The Tea Party

FTLComm - Tisdale - August 23, 2000

Carefully laid out and served with proper etiquette a tea party is one of the superior social functions a person can experience. Edifying and elegant with lively conversation and lots of subtle exchanges. This party is on a lawn with the hostess just on her way back to the house for some extra things (not in the picture). Those who are attending a tea party for their first time were helped with the finer points a few minutes earlier (camera misfired, had to come around for a second shot) but everyone was in their place and a grand time was being had by all. The traditions of social life live from one age to another are passed along and practiced as we humans, who so seriously need each other in all that we do, establish and reestablish our interactions with one another. The girls in this picture appreciate the importance of learning and enjoying this experience but are not likely to realise that what they are learning on this lawn today will determine how their lives will go in the years to come. Alliances, friendships, societal understandings that require a lifetime to develop need to be fostered under a shady tree, on a lawn, in August.