11/23/2011
Apicius
222 Reviews
Apicius
4
Uralt = German for "Age-Old"
My grandmother had a very special drawer in her sideboard where she used to keep her most important belongings. Next to a tiny, dark, green flask, there was a sheet of paper, folded with the utmost accurateness, but already quiet worn out. If you carefully unfolded it, you would find a list of names. Handwritten in the nowadays completely forgotten German Sütterlin letters there were the dates of birth of all of her many children, grandchildren, and even some great-grandchildren. Very often, this sheet was taken out of the drawer – because another name had to be added or just for not forgetting anyone's birthday!
While my grandmother bothered about her list, my childish curiosity was drawn to this strangely-shaped little bottle. It was glowing in a mysteriously dark green, it was round and not much bigger than a marble. On the tiny bottleneck was this midget screw cap. This must have been something very precious!
Sometimes, I was allowed to open the small round bottle and snoop. What a strange, intense scent came out of it! It was mysteriously dark like the forests in the fairy tales my grandmother used to read out to me. Nowhere else was this magical fragrance. My grandmother was right to herd this treasure. Never have I seen this essence being spoiled for a certain purpose – it was just too precious for being used. If anything, then this tiny flask was opened only for shortly sensing this scent, just to get a vague impression of that remote world that seemed to be enclosed in there. After this, the cap was tightly screwed again, and the little flask was put back to its place in the drawer, next to the folded sheet. This precious treasure must have come down to my grandmother from olden times. And indeed, its name was “Uralt Lavendel” ! (Age-Old Lavender).
Now, I have a somewhat bigger, differently shaped bottle of this lavender water on my desk next to the computer. I cannot think of wearing this scent because on skin, it immediately fades away. But once in a while, I open it and take a sniff.
While my grandmother bothered about her list, my childish curiosity was drawn to this strangely-shaped little bottle. It was glowing in a mysteriously dark green, it was round and not much bigger than a marble. On the tiny bottleneck was this midget screw cap. This must have been something very precious!
Sometimes, I was allowed to open the small round bottle and snoop. What a strange, intense scent came out of it! It was mysteriously dark like the forests in the fairy tales my grandmother used to read out to me. Nowhere else was this magical fragrance. My grandmother was right to herd this treasure. Never have I seen this essence being spoiled for a certain purpose – it was just too precious for being used. If anything, then this tiny flask was opened only for shortly sensing this scent, just to get a vague impression of that remote world that seemed to be enclosed in there. After this, the cap was tightly screwed again, and the little flask was put back to its place in the drawer, next to the folded sheet. This precious treasure must have come down to my grandmother from olden times. And indeed, its name was “Uralt Lavendel” ! (Age-Old Lavender).
Now, I have a somewhat bigger, differently shaped bottle of this lavender water on my desk next to the computer. I cannot think of wearing this scent because on skin, it immediately fades away. But once in a while, I open it and take a sniff.
2 Comments
ChicoRoch1
