Winter Life

When we moved to England in 1992, we quickly realized that the British Islands are very distinct in terms of their nature. Nowhere else we have seen before trees full of blossoms in early January. At least till today I was convinced that this must have to do with the rather mild winter in the southern counties of the UK, like Kent, Sussex or Surrey, where we lived. Today I found the exact same tree on a cemetry in Munich, and became interested in its history and how it became so resistant to cold weather.

Bodnant viburnum, on Daglfing cementry, December 28th 2013

The name of this tree is Bodnant viburnum (Duft-Schneeball in German), and it is actually a product of man made plant breeding. The cross of Viburnum farreri (formerly V. fragrans) and V. grandiflorum was originally made by Charles Lamont, the Assistant Curator at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh in 1933, and I guess this is the reason why it became first popular in gardens and parks in Brittan, and only later was imported to other European countries.

So this tree is unique for showing its real beauty only in winter time, when (at least in Germany) most other plants lost their leaves and look pretty sad. I don't really know why all around the world people warship so much the Christmas tree. I think they are pretty boring, and except for their wood have no use at all. Their needles are a pest once you have them on your carpet, and if you have them in your garden, they poison all other plants (by producing humic acid). Their roots destroy the foundations of buildings, inhibit the growth of grass and promote growth of moss. If you have some spruce or fir in your garden, you can be sure that after a while the garden looks like a dark forest. we have three of them in our garden, and I plan to cut them all this year to heat our oven with their wood. But even for heating, they are no good choice, since their resin causes a lot of soot which contaminates the chimney.

I would therefore opt to replace the fir (christmas tree) as symbol of life in hard winter times with Bodnant viburnum. It is an elegant and beautiful three, and it permits the few rays of winter sun to reach us, whereas pines and firs are like black spots which block the sun.

By the way, there are other plant species which resist the winter cold. I also like a lot the winter-hard cereals like rhy or barley, which look freshly green even at the strongest frost.

Winter rhy, near Munich-Daglfing, December 2013

When I saw these tiny young shouts now in December, I was happy to know that next year we will have again fields full of golden rhy with its tentalizing odor in summer.

Happy Persian New Year - سال نو مبارک

Haft Sheen:  The 7 S..., a set of objects all starting with the persian letter Sheen

 

 

 

People in and from Iran, Kurdistan and Afghanistan celebrate the beginning of their new year today. By precise astronomical calculation it started already yesterday at 11:02 GMT, since astronomers calculated that at this very minute the duration of day and night is equal (vernal equinox).

For today, I'd only like to wish all Iranian people a happy Nowruz, hoping that 2572 will be the last year of a 34 years long period of political and intellectual oppression in their home country.

I will later today add an alternative calculation here proposing a more rational estimation of the precise timepoint of Nowruz.

