Limning the Ordinary

Limning the Ordinary

Share this post

Limning the Ordinary
Limning the Ordinary
Drinking from a Chipped Mug

Drinking from a Chipped Mug

Savoring Syllables

Bonita Jewel's avatar
Bonita Jewel
Feb 03, 2024
∙ Paid
2

Share this post

Limning the Ordinary
Limning the Ordinary
Drinking from a Chipped Mug
Share

Saturday is the one day a week I can sleep as late as I'd like. This usually means I am awakened by a cat. If my son gets up earlier than me and lets in the outside cats, then it's Beluga, the cutest purr machine.

If not, then it's Naiti, 20+ pounds of cat, landing on my stomach or, as this morning, my shoulder. Waiting for his breakfast.

It was already 8:00 so I got up and started the chai. There is an unspoken rule between my husband and I that whoever gets up first makes the chai.

So I put water in the pot, peeled and ground fresh ginger, and added the ginger and sugar to the water, let it boil a little, and then added milk. I noticed there were no cardamom pods left in their usual jar, so went hunting.

I found not whole cardamom but a bag of cardamom seeds that Dan must have picked up on his last trip to India.

By then the chai had been steeping a while so I quickly ground the cardamom seeds and added them. I've learned you put the cardamom in at the very end to get the best flavor.

Then I went in search of mugs.

I always know where my mug is as I use it daily. I drink from a cracked mug that states Rabbit Room 2021. It's just the right size.

But I couldn't find the mug I usually use for my husband. Probably in the van or at the warehouse, so I grabbed the first-ever Rabbit Room mug I obtained, in 2020. It usually stands next to my Cheese Book. (Because everybody needs a Cheese Book.)

By then, the tea I strained was a little strong, but that's the way I always make my chai. If it's too strong, I'll add a little bit more milk and sugar at the end.

I have some things to do today. Errands to run, drop-offs to make, and work. Work is always there.

But not just yet.

I grabbed a book off my poetry shelf, Wade in the Water, by Tracy K Smith. My introduction to this writer was via her memoir, Ordinary Light, which I read for a class during the MFA program at Fresno State. You know a memoir is done well when you see yourself in the narrative although you have lived a very different life.

I can't remember if I picked up Wade in the Water out of curiosity or whether that also was for a class. I’ve read it before but in more of a hurry.

This year, I want to read more poems. And to read them slowly. Tracy K Smith’s works are a good place to start. Accessible but deep, and meaningful.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Limning the Ordinary to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Bonita Jewel
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share