Cold and flu season is upon us....(along with a tribute to the good folks of Cape Breton)
I was jolted out of bed by the excited voices of several jovial men banging on my door. It was just barely 3 am!
They were in high spirits! “Hurry! Get dressed! We‘re off to check the traps. You wanna come along?! There’ll be a good feed o’ lobster when we’re done now, girlie!”
I wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but I scrambled out of bed and into warm clothes and followed the guys down to the shore.
It was lobster season on Cape Breton Island…just outside of Cheticamp. I was newly arrived and the locals had taken me under their wing. This was a prized invitation!
Hearty, fun-loving and rugged they were…and utterly unlike any of the city boys I’d known. This was the land of Stan Rogers and the MacMasters. I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but my 3 night visit would turn into a 10 year stay.
The ocean waters were inky black, rough and choppy. The small dory bobbed helplessly. I was green around the gills in no time at all and clinging to the side miserably, when a bottle of beer was uncapped and thrust into my hands.
“Just SIP it…just a little here and there. Don’t try to drink the whole thing…just sip.”
I sniffed at the skunky aroma. It was room temperature to boot. I’d hardly drunk alcohol in my life to that point. The guys encouraged me over my increasing queasiness, waiting for me to take that first sip. Then they went back to tending their lines and hauling traps.
I had just been introduced to my 1st folk remedy.
Warm beer to stave off seasickness! Sipped ever so slowly…
And, of all things, it worked!!
Now my history with seasickness…I had tried every OTC and a couple of prescription meds and nothing had ever put a dent in it. Especially once it had started… I get carsick. I even got sick on a playground swing. But this remedy has never failed!
People here were used to doing their own doctoring. Gathering and drying plants both for dying wool and making tonics and teas was typical. Using tree barks and sap, making poultices and balms, easing toothaches, headaches, fevers, even broken bones was commonplace.
They were expert at using alcohol for all kinds of complaints. If you had a lingering cough or a bad cold, you would sip an ice-cold beer at bedtime as an expectorant to clear your lungs. It was always more gentle and effective than the drug store offerings. Medicinal wines were also used…and enjoyed.
But my favorite was something the locals called ‘Slish’.
It is something I still use to this day. It is meant to ward off any sickness.
Best for colds and flu and and possibly covid, though I’ve never gotten it…
Now ‘slish’ works best at the very first sign of an illness. This is a bit tricky. We think the first sign might be a tickle in the throat, a sneeze or a tinge of fever.
We actually have to go back further and try to catch the earlier signs that our immune system is struggling.
That could be a sense of being a certain kind of ‘tired’…that you’re on the edge of sick. Your digestion is weak. For me, the 1st sign is that my hair goes unexpectedly limp. Or your eyes become dull. You feel a tiny bit listless or under the weather.
Signs that your immune system…always working in the background…is struggling.
That is the time to make ‘slish’.
The directions, though simple, should be carefully followed. The reasons will become apparent after a short time.
First, warm up your bed and bedroom. Turn the heat up, add a blanket or even better, a heating blanket and an extra quilt. Put on winter PJs and socks. Layer up! Then prepare the ‘slish’ which you will take to bed with you.
For the ‘slish’ itself, you will cook a nice rich blend of oatmeal with honey and cream. Make it a drinkable consistency. Fill a warm, tall mug most of the way and then top it off with Irish whiskey. Take it to bed and drink it all.
(personal note: topping the mug off with whiskey strikes me as a ruin of good oatmeal, so I take a good shot glass of whiskey with my mug and sip from each, layering it in)
It will put you into a lovely deep sleep and you will break a fever in the night. A bit like a hot toddy, but with a couple of advantages!
The whiskey purifies the blood, relaxes the heart and leads to a deep healing sleep. The oatmeal holds the heat in your belly to help create the fever and the fiber in the oatmeal dredges bacteria and waste from your bowels…a part of your immune system!
Fever is nature’s way of curing many ills!
You have just assisted your body, rather than working against it, as we so often do.
In the morning, you will wake with energy and a clear head…and you will have dodged a bullet every time.
For those who do not drink and fear a hangover, this actually leaves you with a very clear head in the morning. There is a Thai concept of ‘the poisons chasing the poisons’ that relates…
In any case, ‘slish’ is about the only remedy that I keep on hand. (I might use it 2-3x a year) I have literally gone 7-8 years without a single cold or flu!
Much good medicine on Cape Breton…in the place, in the people and their spirits. The last refrain of this Stan Rogers song holds a message and medicine for us all….
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We are connected in subtle ways we do not understand, though the understanding comes with time.
A post script to Stan’s story. Some 20 years later, a friend and I were driving in Pennsylvania one afternoon when I suddenly choked up with tears. I felt stricken. It was deep. I felt as though I had lost a part of my heart.
“Something’s happened!” I told my friend. I couldn’t shake it. It crowded out everything for a time. “Someone I KNOW just died!”
And then…on the radio…the news of Stan Rogers death…a death that echoed the goodness of his life.
Had we met? No… But a piece of my heart…that larger Heart…registered clearly.
All of Canada mourned…but his music lives on. Good medicine for our times…
As always, Thanks for reading… 💖 Feel free to like, share, restack and subscribe (free