[Teahouse] Hello From The Playa

[Annie Harrison]

Dear Friends,

Greetings from the Black Rock desert. I've been out here on the playa since Monday with a group of hardy volunteers building the ATL theme camp which includes the Crystal Cavern Dome and the Saraswati Tea House. Together with about nine other people, we have also constructed a comfortable central shade structure where we had a lovely group dinner last night complete with many cups of tea. It's hard work, but we are having a fine time. Community yoga practice this morning was well-attended. 

The playa has been beautiful. Breezy days, warm nights, spectacular sunsets. Our 200' by 200' space is positioned for an excellent view of the mountains and we can see the Temple being erected across the playa. It's quite a structure. 

The frame of the Tea House has been built. We will attach the sides in the next few days and then begin to drape the space with white cloth and put down rugs and pillows. We are already using the sturdy hot water heaters that we will use to heat tea water in the Tea House. Our friend Fritz, who first introduced us to the Art of Tea, has been pouring some lovely pu'er tea and herbal blends for us during our breaks from work. 

Before leaving from San Francisco on Sunday, Fritz introduced us to Master Wong who created the Medicine Buddha Tea House and Healing Center in the Mission district in San Francisco. We drank tea with Master Wong, purchased some of his excellent pu'er, and heard his vision for how tea houses can help revitalize inner city neighbors. We're grateful to have his wise and generous support for our Tea House. We will try to Skype in next Friday from our playa tea house to his weekly tea ceremony in SF. 

For our Gong Fu Chinese tea service, we are using elegant glass tea pots, pitchers and tea trays that we purchased from our friend Oshan, owner of the Om Shantea Tea House, who has made it possible for us to use the correct tea supplies for our service. Many thanks to Oshan for his encouragement and blessing for this project. And an extra special thanks to Ash and Jeff, our wise tea friends, who gamely accompanied me to Chinatown in SF where we visited many, many shops until we found the perfect tea cups. True friends.

Will send you all another update from the playa as the Tea House is completed. 

Lots of Dusty Love,

Annie