A Blasphemic Journey to the Holy Land

Day 0, Travel to Jerusalem (and keep your passport clean from any trace of the "zionost entity") Day 1: Wet hijab day at Banana beach, Tel Aviv Day 2: "yes, Mame, me and Shlomo are sitting here on an ice-cream; I promise ..." Day 3: Sunset on Tel Aviv Beach, the Big Orange Day 4: Jaffa Cafe: Delicious Menue Day 5: Tel Aviv: Russian Immigrant is doing Sewage Fishing on Tel Avivs Carmel Market Day 6: Jaffa: In addition to the many beautiful Arab girls, there are also very enchanting Jewish ones, like the one next to me (dont try to date her, since she is my wife now) Day 7: Jerusalem, YMCA Guesthouse : In the tradition of the crusaders - but after adopting a more tolerant policy they also serve non-gay customers nowadays. Day 8: Marmilla Street near Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem: Each stone tells a story.   Day 9: Jerusalem: Gentlemen prefer blond (at least here, where it is still considered something exotic) Day 10: Old town Jerusalem: Bargaining for the price of grapes. Day 11: Old town Jerusalem: Cooling down the mood with some icecream. Day 12: Jerusalem, Church of Sepulchre: For those who believe in it, this red stone plate on which Jesus was layed down after his death, can do miracles. I tested it with my mobile phone, and indeed it got fully recharged after placing it there for just one minute.
Day 13: Jerusalem/Al Kuds: School is out in the Arab quarter   Day 14: Jerusalem: Goes together very well: Tasty Taybeh beer from Palestine and genetically modified Cherry-Tomatoes from Israel Day 15: Jerusalem/Al Kuds: Sabbath at western wall.   Day 16: Qumran / Death Sea: The dream of many young folks: Exodus to South America Day 17: En Gedi / Death Sea: Taking a refreshing bath where King Solomon met Suleika.   Day 18: Death Sea Shore: Baywatch at 42 degrees.   Day 19: Haifa / Bahai Garden: Members only (unless you fit through this fence)   Day 20: Haifa / Alenby street: Kosher rubbish bins: left one for milky products, righ one for fleshy products.   Day 21: Haifa / Allenby street: The Sadam Hussein memorial shelters.     Day 22: Jerusalem / Al Kuds: Western Wall, Mount Muriah, Dom of Rock at the beginning of Sabbath.   Day 23: Jad Vashem: The Tree to honour Oskar Schindler.   Day 24: Jerusalem/Al Kuds: Top Soccer Players. Arab boys build their playground on the roofs of christian or jewish houses. Day 25: Tel Aviv / Hayarkon Park: Red Hot Chilly Peppers concert   Day 1 after returning home: Reading Saul Bellows "To Jerusalem and return" and trying to understand how much I missed and why I should come back.

Persian Mojito

Hello Michael, didn't you always tried to convince me that alcoholic drinks (at least in small quantities) are an integral part of civilisation and culture, and that I should not be so reluctant in sipping at least on your glas, when you ordered one of these various types of drinks and cocktails ? I think I was not ready then, and honestly I am still the one driving everybody home after a party, since I always stay dry. But this has little to do with a fundamental refusal of alcoholic drinks, it is simply a personal dislike of its taste, and the observation that alcohol abuse here in Sweden is a major social and health issue. But I am very much aware that wine and spirits were always part of human civilisation and part of the culture heritage. This came to my mind yesterday, when we visit a family of friends of my parents. They served a very delicious, traditional iranian drink called "Doogh". I liked its taste a lot, and when I asked the lady of the house how it is made, she took me to her kitchen and showed this very simple recipe. She took some ice cubes, lime juice, peppermint-leafes, a large portion of joghurt, mixed it all well up and filled it up with gased mineral water (look here, I made a photo of a glass Doogh for you).

Watching how she prepared the different ingredients so carefully, I experienced a sort of deja-vu. I couldn't help myself, but had the feeling that someone already shown me this recipe some time ago. And than it struck me like a sudden heureka: This was so similar to another summer drink that you had shown me several times in Munich, and I think was called Mojito. Just instead of Joghurt, you used to add white rum, right ? So when I proposed to the other guests at this afternoon, to call "Doogh" the "Persian Mojito", a loud and general discussion started about what was first. Some even asked to better call "Mojito" the "Western Doogh". Sometimes Iranians can be very patriotic, and want to show that all big values of world civilisation and culture somehow have their roots in ancient Persian.

Take Care
/ghazal

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 Oh Ghazal, my Dear, you are really full of phantasy. And its nice to read that even though you refused to drink the Mijito while you have been here in Munich, obviously you liked its colours and remembered the recipe. The one you have in your memories, is it like this one ?:

I hope that one day we will have the chance to try your Doogh and my Mojito. I think the two variants of summer drinks go together very well.

