We had a nice cold snap the past couple of days, with our first light frost this morning. We’ve started in on that wood stack, but I think even if we are burning fires every day, it should last us for some time. It will warm up again over the next couple of days, for sure, but we are well into fall, and the cool days and cold nights and mornings are on their way.

I start each day with coffee, but most nights I drink tea. Often I make up just a single mug of something, but tonight, I brewed a whole pot of lapsang souchong, a very smoky black tea. It’s a family favorite, mostly because it reminds the kids of camping and tea brewed over the campfire. I can drink it any time of the year, but I have to admit it just seems to taste a little better when there’s a fire going and there’s a nip in the air.

But sipping tea tonight got me to thinking about another kind of “infusing”–namely, the way in which my own attitude and outlook and interactions with others can start to pervade in the household. For better or for worse.

Tonight it was impatience and irritation’s turn to steep for a while. It only took about five or ten minutes of frustration with a family member sitting in front of the computer for me to sour the mood in the house for a while. I realized what was happening as it was happening–which is good, I suppose–and did my best to change up the brew, so to speak. Apologies are good remedies, especially when they are sincere. So is forgiveness.

The house has settled back down again. The fire is starting to burn down as the kids head off to bed. I have poured myself another cup of tea, and soon I will be heading off to bed as well. But first, a little reading in front of the fire, a little more tea, and a little more appreciation for the pleasures of a peaceful home.