R Tramble

I did the third and final straining of the apple blossom concrete tonight. After straining, I put in the last bit of chopped up concrete in the tincture to let it set for another week or so.

I sampled a bit on a scent strip. It’s light. Something between apple and berry, in the fruity family. Tagetes-ish, maybe? (I need to sample tagetes again to be sure.)

I’m just shocked that it’s still so light.

Is all of this trouble worth it?

I’ll explain Anita in a second.

I visited Cologne last weekendweekend before last for inspiration (okay…and to do a little shopping). I stopped by the Cologne Cathedral.

I wasn’t sure how I would find inspiration there, but I kept my head and heart open for whatever came. I let go and asked to be led. After walking through the throngs of folks snapping pics at every relic they could find (and my word the Cologne Cathedral has a lot) I walked to the side of the cathedral to an empty spot next to a column.

A column. A stone column. Something told me to touch it. No. Not to just touch it. To feel it. I raised my right hand and placed the palm on the column. It was smooth, cool. Solid.

I closed my eyes.

Then, these words (or reasonable approximations of them) in my mind: “I don’t want to get into the political ins and outs of this place being built, because I have a tendency to do that. Just, please…Whoever or Whatever inspired the artisans who sculpted this column, and the artisans who built this massive, beautiful structure, please, breathe on me. Alight on me. Help me find that creative spark. Help me find the energy. The time. The everything.”

No shocks or thunderbolts came. No angels swooped down with a magic perfume formula. All I felt was stillness. And calm. And maybe that’s what I needed.

So where does Anita Roddick fit in all of this?

Whenever I have a writing block, I turn to my tiny picture of Ida B Wells that I have on my makeshift altar and ask for help. Well, perhaps not ask her for help per se, but to ask for that same energy she tapped into to write to finish whatever I was working on.

I’m doing the same with Anita.

I hope she doesn’t mind.

The weather in Zurich is absolutely awful right now. Drizzle, clouds, cold. I find it extremely hard to get in the mood to create. But create I must.

I’m still working with the apple blossom concrete. I strained the first round on Wednesday. Here are the dregs (sp):

Ew. Not too appetizing.

Here is the tincture:

I finely chopped more concrete and put that in the tincture to set for another week in an attempt to pull out as much scent as I can. I’m sampling some on a test strip now (through a stuffy nose from the cold mind you). It’s warm, but fresh. There’s more of a sweet floral aspect to it than apple. Reminiscent of sugar with a light acidic aftertaste.

Not sure if two strainings will be enough to pull out the scent though.

Köln, Deutschland