Sometimes tectonic plates shift in the ether. Sometimes celestial orbs of fire, great, hot and inhospitable, align in deep space. We call them stars. It begins, in this story, on a country rode somewhere outside of Albany, where the honeysuckle that’s already bloomed and fallen in the south still weaves alongside the road. A week later—a week of snap peas in the garden, airports, 1000 photos, rolling pastry crust, the varied terrain of faces you love, days without sleep, a backyard dinner all Marrakech meets Nashville, and so much work and all of it good—they complete their slow trajectory. The angles are perfect and so perfect. A great softness descends. You give the universe what it’s asked of you for a long time, what you’ve suffered for not giving. And the moment you do it gives you validation. And you know it doesn’t always work this way, and you’re just grateful that just this once it did. It feels like death, the best kind. And then, for a moment that hangs suspended in the air you have electricity, mostly white with shocks of blue, running through your veins instead of slow, warm blood. Your skin shudders and sloughs off. And you experience that delicious faith, amor fati.The pain and frustration and wildflowers all the same—you love them. It can happen somewhere nowhere on I-75 while Dolly sings Jolene. Eternal return.
These great moments happen in the slow moments. In the moments where I find time, despite a marathon of work, to stop by the road for five minutes and clip an armful of honeysuckle. Find time to pluck each bud (it’s tedious but smells wonderful at the very least) with a cup of Earl Grey because I have a thing for bergamot, even though I can never pronounce it correctly. Then, after dinner, laying in bed, I remember that I’ve left the buds, painstakingly gathered, laying on an Edwardian napkin to wilt. So I tiptoe downstairs, boil two cups sugar with two cups water and slice two lemons in the mean time. One handful of flowers, about a cup I reckon, goes into one jar, another cup in the next. I squeeze the lemon over the flowers, one lemon for each jar. When the syrup comes to a boil, I pour it over the flowers, half in each jar. I give them a stir, cover them, and let them sit out on the counter through the night and on into late morning. Around noon the next day I strain it and find time to make some lemonade for myself and my friends Tara & Percy, a.k.a. the Jersey Ice Cream Co., while we work. It’s simple. And it’s good. You can find the codified recipe for honeysuckle syrup here. But the above instructions will work just fine, and can be made half asleep in the middle of the night, as is evidenced here.
My birthdays are coming up, I turn 31 on the 2nd of July and will be 3 years sober on the 12th. I had an auspicious week. A week where I let go. And this next year will be about quiet creation and small dinners with friends. About seeing how, no matter how insane the external circumstance, the problem and solution ultimately lie in me. My reactions are the only place pain and stress can occur. They are in me, not in the world. I live in light when I choose to. I live in darkness when I choose to. It’s not always an easy choice; it’s easy to get married to the dark. To feel like the dark is just. To feel, in the end, like a victim—be it of an irritating red light or an unhealthy person. But from the little aggravations to the stomach knotting troubles, peace is always in me to find. This year will be serene. Because I choose serenity. Here’s a song for you that makes me feel that.
And if you live on the other side of the world, in case you missed the post announcing it, I’ve teamed up with Luisa Brimble and Rebekka Seale to teach two Slow Living workshops, one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. We’ll be exploring creating content through food, florals, photography, and textiles. You can find tickets here.
A warning: Do your homework before foraging! There are over 180 varieties of Honeysuckle in the world, and some, mostly found in Europe, can be toxic to humans. The varieties found in the North East and South East of the United States are largely edible. I only use the flowers for infusion. But they could be dried for tea as well.
Ingredients
- 1 cup lemon juice, 5-6 lemons
- 1-1.5 cups honeysuckle syrup
- 4-5 cups water, to taste
- ice
- handful of fresh mint or basil for muddling (optional)
Instructions
- In a glass pitcher mix the lemon, syrup, and water. If you like it less tart, add the 5th cup of water. I don't. If you like it sweeter, add more syrup. I like just one cup. Lightly muddle the herbs, if using, in the bottom of the pitcher with a wooden spoon. Add plenty of ice and serve.
This is lovely! I was just reading a post about savoring each moment. I think it’s so important just to slow down and take a few seconds to appreciate our human experience. I’ve always loved honeysuckle as a scent- it was one of my mother’s favorites and we had fresh honeysuckle on bushes in my yard, but I’ve never had it in food or drink before. Combined with lemonade, it feels like summer!
