Last month I saw a box of
Traditional Medicinals Gypsy Cold Care Tea on sale and thought, "Looks interesting but I don't have a cold, I don't need it." And that was probably when a gypsy curse floated out of nowhere to strike me down with a wicked cold/sinus infection soon after, because I dared to presume that I didn't need any Gypsy Cold Care in my life. I got through the first miserable days with hot lemonade steeped with bits of fresh ginger, and I think that helped a lot. But then there was all this remaining congestion and a weird croupy cough, and at that point I went for the Gypsy Cold Care potion. It's great stuff, with organically magical things like elder flower, yarrow flower, peppermint, hyssop, rose hips, cinnamon bark, ginger and licorice, and it really does seem that if you drink a lot of it and let those natural elements go to work, you can get over a plague quickly but in a holistically healed way. And anytime I can feel better without antibiotics or visits to doctors' offices but by sipping hot tea and watching Jean Reno in Les Visiteurs instead -- I am happy.
Pictured: The Sleeping Gypsy -- Henri Rousseau, 1897
