Iced Tea Memories

I gave it a year. I tried to be supportive. I was willing to let the voters have their voices heard. I, too, hoped for a promised 'change' for the better...

I had to give up iced-tea when I was 18. I was told it was necessary to qualify for a temple recommend. It was extra torment because I was engaged to be married in the scorching heat of the middle of July! You see, I was hooked. Iced tea was like the Mormon's Kool-Aid when I was growing up. It was the beverage of choice for a summer thirst quencher. It was even, as Tevya would say, "Tradition"! Towards the end of May, out would come Grandma Elna with her 4-quart glass tea jar. Along with the blooming lilacs, it was a sure sign that the school year was ending and summer was close. Grandma would almost ceremoniously place it in it's prestigious resting spot -atop the cement & bricked barbeque on the back lawn in the direct sunshine. We were forbidden to ever touch it. (For a woman of 4' 11" tall and 104# soaking wet, we always knew Grandma meant business! She was the object lesson of why dynamite is packed in small containers.) So, we watched and waited from the seats of the swingset and teetor-totter as the tea bags were allowed to 'steep'. Fresh lemons sliced, cups of sugar carefully measured, and ice cubes released from metal trays were our signals that the 'brew' had reached its peak of perfection! We'd listen for the sound of the back screen door and watch. Grandma, in her kitchen apron, would walk across the lawn, untwist the top of the jar, dip in her wooden spoon, and gingerly taste the concoction. She'd roll it around in her mouth and savor it much like a professional wine tester. All eyes watched for the approving smack of her lips and 'the nod'. That was the long-awaited signal to all of us grandkids. The race to the kitchen cupboard was on! The objective was to be one of the four lucky winners to reach the coveted tall, brightly-colored aluminum tumblers first. Nobody wanted to be stuck with the pale pastel, plastic ones. That meant last in line for 'the pouring' and left holding a much smaller container. It was nearly our family's right of passage to be first in the line for, through the years, the barbeque lineup usually went from oldest to youngest cousin. A few years later, Lipton made a store-bought version that made an 'instant' variety. After that, our tradition ceased. Iced tea was always ready in a pitcher in the fridge-just waiting for pouring. (Wouldn't you know it? Just as I was almost the oldest cousin around?)
I've not touched iced tea for 35 years, but in a restaurant, during the heat of a summer day, when I see a lemon slice perched precariously on the rim of a clear, ice-filled glass of it, my mouth still waters. (I told you I was hooked!) Floods of cousin memories and fun times fill my mind and I see my sweet Grandma Elna...The warm summer sun is hitting her iced tea jar and her beautiful red hair. And there I am...about 8th in line, holding a 4-ounce lavendar plastic tumbler reaching out for my portion of summer ambrosia.
So, you're asking: What's my point? Well, I am just wondering... do they serve the herbal type at the Tea Party conventions??? God Bless my dear America! We are going to need it!