CONTINUITY

How important is continuity? Not to get dangerously philosophical on the issue, but it has been on my mind lately and perhaps yours as well. In the middle of so much social disruption and discord, we are reminded how important are the threads of tradition and the relay of knowledge with understanding. We of a certain advanced age do not sit at the mountaintop freely dispensing guidance, wisdom and counsel to supplicants. That is silly fiction. We have groped our way forward like everyone else, maneuvering through the day-to-day. Our accumulated experience does offer some comprehension of human behavior and the forces of nature inside and outside us, but if we have learned anything, it is to expect the unexpected. Though we presently have been living in a sort of golden age of the American empire, clearly the path forward is unpredictable. Isn’t it all no more than a pile of dust? There is definitely a meditation trying to sneak in there.

Speaking of tangibles: what are you going to do with all that stuff? Do you have high school yearbooks, party favors from college, mementos of trips and photographs of happy events? Are they sequestered and piling up under the blankets in the back of your closet? How many times have you had to shift all of it when moving? Liberation is at hand. It’s high time to winnow the heap of sentimentality and to save the most precious things. Every organizer you might hire will say the same thing; three piles are needed: save, pitch and donate. How amazing it is to see the effective finish of a project like that!

On the other hand, in a sub-category of the donation pile, you will want to consider not only the detritus of your own existence but also those family heirlooms that you have been gifted or have inherited. No doubt some may be too precious for the discard heap but they can be preserved by donation to a family member. “Better to give with warm hands”, they say. The potent remembrance of family members is not to be ignored and the evocation of their memory can often be triggered by objects that they had admired or used or that they passed along themselves.

All of the above has dwelled on objects. So much more continuity is woven by traditions in language, custom, song, poetry, art and stories. That is the warp of the fabric of our civilization. I consider the weft to be the spirit of the age that embraces the past and its manifold variations. We wrap ourselves in this cloth presented to us, whether we like it or not. Making the best of is to foster appreciation of all that has come before from which we gain our place as an ornament in this ever-evolving tapestry.

Be happy to be loved,                      Celeste

The Last Page

Hello My Lovelies,

What a luxury to have a whole page in which to ramble without restraint. If you have been a reader of my other books (I hardly consider them books. They are more like booklets), you know that the domestic arts and sciences are my primary concern and expertise. Having said that, I well know that my writing has been inflected with the influence of world events. How could it not be?

Momentous events have crashed into the lives of everyone like a very unwelcome guest. Our ability to cope with this catastrophe varies widely and I have to confess that at my home we have been extremely fortunate in our situation. It has had its main effect in the tone and direction of my thinking and consequently in my writing. I sincerely hope that my reflections have offered consolation and not deepened the grim mood that seems to pervade many households. Hanging on in anticipation of better days is all many of us can do. Still, it has not dimmed many of the extraordinarily creative spirits with whom I am acquainted.

My wish is that the pandemic and the rotten politics of today will fall away sooner than later and that we will tackle what then lies before us with a renewed sense of  compassionate loyalty to each other, beginning with ourselves. To have met and overcome these challenges with a strength of purpose and a positive vision is a credit to each of us. The untold personal stories will endure, no matter what follows. The virtue of each particular experience does not lie in the fame of it but in the doing: the accomplishment of a resilient spirit expressed in each of us.

Very big smooches to all,                         Celeste

Herb Time

 

Ladies and gentlemen, something has to be done. It is in your power to harness the balm of Summer days and to preserve it for dark wintertime enrichment. I’m not saying it will cure your Seasonal Affective Disorder but it will give you a memory boost of the best kind, sense memory. No doubt you have experienced an evocation of pleasant times and places from your past with the slightest encounter of a fragrance or taste. Hello. Does “comfort food” ring a bell? Personally, I have had many encounters with this phenomenon through sense of smell, whether food-borne or not. The aroma of a cooking pork roast garnished with rosemary take me right to a certain place. That’s a predictable effect. What can be so startling is the unanticipated voyage conceived when entering a room, walking into a store, passing a hedge or by many more highly personal circumstances. I am talking about enjoyable trips, though there is room in our brain sense for every kind of association. May all your similar journeys be agreeable.

You probably have an herb plant or two that you have been nursing and singing to. If you are tempted at the end of summer to bring them into the house to “winter over”, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Very few homes have conditions that are conducive to this approach. If you have a solarium then go for it, but by and large there is no replacement for the sun, rain and temperature that summer affords. Expect the little dears to linger for a month or two, to become pale and leggy and to slowly lose their vigor, no matter that you provide a cherished sunny window over the kitchen sink.

