Mint

“So that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will,
and in your company be refreshed.”
~Romans 15:32~

If you drop by my house unannounced, be prepared to stay for a cup of tea! Affectionately pulled into the Custer vortex, you may find yourself unintentionally committing to a longer visit than originally planned.

A haven for the weary soul, or a hub of healthy conversation, we ourselves are always refreshed upon receiving company, and I should hope it is a reciprocal relationship. Given the opportunity, I’m guessing the gift of hospitality is true of you, dear reader!

Most mint varieties are “contagious” and can root through concrete cracks and under landscape material without the least vestige of conscience. In fact, my mint plants had long overstayed their welcome, and I started fresh and planted new ones in a strawberry pot, along with other herbs.

The term hospitality stems, naturally, from hospital. The historical context would have been a knight-run hospice which would have received a traveler in need of shelter, a refreshing balm for a soul-weary traveler.

In like fashion, our aromatic mint is a refreshing balm and has several varieties. Bee balm, spearmint, peppermint, apple, chocolate, lavender, and licorice mint, pennyroyal, and lemon are among the more familiar of the exhaustive mint list. Generically speaking, it is symbolic of protection, as evidenced by the numerous cold and sinus applications in lozenges and teas, but it also represents the protection in the form of good company, indicative of emotional shelter and positive energy and safety, all which facilitate positive communication and buoys our emotions, a tonic for the soul.

Kudos to my brother and sister-in-law for the following recipe, when I was in need of a shelter myself. Too weary to make the drive back home after a short trip, Tim and Trisha offered me the use of their guest bedroom. My children were delighted to sleep over with their cousins, and I crashed early, receiving the medicinal remedy of sleep, as well as the tasty beverage my hosts served me!

Nojito Mocktail

4 oz Seltzer water, club soda, or Sprite
¾ T rum extract
12 Mint leaves
1 oz lime juice
2 T brown sugar

Put mint leaves, lime juice, and brown sugar in tall glass. Muddle the leaves. Fill the glass with ice cubes. Add extract and club soda. Stir and garnish with mint.