Comment on Teahouse in West York stirs the beauty in the everyday

Teahouse in West York stirs the beauty in the everyday

(AP) — Sitting a couple minutes off of Carlisle Road in West York, Todd Frey's teahouse defies its loud surroundings. Honoring a centuries-old Japanese tradition, Frey offers private "chado" lessons, where matcha tea is prepared and presented along with okashi (sweets) or another food. When he was young, Frey would watch David Carradine as he crossed the Old West as a Shaolin monk in the television show "Kung Fu," transfixed by the Asian culture. Growing up in York, he'd never witnessed tea ceremony or met a Shaolin monk. Frey was in for a surprise when he attended his first tea event: the main guest was the man he saw in that LIFE magazine photo so many years ago. When Frey thought to build a small tea room so he could practice daily, he realized he might be able to build one in his backyard. Though he does not use his teahouse as a business for public events, Frey, who is now a sensei — a teacher — offers private lessons to those who are interested in becoming students. Away from the teahouse, Frey works at a Giant grocery store, where he primarily cuts produce. A stone path led to a tiny sliding door that leads into the dark brown teahouse. The ceiling sits low as light tiptoes from a covered screen to a scroll, written by the first tea grandmaster, in the back of the teahouse. The floor is empty except for a basket of sweet treats, a few bowls and hot water we'll use for tea. Nate Miller, who has attended Frey's tea ceremonies, said the tea experience is an inherently exotic and symbiotic exchange between host and guest. "No matter how many times I've experienced the tea ceremony, I always find there is something new to observe, some nuance or shade of meaning, unnoticed before," Miller said. With a chashaku spoon, he scoops the bright green matcha powder from its natsume container into the bowls we'll drink from. What's nice is having a couple people join together, sit under the snow with a c

 

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