 Take Care, Michael








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Hello Michael, For your information, I tried Mojito! Its not my favorite, the leaves are always so annoying. otherwise it is nice. And here is a recipe for Iranian Doogh as given on this website


Ingredients (4 glasses)

1 cup Yogurt

3 cups sparkling Water

Salt

1/2 tbsp Dried or fresh mint 

Ice cubes 

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Ghazal, So because you disliked the peppermint leafes, thats why you always rejected the Mojito here in Munich ?? Too bad, you should have tell me this. I would have shown you how to drink it without getting the leafes inside. In Iran it may be difficult to find Mojito. And I dont know if the Basidj tolerate this. But when we go there, I could switch to Doogh for some time. It is still a year time, and may be I can convince you to come with us. Thanks for the recipe. It reminds me a bit of a delicious Bulgarian drink called Tarator. But instead of Peppermint, it has a lot of dill, green cucumber and garlik. Michael

The magnificance of Irans Nature

Dear Ghazal, Yesterday night the french-german TV channel Arte broadcasted this amazing two-series documentary about the magnificance of Irans Nature. And by chance (or perhaps not really by chance but due to a telepathic link of two like-minded souls), both Omid and myself were watching it. When we met in the morning at coffee break, we were both still out-of-breeze about the beautiful pictures, so we decided that we will travel Omids home-country next summer. In fact he already invited me several times, but I always had some issues regarding the current political tensions between the Regime in Tehran and the West. And Omid convinced me that he will teach me how to get around all hussles there. So we made firm plans for 2013, we will begin the Great Game again. Whats about you, Ghazal, will you accompany us ? It would be so much nicer, and of course we both would take care of you and protect you from the wild creatures all around.

To give you some taste of what will expect you if you come with us to visit the land of your ancestors, have a look at the Arte TV series (you can change the language to german in the tiny menue on the bottom, if you prefer):

The second serie goes to the north and north-west of Iran, visiting the reservation-area Golestan, Elburs Mountains and the Caspian Sea. It also shows peoples visiting Hafiz' tomb in Shiraz and reading his poems with great passion. Rare wild creatures such as Brown-Bear, the beautiful Ghazel, Leopard and Caucasian Deer. The animal photographs of the Serie were shot by Benny Rebel, a gifted expert of animal behaviour and the aesthetics of life.

(You can also watch the two documentaries full-screen size by pressing the tiny rectangular button below the videos.)

Shab Yalda

Ghazal, my Dear, Did you recognized that daylight lasted for 2 minutes longer today than it did yesterday ? I hope you experienced some sun shine altogether in Stockholm. But even if it was just another dim day today, you should be happy to know that from today on we will have more and more daylight, since today is Yalda, and this marks the rebirth of the sun.

The following Ghazal No. 113 by Hafiz has some relation to light (enjoy !)

Light will someday split you open

Even if your life is now a cage,

For a divine seed, the seed of destiny, 

Is hidden and sown on an ancient, fertile plain

You hold the title to.

Love will surely bust you wide open 

Into an unfettered, blooming new galaxy

Even if your mind is now a spoiled mule.

A life-giving radiance will come,

The Friend’s gratuity will come—

O look again within yourself, 

For I know you were once the elegant host

To all the marvels in creation.

From a sacred crevice in your body

A bow rises each night

And shoots your soul into God.

Behold the Beautiful Drunk Singing one 

From the lunar vantage point of love.

He is conducting the affairs

Of the whole universe

While throwing wild parties

In a tree house—on a limb

In your heart.

Take Care, Michael

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Hello Michael,

Thank you that you remember Yalda. Nobody in the Lab knows about it:  everybody is preparing for the swedish Jule, and this is big business. I liked the poem by Hafiz. Why is it called Ghazal No. 113 ? Do you know why he numbered them, instead of giving titles ?  I assume because he was not only a big poet, but also in love with numbers.

We had to switch on all lamps at home, to really believe that light will come back now. It is really dim the whole day long, and it makes people depressive. In Persia, where Yalda the tradition of celebrating Yalda comes from, the sun does not completely disappears in winter time, as it is here in Skandinavia.

I hope you are fine and can go Skiing at the Zugspitze already. It was nice there, I would like to go again.

Take Care

/ghazal

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Ghazal dear, Hafiz wrote 495 Ghazals, he was really productive. If he would have ever met you, I’m sure he would have found inspiration for at least 5 more. Consequently, he might have succeeded to write up to Ghazal No. 500, and this last one would be the Ghazal about Ghazal. This, for sure, would have been the essence of all other 499 Ghazals and the most enchanting one.

Greetings,   Michael