SOUTHERN CROSS SOJOURN: Ukraine: Jogging in Circles and Red Viburnum Tea

Staying fit during winter in the Eastern half of Ukraine can be challenging. Fortunately I've worked out a combination of pilates and jogging around a UXO- and stray-dog-free circuit. Twenty laps equals two miles. The background noise of local air defense artillery at work has become easy to ignore.

Winter is setting in in earnest; after a cold run, its a good time for a cup of vitamin-C rich Red Viburnum Tea. Crushed viburnum berries and honey are a traditional remedy for colds in Ukraine. The berries can also be eaten raw in small quantities or made into jams and pies. For example, the viburnum genus is large and widespread. New-world viburnums, also known as high-bush cranberries, were used by Native Americans as a vitamin-C-rich winter food.

Pensions are very small in Ukraine, so it's extremely common for pensioners to set up small tables on the sidewalk in town to sell home-grown produce. This time of year, a grandmother might sell butternut squash, jam, or jars of pickled vegetables. Some folks spend all afternoon sitting out in the cold, just to sell a few bunches of Red Viburnum berries. When in town, I try to buy from pensioners and small shopkeepers, rather than line the pockets of supermarket-owning "mini-oligarchs".

Viburnum is not just a common hedgerow bush here; it's a national symbol of Ukraine. "Chervona Kalina" ("Red Viburnum") is an old Ukrainian folk song (lyrics below). Its first stage performance occurred in the 1914 Stepan Charnetsky play "Sun of Ruin". Popularized by the play, it became the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Rifleman unit, which fought for Austria-Hungary. In 1944, Chervona Kalina was made into an arrangement by Ukraine National Chorus director Oleksander Koshets. Koshets made "Carol of the Bells" famous in the US, during the Chorus's post-WWI world tours. The tours were intended to promote Ukrainian culture and garner support for the Ukrainian Independence cause, after the Bolshevik invasion.

Chervona Kalina has been extremely popular with Ukrainian soldiers, both during WWII and the current war. It is effectively a second national anthem for modern Ukraine.

Here is a youtube link to a 2022 version performed by Pink Floyd Chervona Kalina, with Pink Floyd

Chervona Kalina, lyrics:

In the meadow, a red kalyna

In the meadow, there a red kalyna, has bent down low ,

For some reason, our glorious Ukraine, has been worried so.

And we'll take that red kalyna and we will raise it up,