Ross Snyder wrote a small book of poems about marriage and family life called “Inscape.” The poems have been an inspiration for us for all of our marriage and they have been quoted by us in many marriage ceremonies at which we have officiated. There is one line that we have used over and over again: “Love is to be a home where friends from all over the world meet together for good fellowship and new creation, for the play of mind upon mind; living toward world humanity.” That line came to us when we were shopping for a new home last year. As we made up the things we were looking for in a new home, one of our priorities was to have room for guests.

Having room for family is important to us. We want to have space for our grandchildren to play and space for the family to gather for meals. We want to have places where we can gather outdoors as well as indoors. Although our son’s farm is close and they have quite a bit of space, it is important to use to have room for them to come to our home as well. And living so far from our daughter, having room for her family to stay at our home was a high priority. Although we have downsized a lot from the home we had in Rapid City, having guest bedrooms was very important to us.

In the eight months that we have lived here, we have had the joy of entertaining guests several times. My sister and to of Susan’s sisters have come for visits. Three of our grandchildren stayed over night on the evening when their baby brother was born. We hosted our daughter-in-law’s father and stepmother for a weekend. For all of our married life, having space for guests has been a high priority and now that we have reached a stage of semi-retirement, we want to continue hosting for as long as we are able.

So we are very excited that in a week our daughter and grandson will arrive for a visit and the next week, friends from Australia arrive. Tony, our Australian friend, has visited us in each place we have lived since we graduated from Seminary, with the exception of the rental where we lived for the first year after retiring. We’ve hosted his family in Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, and South Dakota. We are eager to show him around Northwest Washington.

As we were anticipating the visit, we were talking about what groceries we want to have on hand. We don’t have to be fully stocked, as there will be time to pick up a few groceries when they are here and even going grocery shopping is an adventure when you are traveling in another country. When we visited in Australia, we enjoyed seeing where they purchase their groceries. Somehow our conversation got around to tea. When we were seminary students, having a cuppa was an important ritual of our lives. At the end of the evening, when studying was suspended for another day, out would come a teapot and we’d have a cup of tea together before heading to bed. Most of the time there would be a cookie to go with the tea - a small snack at the end of a long day.

These days we are avoiding caffeine and our tea of choice is peppermint. That is one of the staples in our pantry that we make sure is always in supply. There are a couple of other teas there, including decaffeinated spiced chai, another favorite, but we don’t have the larger range of teas that we once kept on hand. At present, there is no Earl Gray or English Breakfast tea in our cupboard. We know, from years of friendship, that our Australian guests will not be picky about tea. They are delighted to simply share our life for the duration of their visit. Still, as hosts, we want to make sure that we have tea that they like. And we intend to have a small supply of caffeinated tea available if they choose to drink it. So we added tea to the small list of things we want to pick up at the store.

That conversation led me to comment on the fun video from the celebration of the Queen of England’s platinum jubilee celebration where the Queen hosts Paddington Bear for tea and they discuss marmalade sandwiches. Australia is a part of the British Commonwealth, so Her Majesty is Queen of Australia. And Tony was born in England, and holds dual citizenship in Australia and England. When we think of British tea, we always remember stopping at a small tea house in Tasmania where we enjoyed tea and scones with jam and clotted cream when we visited Australia in 2006. So a bit of Anglophilia is in order for their visit. I did a quick google to see if I could find out what kind of tea the queen served to Paddington Bear. After all, not knowing all of the proper protocol for a visit with the Queen, Paddington Bear made the slip of drinking directly from the tea pot.

I didn’t find out what kind of tea they enjoyed, but I did discover that a decade ago, when the Diamond Jubilee was celebrated a special 60th Anniversary blend of tea was created just for the occasion. Murchie’s Diamond Jubilee Tea, a flavored black tea blend, is still available. At the official tea part of the celebration on Sunday, I discovered that several types of tea were available including Earl Gray Tea, English Breakfast Tea, Decaffeinated Earl Gray, and a variety of fruit teas. The tea was served with cream, something we rarely do, though I don’t mind adding a bit of milk to my tea. New English Teas offered a special tin with 40 bags of English Breakfast Tea for the occasion. However the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee 2022 Tea Tin with 40 English ‘Breakfast Teabags is sold out, so we won’t have that to offer our guests. I’ve been told that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Tin is still available, but I’m not planning on ordering that one, either. I’ll stop by the grocery store and pick up a box of black tea and another of decaffeinated black tea and we’ll be all set.

After all, it isn’t about the type of tea, nor is it even about the house. It is about friends gathered. And that is the love we enjoy.