Not bittersweet chocolate, but Celastrus, esp. C. scandens, American Bittersweet variety, shown here, is a woody climbing vine with smooth stems, found in several parts of North America in the fall, also known as "Woody Nightshade". That name is a new one to me.
There is also an oriental variety with thorny stems; Celastrus orbiculatus.
The other difference in the American variety, the berries only appear at the tips of the vines. The Oriental variety; along the vine.
The picture above shows what I collected on Sunday on my motorcycle ride (see blog archives), the invasive Oriental variety. My father used to drag us out in the station wagon on fall Sunday afternoons, riding around several counties searching for it along roadsides because this is a plant that my mother liked to collect and display in casual dried arrangements on the front porch. Along with native Golden Rod, some dried milkweed pods and some "Cat Tails", it was a festive fall arrangement. I guess some of that stuck with me because now I like doing that also. When I was 14, I absolutely hated it!
The Oriental kind will smother everything in its path but the American variety is actually considered "endangered". The Oriental variety was introduced to Central and Northern America in the 1860's, coming from Asia, specifically ranging from North Carolina to New York and as far West as Illinois, which is where I grew up.
When mature, the pods are smooth but then as they dry; either on the vine or cut, there are three outer leaves that will pop and fold back to reveal a smooth berry underneath, which contains the seeds. For me, finding bittersweet means "No escape, it is Fall". It has always been indicative of that change which we cannot control; seasonal transition.
There was also a period of time in my life that the very smell of fall; earthy, mossy, drying leaves, smoke in the air, triggered some post traumatic stress syndrome factors from an assault that occurred in the Fall. If you are experiencing this, go (back) to your counselor, it will help. I am happy (Grateful and Thankful!) to say that over time, over many fall seasons, that went away and I have enjoyed those very things that were not good for me in that time period.
Usually, the extremes between the mixed good-bad or like-dislike feelings, are not so pronounced in a general sense of the word. We have situations that are simultaneously opposing which creates feelings that are concurrently happy and sad, hence the common expression "bittersweet". For example, I have a dear friend (incidentally, who made the beautiful basket in the picture) and her husband, while though I am happy he has taken a job that hopefully is "his best job ever", it is in another state. I will miss these people in my routine of life, sorely. It will be a bittersweet goodbye while it is a celebratory launch to a new page in life.
Personally, I have never like bittersweet chocolate, unless it is buried in a vat of cookie dough known as America's favorite "Chocolate Tollhouse Cookies", but that is a story for another day.
Take a drive, take some cookies, leave your worries behind~
