Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Living (29 page)

Our house was always festively adorned with fresh flowers, either plucked from our bountiful garden or bestowed upon the family by Mama’s thankful patients. She used to say, “Flowers have always given me the best feelings I know, and they remind me to be cheerful.”

When the sunny days of my family’s favorite season—summer—came to an end, a fog would shroud the meadows in the morning and we knew fall would soon be upon us. We felt an impending melancholy, yet a blue sky still 200 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

smiled at us often and the forests still wore their multicolored attire. The earth wore a coverlet of fallen gold, scarlet, and indigo leaves. The last rose of summer, a smudge of crimson paint against a fading canvas, loomed in a corner of our yard. Luxurious white and purple chrysanthemums and pink asters rose up from the remaining soil.

Flowers bring beauty to our life, along with freshness and good feelings. They truly take away “the fall’s melancholy”—our distress.

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More than anything, I must have flowers, always, always.

—Claude Monet (1840–1926), French impressionist painter
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Each flower is a soul opening out to nature.

—Gerard de Nerval (1808–1855), French romantic writer

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He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age,
but to him who is of an opposite disposition,

youth and age are equally a burden.

—Plato,
The Republic

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I never think of the future. It comes quickly enough.

—Albert Einstein (1879–1955), German-born American physicist
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Don’t Be Afraid of Good Stress @ 201

While there’s life, there’s hope.

—Cicero (106-43 B.C.), Roman orator, statesman, and philosopher
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Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale.

—William Shakespeare (1564–1616), English playwright and poet
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Only the grasshoppers made a combined whirring, as if infuriated—

such an oppressive, unceasing, insipid, dry sound. It was appropriate
to the inhabiting midday heat as if literal y by it, literal y summoned by
it out of the sun-smelted earth.

—Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883), Russian writer

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To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music; it is one of those
things which it is far better to enjoy, than to attempt fully to understand.

—Henry Theodore Tuckerman (1813–1871), American critic and writer
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What a pity flowers can utter no sound! A singing rose,
a whispering violet, a murmuring honeysuckle, oh, what a rare
and exquisite miracle would these be!

—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887), American clergyman

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To me the meanest flower that blows can give thoughts

that do often lie too deep for tears.

—William Wordsworth (1770–1850), English poet

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A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner.

—English proverb

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Trips to the Fairyland

Come in here. All my flowers would love to see you.

—Grandma

FACTS

Asthma is increasing in the United States and around the world. The prevalence of asthma around the world has doubled in the past 15 years.33

How many people have asthma in the United States?

^ Approximately 24.7 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with asthma, with at least 7.7 million of them children under the age of 18.

^ Asthma is the leading, serious, chronic illness among children in the United States.

Nearly 1 in 13 children in the United States has asthma, and this number is growing more rapidly in preschool-age children than in any other group.34

The number of asthma-related visits to office-based physicians was 11.3 million in 2001.35 The number of hospital emergency department visits connected with asthma attacks was 1.9 million in 2002.36

The Healthy People 2010 project reports the rate of asthma hospitalizations in children under age five is 45.6 per 10,000 and 12.5 per 10,000 for children five or over and adults. The goal is to reduce these rates.37

Trips to the Fairyland @ 203

Tinkling bells outside my window woke me up in the middle of the night. I rose from my sound sleep, slid aside the vase on my windowsill filled with fragrant purple lilacs and sunny yellow tulips, and pushed open the window. As my vision adjusted to the darkness and shapes took form, I stood admiring the beautiful Fairyland in tones of shadowy indigo. My grandma had inherited this land from my great-grandmother, when at 18 years old she married my grandfather. She called it her Dream Garden. Certainly it was enchanting under the light of the moon, in its slumbering, nocturnal state. Lilacs were in bloom and their sweet, pungent aroma permeated the cool night air. The bushes were heavy with luxuriant clusters of white and purple lilacs that opened widely their tiny star-shaped flowers. They rocked in unison, embraced by the gentle breeze. Spring, in all its glory, was upon this drowsy garden.

This stunningly beautiful place was only a small part of the original Fairyland, planted by my great-grandmother. My grandmother had followed in her steps and brought there her inspiration, joy, passion, skill, happiness, and a profound love of Nature. She was so proud of her accomplishments and always delighted in showing her garden.

“Come in here,” she would say invitingly to our neighbors and friends.

“All my flowers would love to see you. Show them your kind faces and they will smile at you.”

The tinkling bells sounded louder, but they were not garden bells at all. The sounds came from a gracious nightingale, perched on the white lilac bush and singing a melodic song. I guessed that the aroma of the lilacs had intoxicated and inspired her to serenade all the living creatures, flowers, trees, and plants throughout the night.

I remember many years ago, watching my grandma sitting in her favorite rocking chair beneath a bush of fragrant lilac. Who knows? Perhaps while relaxing in her garden during these quiet hours of the evening, she was thinking how blessed she was with her happy family life and good health, how thankful she was that she had been so beautiful in her youth that many boys had chased her, admiring her good looks. On the old pictures that she kept carefully in the family album, she looked small with a healthy, thick mane of black, shiny hair. Her huge blue eyes shone like the stars under a navy umbrella of the night sky.

204 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

She liked to tell me about her teenage years, especially when she was 18. According to her, men approached women in a careful and gentle manner then. A manner of respect was a centuries-old tradition. When a young man approached a young woman, instead of leading with questions such as “What is your name? How are you?” they would present themselves with great reverence to the woman and say, “Please allow me to introduce myself. May I kiss your hand,
mademoiselle
?”

