website took a lot of work.
Love, Mother
July 16th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Thanks, Mother! Great to hear from you! I’m happy to keep Barry’s story going strong. I always loved hearing him tell it so expressively.
Wow! A dandelion stem over two feet long? How wonderful!! Any more??
Glad you liked the explanation. It’s good I printed the short version!
Love, Ruth
July 16th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Ruth,
I thought it was Dad’s joke, and the alternative to bean soup was hot dog… “Ketchup, mustard, chili, slaw, onions…all the way?…” No wonder he was overwhelmed! My experience has been, though, that no one really “gets it” unless they’ve traveled in a foreign land, trying hard to speak a language they don’t know or barely know.
George
July 17th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Thanks, George!
See, in Germany I order Löwenzahntee!
And get the dandelion tea that I want!
Ruth