Jasmines

“Jasmine doesn’t care about your perfume launch calendar. It blooms when the stars align.” (Unnamed maître perfumer, Grasse)

Why this story began:

Next month my sister has planned her timely escape in preparation of her husband's birthday bash when a large group of his gentlemen friends gather together in Utah for winter sports at their house. (Their home was originally built to accommodate a large Mormon family but now is strictly used for recreational vacations with friends coming and going most of the time.) She says the thought of cleaning up after that rowdy bunch is too much. They can clean up after themselves while she's gone.

"So, where are you going?" I ask.

"To Tupelo," (as in Mississippi) she replied. Now, I am not surprised by this. My two daughters and their children and their other cousins from my sons all still live there except for one in Alabama. And Tupelo is much bigger and more "civilized" in her eyes than the sleepy town where I live and her long-ago roots are from. And I'm not mad about it. I get it.

"But I want you to come, too." (from my home in Louisiana)

"Do you think Alaana might join us if she could get off work? (Alaana is my niece who currently lives in New York.)

"I'll ask."

So, okay. Looks like I'm planning a trip for Tupelo, too. I will get to meet my newest granddaughter, Emi-Lou for the first time and I am over the moon excited about that. The last time the family was together will be about six months ago at my oldest son's funeral. The baby's arrival a month later was a super blessing. She bloomed when the stars aligned!

(Fortunately, my youngest daughter has a camper that sleeps eight, so I can feel like I won't be imposing or outstaying my stay. I will remain a novelty. Besides which, I snore.)

How this story unfolds:

I started to think about this trip being most likely a girl's event, mothers, daughters, sisters, and so on. Sure, the guys will be in and out, but hunting, fishing, and working on cars dominate their attention (until suppertime and I plan on cooking for the family while I'm there, too.)

Then I started thinking about my mother and grandmother and her mother, too. That mitochondrial portion of our family and what it meant to be passed from one generation of women to another since the beginning of time. We fall into a DNA category christened the "Jasmine" clan from British geneticist, Bryan Sykes' book, The Seven Daughters of Eve. There is a strength in this that cannot be explained.

My sister and I are left of Jasmine in our generation, my two daughters and her daughter in the next generation, each of my daughters have a daughter, and now one of them has a baby girl. That makes eight Jasmines. The original daughter of Eve was named Jasmine because she originated in Persia, so we must remember her name.

And Just Like That (down the rabbit hole I went:)

Why???? Because I wanted to learn about jasmines:

* used to make perfumes, teas, aromatherapy

* used in marriage and religious ceremonies, garlands

* symbol of motherhood in Thailand

* national flower in Tunisia

* Jasmine’s scent peaks between 3-5 AM when the plant’s circadian rhythm maximizes sesquiterpene production. (see article below) Apparently, obtaining this high proportion of chemical content makes it extremely valuable, so people do in fact, harvest it at this time.

So, okay...I looked up sesquiterpene! It's amazing...(see article below)

* potential for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and cancer

* proposed for the reduction of inflammation and tumorigenesis

* Studies of folk medicines implicate sesquiterpene lactones as the active ingredient in many treatments for other ailments such as diarrhea, burns, influenza, and neurodegradation.

(Interestingly enough, the Jasmine clan were part of the first farmers, according to Sykes.)

Folk medicine is authentically legitimate. But have you ever wondered how people back in the day must have experimented by chewing a bunch of plants and then waiting around to see if it killed them or made them stronger??? Kind of like modern-day pharmaceuticals still do???

But that's for another rabbit hole...

References:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine

* The Jasmine clan, one of the seven daughters of Eve, is known for their contributions to the development of agriculture in Europe. They are believed to have arrived in Europe around 10,000 years ago, bringing with them a system of agriculture that has since spread across eastern Europe. Today, just under 17 percent of modern Europeans are direct maternal descendants of Jasmine. The clan's descendants are found along the Mediterranean coast from Spain to Portugal, western Britain, Whaleys, western Scotland, and throughout northern Europe. University of Notre Dame+2