…and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play, and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
Everyone likes a nice cold glass of iced tea in the hot summertime. It sure does hit the spot and can help hydrate and cool you down when temperatures hit the high 80’s and low 90’s.
I can still see the colorful drinking straws my grandmother had at her summer cottage at Pymatuning Lake. These graced many-a-glass of beverages and were saved, washed, and reused for the next time. They came in colors of orange sherbet, watermelon greens, red and white striped, and clear. There were also paper straws, too, but their ends always seemed to get stuck together, and that was a drag.
There were also swizzle sticks that we would toss in for fun, even though we knew they were for grown-up drinks. They had pretty colors, too, and designs of cobalt blue and gold, red and black, or yellow and black.
On hot summer afternoons, we grandchildren would be pretending we were wild horses running through the yard, jumping the creek, pawing at the ground and then taking off again, our long hair flying out behind us like the manes of riotous, untamed creatures.
Everything was all fun and games until someone had to go and get hurt.
Or we would be just plum tuckered-out and had to catch our breath. We would realize how hot out it was and we knew just who could fix that: Grandma.
Usually she had Nestea instant with sugar and lemon, but she also had mint ginger ale from Cotton Club. Her ice box was always cold and the tendrils of steam would curl outwards from the ice cave like the claws or the breath of a hidden snow creature lurking in the depths, guarding the ice, and we were so hot that we wished we could crawl inside.
We thought we were big stuff when Grandma filled up the tall, slim, frosted glasses with lots of ice cubes, the nice cold liquid refreshment tumbling over the solid-squared geometric pieces of frozen water. The ice would crack and break, and more steam would curl off. Little kids didn’t get any ice; that was for big kids.
Of course we would chew on the ice, too, and that was part of the fun and the cooling off.
And Grandma still referred to it as the ice box as she bustled about preparing the brew. Like, “Close the ice box door or you’ll create frost…,” or,” The tea is in the ice box, help yourself.”
Such nice memories, the best, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Water intake is very important to humans and animals alike.
Summertime causes sweating and thus dehydration.
Tea holds supplementary benefits such as fellowship and psychological reassurances, and homeopathic or medicinal qualities for relaxation, constipation, digestion, and blood quality upgrades and regulation.*
The cold iced tea being taken into our stomach as we sit under a shade tree does cool us down and can prevent heat exhaustion or prostration.
Large glass containers can be seen on people’s patios or back porches, brewing sun tea during the hot summer months. This is then garnered and put in the refrigerator to make iced tea.
The frequency resonances infused into the tea by the warm sun are said to have uplifting, beneficial and spiritual qualities that we can then imbibe into our bodies. Think New Age or Christic frequencies of a higher plane.
Hot steeped tea is wonderful on a cold winter afternoon, and it has a psychological benefit as well. There is something to be said about “Warm,” and “Hot,” in a psychological sense. It means we are not freezing to death, that we survived, and that we have control over our circumstances.
Humans are naturally drawn to warm and hot things and it is a very comforting feeling to have hot tea or hot soup, or a nice warm blanket in a nice warm house.
Survivalists brew their own teas, out in the back woods.
Trees and wild herbs can be reaped to conjure up a potable brew. (1)
White Pine Trees are an excellent source of Vitamin C. White Pine tea has been a mainstay up in the Adirondack Mountains for decades, and the meaning of the word “Adirondack” is “bark eater,” since both the needles and the bark are edible. (2)
Sassafras Tea is a favorite of health food freaks, for its benefits of improved blood circulation, immune health, reducing gout, and clearing up skin.
The roots have a distinctly familiar taste as they are harvested and brewed. Think Root Beer and Birch Beer or Sarsaparilla.
To make Sassafras tea you must dig up some roots, clean them off, slice them up, and place them into a pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
The water will turn a deep red color. Let the tea simmer for about five minutes.
Willow Bark tea is also used historically for health benefits. Young sprigs or older bark can be gathered. Headaches and fevers were thought to be cured by the salicylic acid contained in the Willow. This tea must be used with caution for those with allergies. (3)
Hawthorne Berry tea is thought to lower blood pressure, improve cardio performance, and relieve anxiety. Just pluck a handful of berries for one cup of water, boil and steep.
Herbs are also handy medicine out in the wild.
Wild black berries are edible themselves, and so are mulberries.
The dried leaves of the black berry can be used to steep tea, but live green leaves can also be used. The dried leaves have their water weight removed, so the more dry leaves you add to the steep, the stronger the tea.
Tea balls can be used, or canning cloth, to steep dried herbs and leaves in boiling water.
The Wintergreen herb leaves and berries from the forest floor are edible, and it has a nice content of Vitamin C.
It is thought to aid with food digestion, and both the plant leaves or the berries can be used to steep the tea.
Other trees and herbs include Hemlock Conifer needle tea, (not Water Hemlock like Socrates drank,) Saint John’s Wort herb tea, or Yarrow tea. (4)
Native Americans consider Yarrow herbs to be “strong medicine,” with antibiotic qualities and overall healing benefits for fevers and colds, and congestion.
Yarrow tea should also be used with caution by those who suffer from allergies.
Blueberry leaf tea is made by boiling and steeping the leaves of the common blue berry. It is thought to help with circulation and to reduce Diabetes.
You can try all of these at home, with a family member or a friend. It might be fun to go out into the woods and fields to forage and gather the wild ingredients, bring them to your kitchen and conjure them up. Time spent out in nature is therapeutic in itself.
This article was meant as a guideline and not medical advice. Please be advised that the trees, herbs, and teas are suggestions and ideas only for dietary intake. Always consult the advice of your family doctor or PCP if you think you have serious medical, health, or psychological issues.
Do research on the trees and herbs mentioned, and also do research if you plan an outdoor camping trip away from home and modern amenities, because if you get stranded out in the wilds, you just might have to eat the aforementioned natural items.
Eating clean, natural, unprocessed foods such as fresh salads and raw vegetables or steamed vegetables, and drinking lots of water can help your health be at an optimum level. Exercising regularly, such as horseback riding or even a 15 minute walk, can help with cardio and circulation.
Eating at fast food places and doing no exercising, as in a sedentary lifestyle, can significantly lower your health levels and put you at risk of heart disease or psychological problems.
Hmmm, anyone choosing to keep equine must have some kind of a psychological problem…but oh, to enjoy a tad of hot tea or a tad of cold iced tea, that is the question. And with our fickle weather, it’s anyone’s guess. You decide.
I like both, and luckily I have a nice assortment in the pantry so I don’t have to go out foraging for sticks and berries at the moment.
Sipping mine with lots of honey atop a nice trail horse to the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “Happy Trails to You.”
*Meant as a guideline, consult a qualified medical professional for questions and health benefits of tea.
1-4: “Backwoods Survival Teas,” by Kevin Estela, American Frontiersman Magazine, Spring 2019, #248, pgs. 101,102,103