Tear Water Tea

This summer I started getting audio books on my Kindle from the library for the kids. It makes it easier to spend time in the car and we have a family literary vocabulary. So far we've been through half of the Fudge series and most of the Ramona Quimby books as well as Miss Piggle Wiggle and some Amelia Bedelia books. I decided to get some for Sadie to listen to on her own since she and I are often in the car for a while waiting for the bigguns to get out of school. I got Mike Mulligan and Curious George and a book called Owl At Home. It's an easy chapter book that we started reading at story time at the library on Monday, but we didn't get very far. 

The third chapter is called Tear Water Tea and it's about how.Owl decides.to make tear water tea. He sits in a chair with his tea kettle and begins to think of sad things like pencils too short to be used and mashed potatoes left on a plate because no one wanted to eat them and music that can't be sung anymore because the word have been forgotten. Soon he's crying great fat tears and fills his kettle. He makes tea, which he says is a bit salty but it is always good. 

Owl making tear water tea.

There is something very simplistic but also true about this chapter. Sometimes you have to bear witness to all the sad things and take them in something about that is both strenuous and also nourishing and soothing. 

I may have to think about that chapter for a long time. I know there's more to that story than just sadness and tea.