COVID-19 Era Time Tides: Eastern Enterprises, Civali’s; Dandelion Wine

Living through history, yes we are. Time.

Time. The former domain of Al Civali, from a visit in 2019 when the building's contents were sold. Previously the same structure was known as Angie's, officially Eastern Enterprises on East Main Street, Meriden. “He was a World War II Veteran of the U.S. Army Calvary, serving in Burma, India and China. He had a love of music and played both violin and piano. He enjoyed farming, raising horses and cattle and was a devoted dog owner throughout his life.” (2009) More at the very end of this story.

People shape their individual environment, like some mollusks create shells. Good to live in a library, a lifetime of reading, to read, reference, pages of art and biographies books; about artist, scientists, discovers, innovators, entrepreneur. Travels, memoirs, those who fit in no category. (Mary Norris, Greek To Me is one. Subtitled “Adventures of a Comma Queen” may scare some, but the writing is superb and runs the gamut of explorations, experience, Greek history, word origins, and her own life. The part about her learning to drive stick shift is like being there with her. Have read and re-read portions because this book is shelved right beside John Steinbeck, John McPhee, Annie Dillard, E. O. Wilson, and other favorites kept within arm's reach. Writing so clear, the reading is like word movies for the mind.)

A writer reads. Voracious readers often are writers, some go for years without realizing that.

Draft beauty, spring plow. CB/MDP

A treasure recently unearthed from the stacks is a book on making wine originally published in England as “Easymade Wine and Country Drinks” (1957) and includes a recipe for dandelion wine.

Ray Bradbury's turf, those two words. Dandelion. Wine. His book with the same title includes:

“…why not let nature show you a few things? Cutting grass and pulling weeds can be a way of life… Lilacs on a bush are better than orchids. And dandelions and devil grass are better! Why? Because they bend you over and turn you away from all the people and the town for a little while and sweat you and get you down where you remember you got a nose again. And when you're all to yourself that way, you're really yourself for a little while; you get to thinking things through, alone. Gardening is the handiest excuse for being a philosopher. Nobody guesses, nobody accuses, nobody knows, but there you are, Plato in the peonies, Socrates force-growing his own hemlock..”

And the season of yellow blossoms dotting the green is almost here.

Dandelion. How you look at something is what you see.

Assemble the ingredients: Time. Two quarts dandelion flowers. “Pick the dandelions on a fine day when the flowers are open. Pick the heads off and measure two quart jugs full. Wash the flowers very well to remove any insects and put them in a large bowl.”

In Connecticut, there are microclimates: Near a stone wall. Open field. Riverbank, full sun. Hilltop, cold. Balmy protected back patio. For a former pasture, the lush green seen contains violets, multitudes of dandelions, all sorts of native species, clover, sprouting bull thistle. Never sprayed, but a neighbor uphill fears all insects and subdues nature with regular applications of insecticides, herbicides. And dog-frequented areas are also to be avoided So will avoid downhill of this because water carries all it finds. Seep, percolate, drain.

Fortunately, stretches beyond the seep will provide sufficient harvesting of the cheery yellow flower so many pollinators love.

Decades ago while commuting to a weekly newspaper office, would always look for the seasonal dandelion hunters near Middlefield orchards. Usually older men, but an occasional woman, their pursuit? Dandelion greens before the flowers; then the flowers themselves. While those ignorant of the rich vitamins and trace minerals contained in foraged greens poison and eradicate them for perfect sterile lawns, these wise folks who grew up in Depression times would pick, steam and consume the bounty they found by looking and knowing. Wisdom sometimes circles back and around. Note: Foraging is art and science combined; do not eat anything you do not know is edible 100 percent sure. Go along with experienced foragers to learn from them; priceless if you can find one or a group willing to share knowledge gathered from years of experience.

Some wisdom is placed in books, gleaned from handwritten journals, archives, diaries, public records, repositories. Stone markers, records of these. Voices waiting to speak to a researcher or writer to weave narratives together. Remember me.

All are patient as their time on our one planet is done, but part of a journey here remains to be transformed into a page — whether that is paper, audio, digital. Put those stories on a ship, sail on into the unknown future.

