The Man of Letters and the Staff of Life

The Man of Letters, the Green Goddess' "pen pal" from the Far Off Verdant Isle, sets a high standard. He keeps the Green Goddess on her toes: firstly, he wears only tweeds grown on the backs of the southdown sheep of that very isle, he rides his bicycle from place to place, (or if journeying longer, he trains to his hideaway in the Yorkshire Dales), and he distributes leaflets on the benefits to the planet of vegetarianism ie he is a paragon of virtue in the eyes of the Green Goddess.

Strange things have happened recently at the Institution in Praise of the Famous Saxon Warlord where the Man of Letters teaches. There has been a chink in the door of the heroic armory--the Man of Letters has made small inroads! Recently, during the time the Page of Coins (Gold) was undertaking his apprenticeship at this famous institution, he reported to the Green Goddess how the Man of Letters had brought his religious zeal to the institution's chapel. (Here the Green Goddess must make a brief notation: whatever his more established religious beliefs may be, the Man of Letters shares with the Green Goddess a more pagan religion of the ancients whereby they worship at the alter of the Gods of Nature). As the Page of Coins related, on this particular occasion the Man of Letters brought with him to the alter some dough, and had students knead it in front of the congregation while he gave a sermon on the benefits of artisan food as opposed to the multinational variety, and the benefits of home grown to save on food miles! (This certainly gave a new spin to the "breaking of the bread" and the drinking of the altar wine).

With the above in mind, the Green Goddess reminds herself that from acorns oak trees grow--so the Green Goddess and Fairy Cupid (her youngest daughter and protege) have been baking bread. This has proven to be a creative and wholly (holy?) satisfying experience, and Fairy Cupid is a whizz at kneading. The bread has been topped by the "mummalade" (also known as marmalade) of the Green Goddess from her home grown cumquats--what an exquisite culinary experience! And one that many no longer share having had their taste buds desensitized by multinational food "flavours", so called.

The inhabitants of Castle Green have tasted and approved the first few offerings of the Green Goddess and Fairy Cupid--multigrain bread with a cupful of oats thrown in for good measure. But this has only got the taste buds going--and the Goddess is now off to Farmer Bill's shop to buy barley flour (barley has other uses apart from beer), rye flour (to go back to Captain Carbon's teutonic heritage), more oats (great for the arteries), and spelt flour (the grain of the ancients--so much easier to digest ). Updates on the baking to follow.

Despite this baking accomplishment, the Green Goddess feels she has not quite attained the sacredness of the kneading at the altar of the Man of Letters. She ponders that one of Fairy Cupid's loaves needs to be placed at the altar of the Goddess Demeter, her Harvest helpers, and the Gods of Nature. The sacred place: a copse of snowgums amongst the wombat trails.