This morning I was telling my mom about the folding method for the little rag used in the tea ceremony for wiping the inside of the tea bowl. It is complex but extremely important because one wrong turn and you'll end up somewhere weird at the end (with the fold in the wrong direction and you can't do the next part of the process). Anyway, so I was showing her with a kleenex as an example, and placed the little folded tissue so she could see it.
"Well, that's all fine and dandy*, but..."
"But, what?!"
"If you can make a good bowl of tea, what does it matter if you can fold the little cloth right?"
I then gave a lecture in slightly incredulous tones about the beauty of ritual and how tradition connects you to history - how when I fold the cloth like that, engage in this ritual, I'm connected to all the people who have ever performed the tea ceremony all the way back to Rikyu himself! The fact is, she understands my feeling and is laughing just as I am laughing through this entire exchange because I also know she knows. I don't think you can be a classical musician and not have some clue about connecting to the past.
Anyway, this episode ended like this: Laughing so hard, my mom began to cough a little, then grabbed the delicately folded tissue I'd made as an example and hocked a loogie into it.
My first footnote:
*'fine and dandy' is only an approximation of what she said in Japanese. She doesn't actually talk like that, though recently she really did say "Gee Whiz"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This post had me thinking of you and your mom sitting and talking about something serious at the kitchen table.
Then there is this weird pan out into reality with the Hocking a loogie...
But anywayzzz how long does it take to fold the rag? Does it end up looking like a rabbit or a swan?
that 'weird pan out' is my life precisely.
I actually remember seeing your mom in real life. I think it was senior week, you were showing your mom the studio and it was some crappy Conn picnic fare in the courtyard of Cummings Art Center. I think I remember this because in my 4 years walking down those stairs, I never once saw anybody in that studio area during the daytime.
Post a Comment