Elephant Revival
This past week, Edna Lu the tea bus caravaned with Ivan Dured, the late great space-shuttle/tour-bus of the Colorado-based band, Elephant Revival. For six days we traveled from show to show, down the coast, over hills, and over bridges. On any given night their instruments would sing inside the venue and the kettle would sing outside in Edna.
Joining us on the journey was a slew of several blends of tea (hand-delivered by Elephant Revival’s own Bridget Law) – a donation to the tea bus from The Steeping Leaf, a Telluride, CO-based tea and herb blending company. The company owner, Meghann, wrote a letter accompanying the tea. She says, “may these teas kindle thoughtful, genuine conversation with strangers and new friends you meet.” I like her sentiment.
One evening in Sebastopol, members of the opening band Free Peoples entered the tea bus, including singer and guitarist Tim. When asked what kind of tea he wanted, Tim said he wanted something relaxing. I offered him some of The Steeping Leaf’s Lavender Bliss that I had brewed up. He said, “Really, you have Lavender Tea? Well, I have a song about Lavender Tea. How about we make a trade?” So I served him up a cup and he busted out the coolest song about the said brew. “There’s nothing more relaxing than a Lavender Tea…” The ironic part was that the cup of Lavender tea he was drinking was his first. Everyone was laughing, singing, and having a grand ol’ time.
I’d like to give a big thanks to Elephant Revival for letting the tea bus caravan down the road, and the invitation to do it again.
After spending two months with Common Vision, my daily schedule was aligned with getting up early for school, and working until I was tired at 10 or 11 pm. This tour schedule was the opposite, with some real late nights, which is probably why I got sick (even though I hadn’t on Fruit Tree Tour like so many others had). I actually had to cancel the Berkeley tea party that I had emailed my Bay Area tea-mail list about. Oh well, there’s always more tea parties.
Now, after being on the road pretty hardcore for over two months, I am ready to get back in the groove with Edna for a little while to do some more work on her interior, as well as serve some tea to folks.