Tea and Turnips

This is our turnip mug, named after the book The Rabbit and the Turnip: a Chinese Fable (illustrated by Roswitha Gruttner and translated from the German by Richard Sadler), because the picture on the cup reminds us of the story. It is a beautiful story of self-sacrificing love among the animals of the farm and woodland. When a rabbit finds 2 turnips, he leaves one of them for a friend who finds it and who also decides to give it away. We get the book out around Epiphany and read it as a story of generosity and giving. The book begins with this:

It was a cold winter morning and snow covered the ground. Little Rabbit went out to look for food and he found two turnips. He gobbled up one of them. Then he said, "It is snowing so hard, and is so cold that perhaps Little Donkey has nothing to eat. I will take my other turnip to him." He ran to Little Donkey's house at once, but Little Donkey was out. So Little Rabbit left the turnip on Little Donkey's doorstep. Then he hopped back home.

It seems to be out of print but is available used, including at Amazon.com where the picture below came from:

The tea is one of the Celestial Seasonings teas. There are several of these that I'm fond of, and the Sleepytime blend is one I've enjoyed for years. I don't notice that it makes me sleepy, so I drink it at all times of day. Most recently, I drank some this past Sunday afternoon while watching some episodes from the 2001/2002 Timothy Hutton/Maury Chaykin Nero Wolfe TV series on DVD. It is a sad loss that the acclaimed show only lasted 2 seasons. Chaykin died in 2010 on his 61st birthday.