Teas, Wild Roses, and Witty Seasons
Weatherwise, we have had a simply fabulous Spring, Summer, and Autumn, this our first year in northern Alberta.
There was a short heatwave I could have done without, but for the most part just about every day pretty fine. Enough rain and enough sun. Trees of green and fields of gold. Roaming deer, chubby bears, and elusive moose. My garden did amazingly and it was pleasure to be outside.
Madame Autumn continues to grant us balmy days, the lingering touch of summer; but if the weather forecast is to be believed in a few short days, the temperatures will plummet several degrees below zero, Celsius, at night and not get much above freezing in the daytime. It is to be expected. Game of Thrones is not reality, and here in the hinterlands, it doesn't take six seasons for winter to come, only three.
So if Ole Father Winter is about to take Lady Autumn roughly by the shoulders and lay a deep kiss upon her carmine lips, literally shake her bright sheaves to the cold ground, what is with the pale pink blooms? You are looking at wild Alberta roses, the ubiquitous summer blooms of the western prairies.
Wild roses smell divine and their hips, seed casings, if large enough, make a sweet bite ... if one is careful and avoids the acerbic seeds. Rose hips can also be made into a vitamin C rich herbal tea to fight off scurvy should you ever be without fresh meat, sauerkraut, and fresh fruit. Or if you just enjoy a warm fruity drink on a cold mid-winter and dark evening.
Minime and I have been enjoying long country walks. There are still rose hips a plenty. I think tomorrow we may set about picking a container's worth, dehydrating, and storing them for tea. The thing is I used to have a mild addiction for buying herbal. Let's just say, I stocked up.
Perhaps, we might just grab a few to make a decorative pumpkin display and work through the tea I have ... pause ... I went to make some tea. No not rosehip tea, but a Tetley concoction called Boost. It is a lovely warming brew, with flavors of peach, ginger, and dandelion. It claims to also be a source of B6. A source of vitamins or not, it is a delicious straight and would also be lovely with some citrus and honey.
Onto the poem of the day. The Black-Wit Reveller was written more than a decade ago and is housed in Strays, a Collection of Short Stories and Philosophical Love Poems. In it I imagine Nature, a hostess-extraordinaire, a la Great Gatsby style. Sleepy Autumn gathers up her bumble bees and fading flower leaves and leaves Autumn and Winter canoodle, while Spring awaits the turning of the year and her cance to host her own garden soireé.
Brew your own favorite tea or poor some whiskey and enjoy.
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Words and Images are my own.
The Black-Wit Reveller is published in Strays. Strays is available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.