What we need to do is to dry their essence for use later and that means making little bundles for upside down drying in a cool dry and dark place. The bundles should be small and not densely packed in order to encourage air circulation. Larger plants such as rosemary, lavender, oregano and tarragon can stand to be in bigger bunches because of their branching shape. That goes for chamomile and lemon balm also, but the idea is to err on the side of small packets. Hang them in a shed or an attic if you have one as long as the air doesn’t get too hot, driving off all the essential oils. Don’t hang them in the kitchen where higher humidity levels are likely. One exception to this is that ignored space on top of the refrigerator. An open wicker basket there will reward you in mid-December when you remember that that is where you put the lavender and just in time for holiday bouquets!

If your plants have flowered, it is too late to dry them. Some mysterious enzymatic transformation takes place once they have flowered and their oils can become pungent, even bitter. (Dill is somewhat of an exception since the flavor is retained in the seeds.) A good example of planning ahead is to strip basil branches from your plant as it grows. Capturing the quintessence of this sovereign of herbs is a real challenge. It is all too easy to drive off the volatile oil with a deficient drying technique and to be left with blackened and flavorless sprigs.  Once your herbs are dry and crisp to the touch, strip them or snip them from their stems onto clean newsprint and then funnel them into containers that do not allow light to penetrate and which are capable of retaining a tight seal. The winter blahs don’t stand a chance against these wholesome and aromatic remedies. As tea or flavoring, they are your dreamy reminders of sweet Summer.

Hugs at the reserve desk,                                       Celeste

Coming Soon - Even More Celeste

 Foreword -

The world needs more of Celeste's wisdom and counsel. That's why this volume joins So Celeste, Still Celeste and Always Celeste as a handy reference for coping with the cultural trends and events with which we find ourselves entwined.

After taking a hiatus from these instructional labors in 2018 and much of 2019, she has once again donned the apron of authority and wisdom. This effort serves the widest benefit, having such a singular voice guiding us, so that we may live a more gracious and refined life. 

A significant portion of this work was written during the pandemic. Her observations have been inspirational to some.

wd - Freeport, 2020

How To Wake Up Properly

     If you are lucky enough to have a bed, good for you! Without slighting or ignoring the sorrows of those who don’t, I have to say this is really meant for those who do. If you are under a bridge in the Bronx this does not in any way apply. This is intended as a guide for those who have the privilege of a bed and not necessarily a royal one. Somewhere in between.

First open your eyes. One is sufficient to give you a clue as to your surroundings. If you have spent a fretful night reviewing parental shortcomings or have just escaped an early morning dream being chased down the alleys of Bruges then you may want to pause before moving any other body parts. Do not sit up. Every moviegoer has witnessed the infinite variety of eye opening from sleep scenarios but unless there is a compelling reason indicating urgency, such as nearby sirens or local gunshots, then take a moment to re-enter the world. With consciousness equivocating between two worlds you do not want to do anything precipitous. There lies peril. Allow your senses to communicate with your brain. That’s their job for Pete’s sake. Take a short inventory of their submissions to orient your mind. Do not think about the day ahead. Avoid this at all costs since it will preoccupy you for overmuch time. This is simply a waste of energy and direction. It will take discipline and strength to dodge this tendency but these are not the first things you want to address if you are to maintain a balanced approach to the day. Those early devilish thoughts will infect your thinking. They will disorient you. This is time to luxuriate. Don’t forget that you actually have a bed with comfortable covers and accoutrements, an envelope of serenity.

Now breathe quietly for a moment of self-diagnosis. Everything is still in place as it was. You may want to acknowledge your partner, if you have one, in some way. If you are attuned to waking at the same time then a tender word or touch is appropriate here.

Now sit up slowly. Use your elbows if you must. Languor is your friend. This is no time for flooding the mind and body with rushing fluids. Focus on the luxe of your bed linens. All the fabrics of sheets and pillow cases deserve your appreciation. After all, they have cossetted you through the night in comfort and safety. It matters not whether they are flannel or percale or cotton. They have done a noble job.

It is time to swing out from under their protection and to sally forth to attend to your ablutions, a conspicuously vulnerable regimen. Do so with a slowly measured pace. Time is your friend here and nothing is gained by haste. Your ritual, not unlike the lever du roi, has a practical effect. It prepares you for the first steps of a productive and generous day. You have earned the right to orange marmalade on your English muffin. Go ahead, add Irish butter. Time to live!

