Poppy Delirium
The unexpected happens. Sunday, very early morning of June 5, a slow rain is setting in. Plants and earth get a real soak. Literally heavenly. My bedroom fills with gentle rain-music, sprinkling smiles into my dreams. Nestled under the grand oaks, I named this tiny cottage Paraiso. Later in the morning, the garden is enveloped in moist air and thick fog. As if being in a different country, I meander the mysterious and wet world – in wonder, in awe. The moss and lichen on the trees is vibrating, and humming an ecstatic tune. The nasturtiums and poppies all bowed down, in quiet reverie. Wetness and moisture, what blessings. A quite unusual June Sunday here in the Bay Area. One third of an inch of rain fell, almost half an inch up here in Karinaland.
Today, a couple of days later, the poppies are back up, new buds popping open, crinkly red petals unfolding their red delirium, bees know all about it. Being among them, a calm delight blooms in me, too – Entzücken. The flowers’ wondrous effect, I call it Poppy Delirium. Please understand, there is no opium, no drugs, ingesting of pills, powder or tea involved here. I grew up with summers full of red poppies and blue cornflowers along the borders of the fields: rote Mohnblumen und blaue Kornblumen. Altered states become available when the senses open and mind calms. How sensitive are we to the wonder all around us? Once we slow down, all is beauty. Do you remember the child being in awe?
Letting my poppyseed pods dry on their long stalks and then go to seed, has the red delight come back now for years. Sometimes I collect and sprinkle the seeds in late winter. I could bake a poppyseed cake, but not the German or Eastern European kind where the pastries are filled with a thick black poppyseed paste. My mother made the best poppyseed cake, a favorite of mine, and Papa…
even though they never fully capture Poppy Delirium
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