At the Peet’s on campus, I was standing in line thinking my new thing that January morning would be to try something other than my usual drip coffee or chai tea. A small chalkboard on the wall proclaimed a new drink: “The London Fog.”
London, one of my favorite cities.
I love staying in a Victorian-era hotel, walking through parks and museums (marveling that I can linger before Titians and Van Goghs for free!), and hanging out in dark pubs trying new food and beer.
This is one of the greatest pleasures of traveling: so many new things to try, to see, to discover.
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| London Plane Tree |
As I sipped my yummy London Fog (black tea, soy milk, vanilla syrup) I realized I can be a tourist, an explorer, in my own life. The sweet, new taste inspired me to see familiar things anew as I walked to class. Thinking about a student’s paper I’d just read about the 180 species of trees that populate the campus, I watched the familiar landscape come alive in a new way before my eyes: a spiny Crape myrtle that would soon explode in bright pink blossoms, a towering ginko, and yes--the pale gray-green bark of a London plane.
I thought about how as we live our daily routines, we can discover what’s new right in front of us. It’s like perpetually being on vacation.
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