Many kisses,                                     Celeste

On Dustpans

 

Girls and ladies: what did your mother teach you? Are you confident in your mastery of the domestic arts? Fortunately there are a few brave mentors who still maintain a classroom by example and some professional advice-givers who have World Wide Web sites offering scads of information, hints and suggestions. We do the examining and the analysis and the sifting so you don’t have to. More often than not, daughters, nieces and sisters are left to fend for themselves and to learn what they can from disparate sources and they are not instructed from the altar of the home front, where lessons are best absorbed in a hopefully loving hands-on demonstration. A young girl of my acquaintance positively delights in helping make a guest bed, mainly because she enjoys the graceful scent of liberally sprinkled Roberts Borotalco from Florence, Italy. Many mothers don’t have time or even the inclination to pass along to their daughters (and sons) the precepts for managing and maintaining a household in all its many details. It is a management position as you well know!

            This is why we have tutorials and encouragements for so many otherwise ordinary household tasks, such as sweeping. The therapeutic value of sweeping is not to be ignored. It has a sort of quiet and restful cadence to it, plus you have the immediate gratification of observing the accumulation of your effort into tidy piles. Things do get tricky beyond your choice of broom. There are many forms of dustpan and some are designed to be stylish rather than functional. A nesting hand broom may be functional for compact storage but what do you do with it if you choose to work with a long-handled natural bristle broom? Don’t be gulled into believing that all dustpans function equally. Some of them are just cheap and poorly made.

            Before you buy a dustpan for your home, consider the uses to which it will be put. Wood, linoleum and tile floors all offer completely different surface challenges for pick-up. The crevices of grout or channels of wood are vexing impediments for most dustpans and you will want to think about how you will manage to scoop up the last granules. A portable vacuum is one solution but its attendant noise destroys any reverie. Take your reveries when you can, I say. A whisk broom may be the answer.

            A coarse surface like a concrete garage floor requires a different broom and a different dustpan and illustrates the fact that you may want to have various dustpan and broom combos strategically placed around the home. For those who think that a vacuum is the all-purpose solution I would recommend that you examine the edge of area rugs after you have vacuumed. I’ll bet that you find a thin line of dirt along that perimeter if you haven’t lifted the rug. The place at which surface textures change is always a reservoir for dust and dirt to accumulate, and my dear Wallace has often pointed out to me the physics of it: a change in momentum accompanies a change in the coefficient of friction! Words to live by!

                                Tra la la,                       Celeste

Another Day

 

Another day! Or as my Wallace says, “Another chance to get it right!” Some of us don’t get up in the morning and that is not from sheer lassitude. It may be because the night shift does not allow it. For those who do get up, whether with the rising sun or not, the traditional English greeting of “Good Morning”, abbreviated to “Morning” or its lazier version “Mornin’” is heard in that early time all across the world. As a matter of interest, you may be intrigued by how other languages speak this simple greeting. In Lithuania: “Labas Rytas”; in Italy: “Buongiorno”; in Holland: “Goedmorgen”; in Hawai: “Aloha Kakahiaka”; in Sweden: “God Morgon”; in Uzbekistan: “Xayrlitong”; in Scotland: “Maidam Mhath” and in Wales: “Bora Da”. I leave the pronunciation to the expert speakers. This short list illustrates a couple of things. First, the Welsh are not revenging themselves on the English in all their phrases and second, it is universally accepted as a greeting of good will, a beginning. The word “Hello” is also universal but it carries a neutral connotation. It does not express the hint of bonhomie conveyed by “Good Morning”. A song in the movie “Singing in the Rain” may be an apotheosis of that sentiment.

I think about things like that. In solar sequence around the world these murmurs occur each day in every language in a common ritual. Almost all of us are stimulated to this address whether encouraged by temple bells, a partner stirring, bird song, the blasted alarm clock or the even more hated leaf blower. Sirens have lately become a more common provocation. I like to think of them as help on the way rather than as a shout that something terrible has happened. In any case a greeting is forthcoming.

Where sunny days are the rule, the charm of sunrise may not be so welcoming. When it is 115° F by nine o’clock in the morning day after day, the experience of a sunrise may be completely different than that in a garden above the sea from a redwood deck beneath a wisteria pergola in California. It is pretty easy to embrace a yogic attitude to that. Sometimes a cloudy day is a relief where the sun shines so unrelentingly. Can excessive vitamin D be a threat? UV rays are a different story.

Try to describe a sunrise. There are so many. Some are definitely memorable and they often include another person, on a mountaintop, in a tent, down on the dock, from the bedroom, from a plane or shipboard. Something about the new day promotes a momentary and genial lapse into cordiality. The colors in the clouds may be fiery or fierce, a mist may obscure definition or the foreground outline may be dramatic. When all is said and done, sunrise is a feeling. What it says is I am here. The breathing life we are living is worthy of shared acknowledgement. It’s a privilege to exchange greetings on the occasion. Sign language or gesture suffices. To say “Good Morning” is a celebration of something so ordinary that we can forget how meaningful and symbolic it is. It contains all we are. Together we can try to get it right.