One of life’s little luxuries for me is drinking tea–when I am taking time to actually taste it, that is. There are those minutes when I am in a hurry and gulp it down, without noticing the taste, other than that it’s wet. Those minutes are not a state of luxury for me; they are more of necessity. I’m thirsty; I gulp it down.
The moments of luxury come when I take the time to sip the beverage, hot or cold, and enjoy the taste of it. Those moments may come in relaxation, as when I’m sitting on the front porch watching the visiting bunny chow down the weeds and grass, or when I’m in the middle of some mental activity.
What makes the luxury is a sense of deliberateness, of making space for the enjoyment of the tea. In my mind I have a picture of pushing away my “to-do” list, however temporarily, for the sake of a quiet place of refreshment. That quiet place of refreshment both calms and revives me for what’s ahead. I guess you could call it my “adult time-out”.
While Americans generally don’t put a whole lot of emphasis on tea-drinking, the English and Japanese are known for the rituals they developed for tea time. I don’t know if they still keep those rituals or not, perhaps a reader could fill me in. I hope they do. The world goes faster every day. In such a world, you need to deliberately take time to slow down and enjoy some luxury. It makes life richer.
©P. Booher
Country Ripples 
I love fall except for the time change in November. The early dark seems so depressing. Several years back, I decided to celebrate the change by making it the time to indulge in the luxury of curling up with a good book and a cup of hot tea. I buy a new to me flavor for the occasion. During those dark evening months I allow myself that luxury with much greater frequency than during the daylight evening months.
I love the idea that you found a way to celebrate it; in a sense, you are being proactive.
I know different people find the longer evening hours depressing. We need light more than we realize, I think.
For myself, as the daylight grows shorter, my desire for brighter colors inside grows stronger. I brought some yellow candles and some mint-green candles downstairs, along with a fall arrangement of yellow and brown artificial leaves. The yellow candles pick up the yellow in the leaves nicely. The mint-green candles make a nice, soothing display.
That arrangement sounds so beautiful. Not only does it give brighter color, it would also give the warm glow of light to the room.