Folk Remedy

Our front door doesn't latch properly unless you use the dead-bolt. Cindy and I have gone back and forth on a solution (I want a new door), but the important fact for this post is that the door doesn't latch well.

A very odd thing happened to me last Friday afternoon. Cindy was away, and I was watching the kids. I did a little domestic work, including mopping the floors, and in the process of tossing the entryway rug outside I failed to lock the front door. Fast forward 30 minutes and I am reading Lukas a book. I hear this odd voice and my first thought is that Konrad is up from his nap. As I get up to investigate, I notice an old Vietnamese lady in my entryway. She is wearing a traditional conical hat and she has a scarf wrapped around her face from the chin to the top of her head. I recognized her as our non-English speaking neighbor from across the street. In eight years our conversations have been a wave of the hand from her, and an occasional thumbs up and "good job" from her husband. I saw in her hands two grocery bags, which she promptly handed me. They were heavy. Was it already Tet (the Vietnamese lunar new-year)? Over the years on Tet we have had neighbors bring over large platters of delicious egg rolls. Our brief dialogue consisted of Vietnamese and English phrases that I hope meant "thank you" and "you're welcome".

I took the heavy load to the kitchen and saw that I had two large jars filled with kumquats and lemons in water.

OK? What do I do with these?

Today I talked to a co-worker who gave me the answer I had been waiting for since Friday. They are folk cold remedies. The water is salted so that the fruit stays preserved. You are supposed to take some of the fruit out and mash it, and then add honey to it.

It led me to ask, "do we maintain any folk remedies like that?" I guess not. I remember my Dad talking about getting a shot of peach schnapps when he was sick as a kid. But this modern family uses Tylenol.