not so very sick

Well, Saturday sale was not meant to be for me. Even though I was feeling much better, Stella came down with fever on Thursday night and I ended up staying home with her on Friday as well as today just to make sure the fever is over and done with. Like most baby fevers it came and went over the course of about 8-12 hours and I’m clueless as to what caused it. Since she has not had any of mine or Kaspar’s symptoms, I’m guessing that she might have had something as insignificant as teething fever. Who knows? She has been teething during the course of the last week, that’s for sure. We travel with 5-10 shirts and/or bibs everywhere we go. It does not take much more than 15 minutes for the entire front of her shirt, from neck to waist to be soaked through. Maybe she’s caught a cold because of it. Ha! What does it matter, really? I’m just glad that she’s better and Kaspar is on the mend, as well, and I’m getting better if ever so slowly, too. Thanks for all the good energy!

I was talking to a Toronto pal yesterday and we were comparing notes on laryngitis infections, common colds, flu and remedies of all sorts ... and ... it made me realize once again how much of what we do is influenced by the way we’ve been brought up and the way we are used to solving problems. Do I sound profound? Ha! Not really where I meant to go. However, our conversation sparked an interesting train of thought... bare with me for a moment...

Most people go to see a doctor as soon as they get sick and most doctors will prescribe a medication of some sorts to heal the ailment, whatever it may be. Most of the medications in their list of contents have things that are completely foreign to us, at times even unpronounceable chemicals and drugs that we have never heard of. Yet, we wholeheartedly trust that this medication will make us better, because the doctor said so. Or maybe it’s because we paid a plump sum of money for the drug at the pharmacy? Whatever the reason, but generally we’ll trust the drug. Ok, you might argue that this is a simplified version of the truth, but you can relate to it as truth generally speaking, right?

On the other hand, if I told you to put a hot (well, let me correct myself, very warm – so that you don’t burn yourself!) baked onion on your ear for about four hours to heal an awful earache, you’d probably roll your eyes and not really want to take me seriously. Most people don’t. Yet, I’ve grown up on healing wisdom like that. I’ve used it and know that it works, at times even better then the drugs. I don’t know why it works, but it works. Perhaps the reason why we have not found a cure for cancer or aids is strictly based on money? Sounds like some crazy conspiracy theory? No! But think about it ... If people invested the millions of dollars that are being invested in research of drugs and chemicals, instead in researching commonly known herbs, fruits and vegetables that are known to have healing properties, then maybe we’d know why a baked onion can heal an earache faster than any drug will. Maybe we’d also know a lot more about the healing properties of that onion, ginger, lemon etc. But why would a company invest money in something like that? They cannot make big bucks selling onions. Of course not! So, I figure it’s only logical to give every home remedy a try before going for the hard core drugs, because an onion is not just a part of your daily vitamin C intake. That’s only scratching the surface of it. Medicine has its place, no doubt about it. But first we should all take the onion seriously!

Hanging out with some older folk in my family, talking about their memories of times past and seeing my grandparents homestead again has made me, once again, want to write down all these little wisdoms that come from within, that come from a time when we were simpler yet wiser as a human kind.

Maybe one day I’ll post a handful of my family’s recipes for well being on the blog. Or publish a book. Or just keep them in a dusty box under my desk and take a peak once in a while when fighting another nasty bout of laryngitis. In either case I’m glad to have my little box of treasures!