By Johnny Coomansingh
Falling in love is a great and wonderful thing, especially when there is reciprocity in like manner with the one with whom you fell in love. Falling headlong on concrete patio paving stones is not so wonderful and never will be, at least for me. I recently tripped and fell on the backyard patio and of course there was reciprocity. I am not a ninja by any stretch of imagination, but I broke the fall with my left hand in which I clasped a large sweet pepper of the ‘Bullnose’ variety. The pepper was smashed to smithereens! My wrist became swollen and hyperemic.
I guess that much damage was done to my ligaments or bone(s) because of the fall. My entire body weight came down on my left hand; what a travesty! Today I remembered that I used to sing a song with the words, “I fall to pieces…” as sung by Patsy Cline. My brother-in-law, who is a medical doctor, looked at my hand and said that the scaphoid bone, one of the carpal bones, could have suffered a fracture. The wrist bone below the base of the thumb is known as the scaphoid bone. A fracture (break) of this bone can happen when a person falls with the hand outstretched.
Thank heavens that I did not fall on my face or my forehead. The fall was so sudden and violent. I am of the view that the undertakers would be dressing me up right now if I had fallen and hit my head. Sometimes what you think you saw is only an illusion. I fell because I did not see the edge or lip of the patio.
It’s autumn (Fall), and the leaves that fell from the trees up the hill adjacent to the patio were everywhere, insomuch that they filled the space between the western garden gate and the patio. The ground looked level; I was fooled! What seemed to me as a problem I will now turn into an opportunity to write about the event. So much for the fall. Now let’s chat a little about that crushed pepper and the real reason why I found myself in such a predicament.
The Bullnose sweet pepper, although a prolific producer, did nothing to help. Although the pods are slightly smaller than modern bell peppers, the flavour is excellent; definitely more than a satisfactory exchange. You may want to ask how I venture into this peppery talk after introducing this article with love talk. A little digression is good. Falling in love is even better.
Ten days ago, the outdoor environment was especially welcoming. The sun was shining and the temperature was just right to hang out on one of the chairs located on the level just outside the front door. I sat there, and as we would say, ‘coborizing,’ engaged in soaking up the Sun on the beach as do the Trini vultures Corbeaux (Carthartes aura).
Looking to the right of me was a rosebush. On closer inspection, I saw honeybees on some of the flowers busily collecting what I imagined to be pollen. I ran quickly inside for my phone to capture a picture of these precious little friends. It has been years since I saw them around and in glee I digitally captured a few of them as they hustled from flower to flower. I felt a sense of exhilaration and a satisfying comfort that the bees were back!
(Photograph by author)
There were several more surprises for me that day. With phone in hand I left my perch and wended my way to the more or less defunct vegetable garden. Winter was in the air. Lo and behold! There it was, a beautiful fully ripe red Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper glistening in the sunshine actually beckoning me to take a shot. Incidentally, The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper (a cultivar of Capsicum chinense), is a chili pepper native to the village of Moruga, Trinidad and Tobago.
In 2012, New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute identified the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion as the hottest chili pepper at that time, with heat of 1.2 million Scoville heat units (SHUs). Aside from the heat, the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper has a tender fruit-like flavour, which makes it ‘a sweet-hot combination’ much to that of falling in love. Nevertheless, A question lingered in my mind.
Why was my brother-in-law and his wife growing the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper? According to Wilbur Zelinsky, a famous cultural geographer, people bring with them their cultural baggage anywhere they go. They left Trinidad to go live in the United States but Trini stuff keeps them ‘home.’
It was not their intention to grow the Scorpion pepper. As far as I know, they wanted to plant the Trinidad Seasoning pepper known as Pimento pepper. Pimento pepper is a flavour that they cannot do without in their culinary preparations. A friend gave to them some pepper plants but they were the wrong plants. Instead of Pimento plants, they received the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion!
I opened the Eastern gate and entered the garden. Indeed, I fell in love with the almost perfect specimen and did not hesitate to capture a photograph. Bewitched by this beautiful red pod, I went up close to the ‘fruit’ and took the shot. My day was beginning to take shape in a very positive way, but then, there was a distraction.
Leaving them on the tree as the days got colder in Newark, Delaware, would mean a loss of good solid Bullnose sweet peppers. Glancing across from the Scorpion pepper tree, I espied a good catch of these peppers that were ready to be harvested. I had no desire to even, ‘pick a pickled pepper,’ but here I was, picking off the ‘raebuk’ or remnants of the season’s crop. To my consternation, it was as though I would never end picking the peppers; there were so many.
Not having a bowl or basket, I shoved quite a few bulky Bullnose sweet peppers into my pocket, held some in my hand, and walked to the gate that led to the patio. Then it happened. My feet sank into the pile of leaves and I catapulted. In a split second, I was lying on the ground. It took me quite a while before I came to my feet. I reasoned that I should have returned to the gate through which I entered.
What did I learn from this experience? In terms of taste, we know that the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper has a sweet-hot combination; mesmerizing. Not many people could manage the sweet-hot combination of that pepper or anything else with such a description.
Just remember, no matter how pretty they look, do not fall in love with a ripe Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper. After looking at a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion pepper, do not look at, or be distracted by any other type of pepper because jealousy will certainly precipitate. The results could be deleterious; you could fall on your face. I recalled a story titled: Trouble make the monkey eat pepper. I didn’t have to smell it, touch it, taste it or eat it. I just looked at it and found myself in trouble. And finally, when you pass through one gate to get to a destination, don’t go looking for another gate to return.
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