Oh my am I ever glad I found your blog (via Manger). It is so beautiful and your writing is unique, personal and poetic. Congratulations and happy birthday . . . I am right there with you in Aug. except 47 years and 9 years. The recipe is also beautiful and looks delicious. More more!!!
This lemonade looks like the perfect summer treat! And I love the flavour 🙂
My favorite song. Oh, thank you thank you thank you, for the reminder. Holding on as we speak. 🙂
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d certainly donate to
this brilliant blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for bookmarking and adding your RSS
feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will talk about this website with my Facebook group.
Chat soon!
Gorgeous photos. Stunning really. I love the look of honeysuckle, but I am not sure I can get it in Northern Canada. At least I have never seen honeysuckle anywhere. I will just have to continue to live vicariously through your beautiful photos.
So beautifully written, Beth. And – as ever – stunning photography. I love honeysuckle – I used to pick armfuls of it when I was little and relish sucking the little bit of juice out of the bud… God – 31?! That one is coming for me too soon… I thought that 30 was big enough milestone! Xx
I made a honeysuckle iced tea and was amazed at the amount of sweetness that those little blossoms infused into it, what a delicious idea to use them in lemonade!
maybe you’ve talked about this before, but i am relatively new to your blog and i wanted to ask what you shoot with? i have been a pentax lover forever, but it’s time to move on and i love your photos so much, that i thought it would be worth asking. thanking you in advance!
I shoot with a canon 5d mark III w/ a 50mm 1.4 lens…but I think there are lots of wonderful cameras out there and that a good piece of glass is more important than the camera body. You also might be able to find a good deal on a mark II 2nd hand. Hope that helps!
serenity is my cup of earl without your honeysuckles but your words. hope you are finding some time to close your eyes and maybe dream about sleep?
xoxo
That looks delicious! Fragrant and sweet.
Your words and photos are succulent. Thank you always for sharing bits and pieces of yourself here with us.
your words never fail to move me .
Consciously, I decided not to read this post until Monday morning. Why? Because it’s always good to start the week with a good read. With words that you can think about through the week. I knew I would find them in this post, Beth. And so I did.
‘About seeing how, no matter how insane the external circumstance, the problem and solution ultimately lie in me. My reactions are the only place pain and stress can occur. They are in me, not in the world. I live in light when I choose to.’
<3
This sounds amazing! I have to try!
And the pictures are just beautiful.
the little lion girl
That looks absolutely amazing!! I love lemonade and honeysuckle just makes it seem all the more inviting! Beautiful writing also!
It’s been a while now since my first visit here (visiting your blog has now become a moment of indulgence all for myself!) but I never left a comment.
Now..I just want you to know I admire you so much and even more after what I’ve read in this beautiful, touching and poetic post .
Happy Birthday and congratulations for your 3 years.
Your pictures always amaze me!
Francesca
Beautiful photos and loving the idea of adding something besides jasmine into a tea. I bet this tastes like summer in a gulp.
This looks so tasty!
This honeysuckle lemonade is simply brilliant! When I was a little girl in Chattanooga my grandparents had a huge honeysuckle bush. We used to pick all of the blossoms run up to the porch and savor every last one of them. Thanks for sharing!!
This is absolutely gorgeous. I found your blog through CookRepublic and added it my list on my website. I love your photos and your writing is lovely. Not to mention the food… Oh, the food.
exactly the quote i needed right now.
“About seeing how, no matter how insane the external circumstance, the problem and solution ultimately lie in me. “
Looks so tatsy… I recommend all of you to see this recipe of lemonald from Tyler Florence:
foodeaser.com/en/2014/05/28/vodka-lemonade/
This looks delicious. Beautiful photos too!
It’s going to be end of mine day, except before end I
am reading this fantastic paragraph to improve my experience.
such beautiful pictures and style.
would love to know where your glass pitcher is from. so hard to find a gorgeous one. but you did!!!
I absolutely love your site. Just a question on the honeysuckle recipes. Can you use dried stored honeysuckle to go back and make the syrup the same way as using fresh flowers?
I don’t think dried will yield the same flavor, unfortunately!
just always to leave some leaves on that stem when you pick them. they only blossom on the last years growth.. and if you just want some stems in a vase, crush the ends of the stems so they can draw up water
Surprisingly. The recipe is too simple to make. Your post always contains nice pictures, easy and healthy recipe. I will follow on you.
This is one awesome blog post.Thanks Again.
this looks great cant wait for summer..