Lobelia

Seeking counsel from  Lobelia is simple, effective and very cheap. Just pull a chair up and sit next to her. Soon, most worries, heart-pain and general burped up dyspepsia combined with obstinate corns, will disappear together with anxiety and guilt of having forgotten some Christmas cards recipients. She will help you overcome.

When I think of all those books written for those suffering from  deep and clear-sighted despair and those that habitually sink in gloom or heavy thoughts, I can’t think of a better cure than to try and unburden yourself with Lobelia. It doesn’t take much time and it can be done at home provided you have a small garden or even a balcony. The books written on self discovery and finding happiness now almost outnumber cooking books. Yet, the cure is to be found within the blue eyed Lobelia. She is there at your behest almost all year around.

(How perplexing that words so often seem to offer themselves out of nowhere. Why did I write the word ‘behest’? I hardly know what it means. After looking in the dictionary it fits the sentence.)

I don’t know what it is. Lately when switching on TV, hoping for good news, we get someone stirring or tossing something and saying ; ‘oh how yummy,’  repeated again, ‘oh, really yummy’. It can be so exasperating. Do people that watch it, jump up, run into the kitchen and start cooking? Or, do they dip into the box of chocolates in front of them on the coffee table or even held in their lap? With the increasing problem of so much weight gain around, one would expect cooking shows to feature the tossing up of just a single spinach leaf or celery stalk infused with just a drop of virgin oil.

Am I the only one waiting for a heartfelt, ‘oh what a disgusting dish this was’. Surely, sometimes a recipe fails? Am I the only bad cook? All dishes on TV turn out yummy. That’s all worked out beforehand. Scores of people and programmers work and write those cooking shows. Nigella Lawson is always right on queue giving those seductive side-way glances while licking her creamed ladle. Don’t be fooled it is spontaneous. She fakes it!  A little man in the corner of her kitchen holds a  folder and reads out every word, every lick, smile and every gesture. There are endless re-takes and each show costs millions.

It is therefore so pleasing to have Lobelia. She is all true and without pretence or haughtiness. You just know,  that when life becomes too over or under whelming, one can find the help, solace and peace deep within the heart of a simple Lobelia.