Herstory 101 by Tina - with 1960's turn-the-page techno

I love apples.  Fresh, juicy green apples are my favorites.  I wish I could carry an apple with me each day as I go about my travels for a snack.  Apples really are the perfect, convenient, healthy snack.  Wouldn't you agree?  (Do I sound like a commercial?)

*Ding* Turn the page...

I'm allergic to apples.

*Ding* Turn the page...

I live in a neighborhood known as, "Apple Greene."

I'd say it took some guts to move into a neighborhood I'm allergic to, wouldn't you? 

*Ding* Turn the page...


All of the streets in Apple Greene are named after apples.

I live on the corner of Cortland and Quince.  The union of bitter and sweet.  The Cortland apple is known as one of the sweetest.  The Quince is very bitter.  Did you know there are some 7,000 varities of apples?

*Ding* Turn the page...

My actual address is Quince Court.  Now - Quince - she's an intriguing little thing.  Quince was the apple Eve used to seduce Adam in the Garden of Eden.  Look it up, if you don't believe me!  Aye, the tree of Forbidden Fruit -  Knowledge and Good and Evil  :)

Biblical Paintings - Dr. Lidia Kozenitzky

*Ding* Turn the page...


Known as "The Fruit of Love," the Quince is also referred to in the Song of Solomon.  Greek mythology associates the Quince with Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and many believe that the golden apple given to her by Paris was a Quince.

*Ding* Turn the page...

The Fruit of Love...

 

"They dined on mince and slices of quince, 

Which they ate with a runcible spoon;  

And hand in hand on the edge of the sand  

They danced by the light of the moon."

"The Owl and the Pussycat," by Edward Lear

*Ding* Turn the page...

A little more about Her Majesty, The Quince, and how she reigns now, in the twenty-first century:

"Looks can be deceiving with the flowering Quince (Chaenomeles speciosa). Most of the year this fairy tale shrub is a mass of tangled, thorny branches with mundane foliage.   Heh, says Me.  But!  In spring the beast becomes a beauty with showy single or double blossoms. In October (when Tina was born) we are rewarded with fruit that makes a great marmalade or jelly."

*Ding* Turn the page...

Now, if you so dare to think She's beautiful but as useless as a dumb blonde, read on:

Revered for thousands of years (all the way back to the Garden of Eden, as we now know *smiles*) for her practical and medicinal purposes, including:

Wine

Anti-nausea syrup

Preserves, jams, sauces, and butter

Sore throat treatment

Inside home as a room deodorizer

In cosmetics for "glossy" look

Excellent source of Vitamin C

In skin moisturizers, especially body butters

*note to Self:  MUST TRY.   

Added bonus:  In the month of October (my birthday month), Korres will donate 5% of every Quince Body Butter sold to the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
 

*Ding* Turn the page...

Oh yeah!  Back to Eden (which literally means "paradise" btw)...

A few years ago when I was working on transforming our shed into my little hideaway in the woods, I jokingly remarked to a friend, "All I need now is a serpent!"  The next day, in passing, my neighbor says to me, "Hey, Tina, just wanted to let you know you might wanna put some moth balls out...I saw a snake go under your shed yesterday."  Mmmmhmmmm.

*Ding* Turn the page...

 

That same summer, I joined an online writer's forum.  Of course, I had to come up with some kind of witty identity for myself...it IS a writer's forum, after all.  I decided on "I've Been Everything."  After I made my first post, I noticed that there was not enough room to display my whole name.  Dang it!  Oh well, instead it ended up looking like this: "I've Been Eve." 

 "Eve" by Montserrat

Perhaps it goes without saying...I decided to roll with it.  I mean, there's no denying how utterly enchanting she is!

*Ding* Turn the page...


Fast forward to today... 

We're in the midst of a sweet sunshower (the marriage of rain and sunshine).   Heh.  Nothing unusual here in the Garden of Eden.  You do know the old wives' tale, don't you?
 
"In the United States, particularly the South, a sunshower is said to show that the devil is beating his wife."  Satan's such a JERK!

*Ding* Turn the page...

Hence, we arrive at the conclusion of today's Herstory lesson.

I DO have work to do yanno?  What d'ya think - I just dawdle around muchin on fruit in paradise all day or sumn?

Signed, Eve Herself

*Note to Mom, who's probably the only one still here, and who buys me everything I want --- have you ordered a Quince tree for each of our yards yet?  :D