This tradition was based on human dignity and a show of respect from a young man to a young woman. This question revealed a noble intention to make a first connection; a curious, sincere interest; and
attraction
at first sight, not
love
at first sight.

It was once upon a time when my grandma sat in our Dream Garden with a handsome young man and heard the sweetest music to her ears—his first confession of love for her. As you might guess, the young man was my grandfather. He was a quiet, but ambitious and hard-working man. Later, with great motivational support from my grandmother, he created his “kingdom”

of vineyards and orchards. They sat many, many times there during the long, balmy evenings of late spring, discussing plans for their future while dreaming in the Dream Garden. They looked in unison at the starry sky through tiny white lilac flowers, observing the movement of the clouds and planets, which witnessed silently their love and trust for each other, their ringing laughter and ecstatic kisses.

I recently revisited our Dream Garden and found it is still as much alive as it was many years ago. Other people—strangers to me—live there now, but the nightingale’s soprano trill still fills the garden all night long until dawn and the air is still rich with the aroma of lilacs.

Nastoykas, with lilac flowers and buds from gardens like ours, are successfully used in folk medicine to treat rheumatism, osteoporosis (accumulation of salt in joints), podagra (inflammation of the feet), and heel spurs. Before I mention natural treatments

for asthma, I want to tell you a little

bit about how small, gracious, and

fragrant lilacs can be effective healers

in different sicknesses.

Trips to the Fairyland @ 205

r 1. Make Lilac Vodka. Add ¼ cup lilac flowers and crushed buds to one cup alcohol or vodka. Let steep for 8–10 days in a glass jar in a dark place at room temperature. Take 20–30 drops of lilac/

alcohol nastoyka or 50 drops of lilac/vodka three times a day. r 2. Add 1 tablespoon dried lilac flowers to five ounces alcohol at 40

degrees. Let steep for eight to ten days in a glass gar with closefitting lid. Take 30 drops two to three times a day. r 3. Soak a cheesecloth in the same nastoyka (#2) and rub painful parts or make a compress and apply where necessary for the treatment of rheumatism, salt deposit in joints, or knee
spur. Lilac is effective for external treatment. Lilac bushes blossom in May and those who practice folk medicine gather the buds shortly after they bloom.

r 4. Fil three quart glass jars with fresh lilac blossoms. Add enough lamp oil or turpentine oil to cover. Cover with a lid and al ow to infuse for two weeks in a dark place. Then rub this mixture one to two times a day into painful joints until they are red. Then wrap this part of the body with a flannel fabric or wool scarf to keep it warm for one hour. Your pain wil disappear.

An ancient Greek legend tells that Pan (called

Faunas by the Romans), the god of forests

and meadows, nature and the universe, fell hopelessly in

love with a nymph named Syringe. This is the way that I

remember the tale, after years of hearing it from Grandma and Mama and many more years of sharing it with my own children.

Pan was strolling through a lush, sylvan setting when he met a river nymph named Syringe, known for heralding the dawn of a new day. Pan 206 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

was so spellbound by Syringe’s graciousness and beauty that he instantly fell in love with her and he lost sight of everything for which he was responsible.

He was so obviously struck by her that she became frightened of him and ran away. Pan pursued her, all the while trying to assure here that his intentions were noble. The nymph did not reply, but instead transformed into a fragrant bush with delicate purple flowers. Devastated, Pan fell to his knees and wept for many hours, soaking the earth under the lilac bush.

The next day when Pan revisited the bush, he saw that it was stronger and larger and that a profusion of new blossoms had appeared overnight. Its branches were heavy with clusters of sweet-scented lilacs. He was captured by the beauty of the bush and from somewhere he clearly heard the sound of a woman’s voice, pure and delicate as the lilacs, ”I know now, Pan, that your love for me was true and strong. Your bittersweet tears have provided sustenance for me, given me strength and enduring beauty. I promise you that in return for your suffering, I will love all as you have loved me by providing them my secrets of abundant health and beauty.”

Pan was inspired by Syringe’s courage and benevolence and he too became overwhelmed by the power of pure love. He proclaimed loudly to all creatures of the forest, ”At his very moment the lilac bush will take the Latin name of Syringe and she will bestow her kindness on anyone who happens upon her. Her beauty and aroma will delight the senses and her medicine will heal the body.”

Pan ceased to roam the forest groves in grief. Instead his inward grief manifested itself as an outward expression of the love he would forever have for Syringe and he began

to perform many kind deeds for all he met.

Trips to chapter

the Fair title

yland @

@ 207

Lilac takes its name from the Greek word
syrinx
, which means a tube. Shepherds have cut pipes or flutes from the wood of the lilac bush. So perhaps when you visit Alpine meadows or those of the Appalachians, Rockies, Carpathian, Caucasus Mountains, or others, you may hear and enjoy the beautiful and unforgettable sound of a lilac pipe played by shepherds. In Russia the lilac is known as
synel
and
cyren
from the word
ciniy
(blue). In Russia the lilac grows in purple and white and sky blue, pale pink, golden yel ow, and burnt orange. Infuse a bit of Fairyland into your own backyard by planting a lilac bush there. Enjoy its vibrant beauty and tantalizing fragrance. Each year the month of May wil bring fresh blossoms to the bush. Cut fresh purple or blue clusters and combine them with yel ow tulips. White lilac flowers blend wel with pink peonies. Arrange them in a big crystal vase as a centerpiece of a table or windowsil to bring the beauty of your garden indoors. It wil refresh the air and bring Nature into your life.
Remember
that cut lilacs do not enjoy other “neighbors”