Karinaland River

  Quince and Courage The strong visual language of quince intrigues all who encounter them, whether on my tree or dining table. This ancient fruit – who was most likely the true “apple” of ancient times – holds forth with earthiness and energetic originality. Hers is a lovely mantra: “Unabashedly I dare being myself.”  Perfectly imperfect. Each fruit grows into a splendid golden yellow globe, and inhabits its uniquely sculpted shape with quiet vibrancy. Quince is a queen. Unapologetic. Self-assured. Gnarly. Bold. In all of her aspects, she emanates a true beauty. Her perfumed fragrance is delicate, her unusual taste multi-layered, tart, sweet, unexpected. Being a wise old woman healer, she makes herself useful as medicine. This year my quince tree carries an abundant early harvest. Very happily, I allow the treasures to fill the living room with Quince-ness. And I start cooking batches of quince compote – no sugar added, just a bit of rum, cognac, or Damiana liqueur – deliciou...

  The Cicadas are Calling   This summer the cicadas are singing again in my patio! Oh, how I yearned for them to be back. Last May’s "mind-boggling" flea infestation of the whole hill forced me to have it sprayed with chemicals. Meanwhile, bitten all over my body and discovering that I am extremely allergic to the hundreds of fleabites from working in the garden, I get my first anaphylactic shock. My whole body is densely covered in red welts, ferociously itching every minute of the day and night. Unrelenting. Not just the garden, by now house and bedroom cottage are also infested. Non-stop, I am vacuuming, and washing clothes and sheets. Everywhere I am spraying oils of cedar wood, rosemary, and lemon grass diluted in water, and wipe floors and furniture with it. After two sleepless weeks from the intense pain – worse than itching – I catch a high-dose covid infection, first time and brutal. This takes me out for another three weeks, ribs dislocated from excessive violent co...

  Mellow Lemonbalm und Zärtlichkeit in my garden so much tenderness– so viel Zärtlichkeit  – and medicine   We all need allies. Mine are my wild friends growing on Karinaland ’s hill. Especially three of them. A sprawling meadow of beautiful   Plantain plants (considered a weed by many), now spread out all over the garden, bushy, high, with delicate blooms. From their leaves, stems and flowers, I make a skin-healing oil. The milky seeds of my Wild Oats , harvested at the right time, infused in cognac for my Milky Oats tincture, becomes a gentle nervous system soother. And under the old plum tree my small meadow of Lemon Balm . All three are my tender allies, beloved balms. As oil, tincture and tea, they calm, nourish and soothe skin, nerves, mood and mind. In Germany exists  Klosterfrau Melissengeist , an old classic remedy for all kinds of un-wellbeing – Unwohlsein . Each year, I used to bring a small bottle back to America. Nuns in monasteries knew how to pr...

  Getragensein Seemingly unrelated sequences, wild memories of old times arising from my belly, befitting our churning times. Two weeks ago, I have the urge to find those old paper stills of me standing on my sister-in-law’s horse. My brother Matthias and his wife Ingeborg live in on old farm house in a tiny village called Königshagen, in the middle of Germany. The thin booklet with photos he sent me back then – where is it? For so long it’s been atop my small old wooden desk. Second-hand, the first piece of furniture I ever owned in America. Acquired for $10 from one of the several very good second-hand stores in the Mission on Valencia Street. 43 years ago, I lived in San Francisco, sharing a flat on near-by Capp Street. Life was simple, walkable, affordable. Nowadays whenever I clean up, things disappear – where is the photo booklet? Here, alas, I am relieved to find it. Looking at Bill, the quarter horse, and me standing atop of him, a soft silence opens up in me. An inner stre...

  Reflections on Teaching the Principles and Art of T’ai Chi Ch’uan  (Part 2) Ode to Gravity   Prompted by the  gravitas  of recent months, really years, I feel increasingly drawn to teach about Gravity – with gravitas, and enthusiasm. For several decades now, I have been focusing in my T’ai Chi teaching on the natural physical laws on earth. They are universal. Gravitational force, momentum, change of yin & yang, flow of energy, balance and counterbalance. Simple, elemental and cosmic, these laws are affecting all of us with their Form and Function, Principles and Art. In grave times,  gravitas  is necessary. In return,  gravitas  might offer us the revelation of our true lightness. Perhaps. Let me guide you into the realm of paradoxes and possibilities.   In T’ai Chi, as in life, we are always engaged in the great dance with Gravity. We might not be aware of it, but undeniably   Gravity  is present at all times. It limits...

  This Morning   sun rises in my heart – starts flowing bubbling over speechless lips roots growing downward elongating spine   innocence is wiggling in my curious toes cup with gold is slowly swelling safely hiding in big belly fleeing nowhere   lightness of being how wondrous gliding free Karina Epperlein, June 2025 My Clematis at the front door keeps showing off  blooming four and five petalled like night stars.

  I Will Not Be Sad In This World   #2 This declaration is my every day mantra nowadays. 94-year-old Zaroohe – the protagonist of  I Will Not Be Sad In This   World , is a survivor of the Armenian Genocide (1914 – 18). In my 2001 film, she comes alive as gardener, fabulous cook, storyteller, mother, seamstress, grand- & great-grandmother, lover of music and life. She is my heroine. All my life, I had the good fortune of counting amazing elder women as close friends, several of them German-Jewish Holocaust survivors, now long gone. Remembering and honoring them is how I find  Trost , consolation in our times.  Yesterday, my friend Connie sends me pictures from a small town in Germany where she and her late mother Lucy are honored by the 500-year-old Gymnasium  (advanced high school) and the City of Nienburg.  90 years ago, Lucy was forced at age 20 to emigrate to save her life. Recently my lawyer warned me visiting my brother and sister in...