Gyo no gyo daisu

Today I began learning Gyo no gyo daisu with Nakatani-sensei.  As this way takes much longer, we practice once and finish okeiko for the day.  Usually, tea students practice this way just once a month, but Nakatani-sensei said that it was okay to continue coming to okeiko every week.  (Yes!!)
We looked at her instructor's notes together, as this form is passed down from teacher to student, after oiemoto has given permission for the teaching to take place.  The transmission of teachings is supposed to be unwritten, so I can't write too much about it here.  Only that everything I've learned up to this point comes into play, along with some new manners and ways of handling utensils.
I enjoy practicing tea very much, but when asked about it, I can't pinpoint just why. Maybe is it the simplicity of the surroundings, or the focus required.  If I think about something other than what I am doing, I quickly lose my place and make mistakes.  I think it helps me to concentrate and regard every day objects in a new fashion.  For instance, can you recall the shape of your favorite pen? The color of ink it uses?  How long is it?  How does it feel in your hand?  If you did not have the pen in your hand, could you remember these things?  If you use it every day, it should be easy...right? 'It's just a pen', you might say. 'Nothing out of the ordinary'.  But if you use it every day, it should have importance to you--as a tool or a treasured object.  So "knowing" that pen can help you respect it a little more.

Like Ichiro and his bats.

“In Japan we take care of our instruments, our bats and our gloves,” Suzuki says in his interview with NYT. “We take care of them well because these things are very important.”