The Narrative Within

yucca and aloe at Los Ojos

Respecting the 2015 Resolutions List means making the rounds for health check ups. Which means hanging out in waiting rooms. Eduardo Galeano’s “Espejos” (“Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone”) makes for great waiting room literature as it is a mosaic of easy reading vignettes. “Mirrors” takes a look at history by storytelling the lives of gods, artists, writers and anyone else who gets in the way. Galeano, like a pointillist painter, blots in information to create a historical panorama. It’s up to the reader to connect the dots.

One of the dots to connect is entitled “Origin of Social Class”. Apparently the Sun and the god Pachacamac were very competitive. One day the Sun impregnated a woman working in the fields The birth of this baby so angered Pachacamac that he took the child and ripped him into shreds scattering the remains. But this destructive rage backfired as from these remains plants began to grow—corn from the teeth, yams from the flesh and yucca from the bones.

In one of my studio windows, I have a tall yucca that’s produced several “off-springs” which need to be pruned. But, since construction is going on across the street, they’re going to stay as they give solace to the eyes by hiding some of the chaos.

The yucca grows well in Rome. Too well in that its roots eventually outgrow the pot. Maybe next year I’ll have to replant my yucca which will give me the chance to use its tuberous roots. Apparently, these roots have several medicinal properties that have anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory effects.

So it’s yucca tea for me!

Related links: yucca sandals +  Yucca Fiber Skirt + ORANGE ZEST YUCCA FRIES + edible plant project

photo by Chiara Pilar