Amid all the coronavirus chaos, each of us is adjusting to the new normal. Now, I don’t want to sound like some grumpy old guy complaining. I really don’t get too upset with life. I attempt to address the issues and resolve them. Sometimes, I am not the Mr. Fixit that I like to think that I am. When I can’t fix a problem, I find someone to fix it for me.

Interestingly, I had a long litany of household problems to resolve. All of them seemed to come together in the first part of May and were begging for a resolution. In addition, May 18th was the twelfth anniversary of my two dances with death, which both occurred in the early part of 2008. All of the physical repairs around my home blended with my anniversary of my two dances with death.

In the midst of the array of repairing things along with addressing my reason for being, life seemed to morph together as my new normal. Interestingly, I was also aware that I was dealing with things quite well. I would get up in the morning, circumnavigate the lake, and return home an hour later and make breakfast for myself, which consisted of a grapefruit. Ginger would have her breakfast while I watched the news on TV.

Then I would make what I call Bo Bo Gyi Tea. My concoction consists of a packet of Royal Myanmar Teamix and a cinnamon teabag. The reason for the mixture is that I have a large 32 oz. mug. One teabag isn’t enough. Once my tea mix is nuked, I would add a bit of honey. Then I am off to my office.

So, what’s with my culinary ritual? When I was in Myanmar during winter break, Moh Moh, the mother of my three Myanmar granddaughters, gave me a bag of Royal Myanmar Teamix as one of my going away gifts from the family.

Also, Moh Moh and Ko Ko’s mother on both sides of the family each gave me similar gifts. Their gifts were two different types of Myanmar coffee. I enjoy all three gifts. However, the tea is emotionally my favorite. I had already used Moh Moh’s gift and bought another bag from Amazon, which did last awfully long. This is the second bag of tea that I ordered from Amazon. Ginger wants to know what Amazon sent her. She hopes it contains some dog treats.

Prior to my last visit, I usually just had coffee in the morning. When I drink from one of my 32 oz mugs, I’ll be able to nurse my drink into early afternoon. I will merely nuke it to reheat the coffee several times.

At this point in this essay, you are probably wondering what’s with the change that I made from American coffee to Royal Myanmar Teamix? Well, the reason goes back to my second trip. I took my three grandchildren shopping at Ocean, which is a large department store in Taunggyi. The parents dropped us off and said that they would return in a couple hours. It started out as a great time for me. I had told them that I had met Bo Bo Gyi, ဘိုးဘိုးကြီး, which means great grandfather, while he was visiting the States. Bo Bo Gyi is a Buddhist nat or similar to what we call a saint. He was a nice nat. However, I made up the storyline about meeting him in America. I also added some additional poetic license. I told the girls that he gave me some money to go shopping with them.

Ti Ti was 13 or 14 and accepted my storyline without ruining it for her two much younger sisters, Snow and Fatty. The details about the shopping spree weren’t questioned by the younger ones. They picked out some clothes and dolls that they wanted. That took less than fifteen minutes and quickly ended my fun time.

I said to Ti Ti that we needed to go look for something for her. While she was polite, the battle ensued. Her first comment was that she had all the clothes that she needed. My retort was she might not need a new outfit, but I would just like her to pick some clothes like a dress. She must have known that I was into this shopping spree. So, she countered with this rejoinder, “You pick it out. In that way, I will remember you when I wear it.” I told Ti Ti that I have never bought clothes for my two daughters or granddaughter especially when they were teenagers.

Our little war with words lasted long enough that Moh Moh came looking for us. I explained my case and she assisted me. Finally, it was resolved, and we went looking for Ko Ko and the two younger girls.

I realized what Ti Ti was saying to me and remembering me. As we were going down an escalator, I recalled watching Ti Ti looking at a scarf. I told them that I would be right back. I saw something that I wanted for myself. I went to the store and picked out my favorite scarf for Ti Ti. In that way she could remember me. It wasn’t two minutes before I started to ponder the words from Elton John’s, Circle of Life.

That explains my love for Royal Myanmar Teamix. It is how I can remember Moh Moh, Ko Ko, Ti Ti, Snow, and Fatty. They completed my circle of life…

The Circle of Life