Far be it from me to traffic in dangerously unrealistic comments and other false hopes about the current Coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. But for what it’s worth, regarding the lifting of essential spirits, I humbly say the following:

The Garlic is up, here at the end of Cathedral Drive, Hope Ness. Just an inch or so, mind you; and a little touched by frost at the tip. But garlic is tough. It will survive. It already has.

I confess, I was a little worried: I hadn’t managed to spread a layer of straw mulch over the expanded bed last fall to help protect it from the winter cold.  Plus, it was an unusual winter, going from unseasonably warm, to cold, then thaws, little snow, and then a lot at least once with the promise of its protective layer of insulation, then another thaw and the bed exposed again … and so on.

But apparently, I say now with relief and a certain amount of joy, I needn’t have been worried: I say again, for it bares repeating, the Garlic is up. It is alive and well, And in a few months, if I treat it right, with straw mulch to keep my clay-loam soil moist, and watered as needed, I should have a fine crop of the six different varieties I planted last fall. They include Georgian Fire, Music, Russian Red, and a variety commonly planted in the Azores, a group of islands in the mid-Atlantic west of Portugal.

Medical News Today, an on-line, Medical News site based in the U.K., has an interesting article titled, ‘What are the benefits of garlic?’ Published in 2017, the article includes information about the history of garlic and its consumption by human beings from the most ancient of ancient times. Also, as the title says, it discusses the long history of medical benefits attributed to Garlic. Some, but not all, have been confirmed by scientific studies. A series of various ailments, and the results of the studies conducted, are discussed in detail.

Of course, it cannot go without saying here that anyone thinking of self-medicating with garlic as a result of reading this post or the Medical News Today article should first seek the advice of their family doctor or other qualified medical practitioner.

I think it’s fair to say one of the lessons being learned as a result of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is the re-discovery of the health benefits of some traditional, food-based remedies, like fresh lemons, for another example, as well as garlic.

As in so many of the important issues related to the current crisis, personal and community responses to the challenge of fighting Covid-19, should be grounded in the good, scientific information currently available; and not wishful thinking.

That being said, the human spirit has a vital role to play, on a personal, community, and global level:

Explore the new opportunities you may have to lift your spirit, or revive past ones you may have neglected, or overlooked.

If you see something in your life that may be wonderful, don’t pass it by. Take a moment ‘now’ to linger there, and be moved by the brave, new garlic breaking through, or whatever it might be.

Let’s each of us, guided by the re-discovery of our own ‘better angels,’ reach out and hold hands with everyone else, and everything else on this beautiful, little jewel of a planet, this sacred gift. Yes, by all means, hug a tree. The sap is running. Feel the life force rising.

Maybe after all is said and done about this time, we will have found a new way of understanding how blessed we really are.