Papua New Guinea

 Some people romanticize snow. Then there's me. I don't know how much more snow we have accumulated over the last week, and I know there's more to come today and tomorrow. The van marooned in the yard across the street has a pile of snow behind it that goes up to the bottom of the back window on the left side. There are still a few inches of the body visible below the back window on the right side at this point, but I'm sure mother nature will take care of that at some point. Granted, that pile has been made in part by a snow plow, but the flat flat Midwest has the transient mountains of winter yet again. 

This picture was actually taken a week ago. We've had more snow since then, and it's snowing now - I can hear it hitting the roof in my upstairs office. The mountains are higher, and today's high is -5 F. I don't feel like taking another picture, it's too depressing.

Yes, that's sidewalk at the very bottom of the picture. It's also cold. -8 F in the morning on the day when I took this particular picture, that's about -22 C (if I did the math right). We need a warm destination and a warm beverage to go with it. Let's head to the Pacific ocean north of Australia. The island of New Guinea in the Malay Archipelago is divided into 2 districts. The western half of the island is comprised of Indonesian provinces. The eastern half is Papua New Guinea. 70% of this country is covered with tropical rainforest, and the terrain ranges from swampy lowlands to the peak of Mount Wilson at 14,793 feet (4,509 meters). These changes in geography largely keep people separate, and over 700 languages are spoken in this country. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, and like Alaska, a lot of travel is done by air since there are not many roads. 

I wasn't able to find much of anything out about how the locals drink their tea. I did find that they grow both tea and coffee there. I did find a video that showed someone drinking a cup of what looked like black tea. So, for this tropical paradise, I made a pot of peach ginger black tea. 

Yes, I have a new teapot. The glaze on the one frequently pictured before in this blog was crazing really badly. Like I washed my teapot and hear it pinging. I put hot water in my teapot and could hear it pinging, so I decided it was time to invest in a new one. 

Now stay indoors, draw the blinds, and try to pretend it's not winter!