What a Wonderful World
Hey, Pops, what you mean:
'What a wonderful world'?
How 'bout all them wars all over the place?
You call them wonderful?
And how 'bout hunger and pollution?
That ain't so wonderful either.'
Well how 'bout listening to ol' Pops for a minute.
All I'm sayin' is: see what a wonderful world it would be.
If a lot more of us loved each other, we'd solve lots more problems."
What kind of person...
Would create a song like that in 1967?
In the midst of:
Social and Political upheaval + The Vietnam War + The Civil Rights Movement
Martin Luther King Jr.'s + Robert Kennedy's assassinations
What kind of person...
Would read this e-love letter in 2025?
In the midst of:
Job cuts + Immigration Crack Downs + Global Wars
Natural Disasters
Perhaps a person like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Who created another version of this song. He says:
"Facing future I see hope.
Hope that we will survive.
Hope that we will prosper.
Hope that we will
Reap the blessings of this magical land."
This month:
Let's remember:
What a Wonderful World
We live in.
"I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and for you
And I think to myself: what a wonderful world."
This flower
These flower-pickers
That fragrance
You, tea-drinker
And whom does it bloom for?
It blooms for you,
dear tea-drinker.
It blooms for them,
dear flower-pickers.
On my farm, harvesters and U-Pickers come and find the wonder-full.
I watch as young and old brush past chamomile + lavender...
The flowers' aroma releases... and they smile...as do I.
Such extravagant + simple gifts this world gives.
What a wonderful world.
"I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed days, dark sacred nights
And I think to myself: what a wonderful world."
What is it about a teacup...?
When I hold it in my hand I am compelled to:
Look beyond this cup.
Look at the sky.
Look at the clouds.
Look at the sunset.
Look at the stars.
And THEN take a sip.
And when I look over the brim of my teacup,
I am in a still enough to...
See
Such beauty.
What a wonderful world.
"The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, saying, 'How do you do?'
They′re really sayin', 'I love you.'"
I love to look...
At "The colors of the rainbow" over this herbal tea farm.
I am learning:
Nature offers us
so many
fleeting
opportunities
to appreciate beauty.
I also love to look...
Into the eyes of a guest on my herbal-tea farm.
Into the eyes of a stranger.
Drawn here.
I am also learning:
Life offers us
so many
fleeting
opportunities
to appreciate one another.
What a wonderful world.
"For without hope I cannot live, remember the past but do not dwell there, face the future where all our hopes stand."
-Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Dear Tea-Drinker,
My blessing to you and myself this month:
May we see each flower as it blooms just for me and you.
May we look past the rim of our teacup before we sip and see the beauty that lies there.
May we catch fleeting opportunities to appreciate beauty of nature and of one-another.
As always:
Thank you
I'm honored to be your herbal tea farmer.
Be well,
Shannon