Orange Blossoms!

For years after our move to Virginia Street, we would always have oranges coming out of our ears.  So many, in fact, that we would leave hard-to-reach fruit on the trees (orange trees are extremely thorny). After the big freeze of February 2011, there were no more blossoms or fruit.  All of the citrus trees in El Paso died back to the roots, and I feared that ours grew back from below the grafts. But this year, finally, we are getting blossoms.  Which means that fruit will--hopefully--follow.

I Will Give Them Rest in Safety

Wall hanging, Coptic, 4th-6th Century

I will make a covenant for them on that day,

with the wild animals,

With the birds of the air,

and with the things that crawl on the ground.

Bow and sword and warfare

I will banish from the land,

and I will give them rest in safety.

--Hosea 2:20

                     

Ash Wednesday Haiku

Loose Mardi Gras beads

Brilliant gold, purple, and green

Harvested by crows

The World Must Be Romanticized

Die Welt muss romantisiert warden (The world must be romanticized), Novalis wrote.  What did he mean by this?  He described the romanticized world as one where the ordinary was extraordinary, and the extraordinary ordinary. To create such a world is precisely the task of literature, especially poetry, which is why Novalis styled the Golden Age that would be ushered in when the world was romanticized a poetic Golden Age.

Ginnistan

Es liegt nur an der Schwäche unsrer Organe und der Selbstberührung, daß wir uns nicht in einer Feenwelt erblicken. Alle Märchen sind nur Träume von jener heimatlichen Welt, die überall und nirgends ist. Die höhern Mächte in uns, die einst als Genien unsern Willen vollbringen werden, sind jetzt Musen, die uns auf dieser mühseligen Laufbahn mit süßen Erinnerungen erquicken.

It is only because of the weakness of our sensory organs and our self-inculcation that we do not see ourselves in a fairy world.  All fairy tales are just dreams of our true home that is everywhere and nowhere.  The higher powers within us, that will one day--like genies--accomplish whatever we will, are, at the present, muses who refresh us with sweet memories on this arduous journey.                                                                                                 --Novalis

We Are near Waking When We Dream That We Dream

When I slept, I was somewhat consoled by my dreams; but all the time I dreamed, I knew that I was only dreaming. But one night, at length, the moon, a mere shred of pallor, scattered a few thin ghostly rays upon me; and I think I fell asleep and dreamed. I sat in an autumn night before the vintage, on a hill overlooking my own castle. My heart sprang with joy. Oh, to be a child again, innocent, fearless, without shame or desire!

                                                                          --George MacDonald Phantastes

Cardamom

It may seem strange, in the middle of winter, to be writing about an herb, especially a tropical one.  But this is the time of year when I always enjoy a cup of cardamom tea, and cardamom is also appropriate for the season of cold and ’flu.  Elettaria cardamomum, also known as green or white cardamom, is one of the two types of “cardamom” used as a spice in Indian and other South Asian cooking (the other is black cardamom, Amomum subulatum).  Both are members of the ginger family, but green cardamom is the herb I am discussing here.  Its seeds are used as a medicine as well as a flavoring spice. 

     Cardamom tastes cool, fresh, slightly sweet and peppery, and makes a wonderful flavoring ingredient for everything from curries, chutneys, pulses and rice to kulfi (a kind of ice cream).  (Cardamom kulfi is a great party treat and simple recipes for it can be found on the internet.  Even though I usually don’t do dairy these days, I love it!)  It also makes a great tea.  Because cardamom can be quite expensive, it is commonly used as a flavoring in black tea, or mixed with other spices and black tea in chai, but I like it alone as well.  It is important to buy cardamom seeds still in their papery pods, and only take them out when you are planning to use them (you can even leave them in the pods when you cook with them).  They should be stored in an airtight jar, otherwise they will lose their flavor after a while, even if they are still in their pods.  A couple of fingers-full of seeds crumbled to powder can make a good tea, and you will definitely get your money’s worth in taste if you keep them fresh.

     Medicinally, cardamom is approved by Commission E for treating colds, bronchitis, sore throat, coughs, and fevers.  Cardamom has virustatic properties, and the monoterpene essential oils found in it are antibacterial and antimycotic.  Cardamom is also used for gallbladder and liver complaints because of its cholagogic properties, but it can actually aggravate certain gallbladder and liver problems as well.  I would only recommend it be used by someone with liver or gallbladder problems under the supervision of a trained herbalist or other medical specialist familiar with its use in inducing bile flow.  It is also used traditionally for digestive problems.

     So if you’re feeling a cold coming on, or you just want a tasty hot beverage, make yourself a fragrant cup of cardamom tea on a frosty winter night.