2272. Vera’s generous help

It was a special day for Vera. It was seven weeks since her husband had passed away, and she thought she had better get off her backside and starting doing a few things. Of course doing nothing was only in her head; she had written over a hundred thank you notes to those kind enough to attend the funeral or communicate a message. Even the man who came every year to clean their chimney had left a kind note on the online obituary message board.

I had known Vera from way back. In fact we had gone to school together, although we were never girlfriend and boyfriend.  I had attended the husband’s funeral of course. Today – it was Saturday – Vera was off to help a friend run a stall at the market where they sold herb plants. I didn’t exactly need any herbs but I thought a little plant for the back door would be a good enough thing to get, so off I went to the market’s herb stall.

And there she was: Vera in the herb stall!

“Aloe Vera,” I said.

1449. Dried herbs

Aunt Sylvia was well-off. Everyone knew that but only Aunt Sylvia knew by how much.

She was a spinster and lived alone with a few simple interests to occupy her time. Her main interest was growing herbs. She didn’t have a huge back yard, but every square inch of it was used for growing her precious herbs. Then she would dry them, bottle them up, and give them away as gifts.

Every year her niece, Penny, got the same Christmas present: a collection of a dozen or so delightful dried herbs tastefully presented in diminutive pots. At least, Aunt Sylvia thought things were “delightful”. Niece Penny didn’t think much of them at all.

“Quite frankly,” said Penny into her cell phone, “you’d think she would have better things to do with her money. More dried up stuff this Christmas. I usually throw them away. Basically, we’re waiting for her to die so as to get our hands on the inheritance.”

Several months later, Sylvia died. Penny was beside herself with excitement. And indeed, she had every reason to be excited, for Aunt Sylvia had left Penny her entire fortune. The will said: “Give the lot to my dear niece Penny, now that, at last, I’m dead.” So Penny got the whole seventeen dollars and forty-two cents – after funeral expenses. There was no bank account teeming with loot, for several months earlier Aunt Sylvia had donated it all to the Horticultural Society.

590. Rosemary’s herb garden

© Bruce Goodman 23 May 2015

Rosemary was very proud of her herb garden. She had parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (of course), and chives, fennel, coriander (which she called cilantro), mint (in a pot because it spread like wild fire), basil, dill, horse-radish (also in a pot), marjoram, oregano, chamomile, echinacea, turmeric, cumin, garlic, crocuses (for saffron), ginger, cardamom (the plant that gives the green cardamom), and yarrow.

She didn’t have borage because she had read somewhere that its leaves were toxic. And she had a bay tree, and a tree for pine nuts, and a tree that furnished both nutmeg and mace, but they were too big for the herb garden.

All her friends said the same thing: shame she couldn’t cook.