“To be astonished at anything is the first movement of the mind towards discovery.” Louis Pasteur

Life in the COVID-19 era reveals an urgency to find reporters who can make complex issues understandable. Here are some of those whose voices speak for humanity and science:

“With plans to restart the economy starting to take shape, Ed Yong, staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers science, talks about why it won't be quick or look the same as before and whether we can fix some societal problems as we reopen.”

Science writer Ed Yong (@TheAtlantic) audio podcast interview. Yong answers questions with unflinching honesty, including reopening schools, public transportation, personal choices and decisions. Uncertainty. “Whack a mole” approach.

More? Here you go.

Ed Yong on NPR “Two years ago, science writer Ed Yong wrote an article for The Atlantic in which he warned that a new global pandemic was inevitable — and that the world would be unprepared for it when it arrived. Now, with the outbreak of COVID-19, much of what Yong warned about in his reporting has come true.”

A concise biography in a tweet about Helen Branswell, “infectious disease reporter @statnews” by Dr. Jess Wade (@jesswade) and her own Twitter bio: “제시카 physics/chemistry @imperialcollege. @500womensci + @wikipedia
+ chiral materials + Raman spectroscopy enthusiast. she/her. least useful doctor in my family.” Note: The marvel of reading and exploration is discovery. “Jess Wade and Maryam Zaringhalam do 500 Women Scientists with a mission “to serve society by making science open, inclusive, and accessible through the transformative leadership of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. To meet that mission requires changing the face of what a scientist looks like.” It's incredible.

And there is Trevor Bedford (@trvrb) Scientist @fredhutch, studying viruses, evolution and immunity. Collection of #COVID19 threads here: https://bedford.io/misc/twitter/ and Nextstrain (@nextstrain). Real-time tracking of pathogen evolution, nextstrain.org.

And some perspective. The former domain of the late Al Civali pictured above in 2019 when an ongoing tag sale was held to clean out the former Civali's Hardware. Previously the same structure was known as Angie's, officially Eastern Enterprises, a general store with a cooler full of soda at the entrance, comic books, toys, clothing, overhead even more. It was the perfect next location for Al Civali, whose business moved there after his building at the corner of East Main and Gravel Street (across from Hancock's Pharmacy) was sold for redevelopment. Visiting Civali's home, touring the property, and seeing a massive bull (kept as a pet, yes) standing like a king atop a huge pile of barn leavings? Talking with Mr. Civali about horses, riding, trails and more? Memorable.

From his 2009 obituary: “He was a World War II Veteran of the U.S. Army Calvary, serving in Burma, India and China. He had a love of music and played both violin and piano. He enjoyed farming, raising horses and cattle and was a devoted dog owner throughout his life.” (He never spoke of his military service. Wish I'd asked; did acquire his wheelbarrow and a vintage headstall from the final sale at his store. Goodbye; will remember this time.)

There's a dog mid-bark in the top left corner of this image; a day with a wheelbarrow after a recent storm. She protested being kept from her toy, having to sit/stay.

So don't put off what you are not willing to leave undone, unwritten, unsaid. Learn something new every day. Working remote and all digital, things are the same yet different. (For more about how people see but don't see when facing a crisis — not being able to think critically and act — consider reading The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan.)

“Then my mysterious acquaintance made a remark which I feel bound to put on record. ‘I've described all these events,' he said, ‘as if they'd already happened. I might just as well have described them as if they still lay in the future. To me, there's very little difference.'” — Michael Ende, author's postscript, Momo

Distance, keep six feet from all souls. Wear a protective mask when out in public; make several. Tune into breaking news via Twitter on tests, COVID-19 studies, science. Tune out the chaos agents sowing discord, conflict, misinformation to muddy the water and pit factions against each other. Avoid the flip-flopper, mouth pursing like a freshly-landed fish. Focus. Write. Read. Garden. Forage. Harness curiosity, find out. Write.

To be continued. Also see Resources page (formerly the events page) for additional ideas, people to follow.


“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” — Roald Dahl