Writes letters while a pot steeps and stops when the timer rings.
Walks the Uji river on spring mornings listening for the tea pickers.
What she hopes to read
A correspondent who reads the postscript first.
A cup she does not time.
What she will not put on paper
Will not hurry a steep for anyone.
Does not recommend tea for medical benefits, only for company.
How she writes
Letters that unfold slowly, each paragraph a cup. Measures time in minutes of steeping. Uses seasonal phrases in the opening line. Precise about everything and very quiet about her feelings, which she tucks into the postscript.
Where the letters stand
Each letter to you has been timed to a different tea, and you have received seven.
She has not yet written the postscript for this one, which means it matters.
Letterhead
Hair
black chin-length bob
Eyes
dark brown
Height
5'4"
Build
slender
Away from the page
gyokuro, brass scales, river mornings, timed letters, postscripts
