A Paradisiac is a natural remedy for earthly anxieties and the illnesses arising therefrom. It is made by mixing warm, tropical sunshine with floury white sand and sparkling seawater. Toss with coconut palms and top with a margarita.

Let us examine the health-giving properties of each ingredient.

Tropical sunshine is soft and warm, as opposed to arctic sunshine, which is brilliant but cold. “Tropic” is from the Greek “trope,” which means “a turning.” Specifically, the word refers to the supposed turning of the sun back from its northernmost or southernmost point in the sky, so “tropic” is a turning of the earth on the “pic” of its axis, like the slow swirling of a slushy margarita when you twirl it round and round with a plastic straw, your face lifted, smiling, to the warmth of the sun.

Scientists tell us that the vitamin D in sunlight affects our endocrine system, making us feel relaxed, less stressed, but this scientific explanation is superfluous to the evidence of our senses.

Floury, white sand, like sunshine, is abundant in the tropics. Its astonishing whiteness derives from the calcium carbonate in the exotic shells and skeletons of marine organisms of which it is composed. Its silky texture is achieved by the caressing action of waves and seawater currents over millennia, and the scintillate grains of quartz in the mix give it the magical quality one would expect in a child’s picture book story in which a limeade sea smiles upon sugar sands.

Seawater’s health-giving properties are marvelous. Seawater helps heal skin disorders and wounds, improves skin elasticity, strengthens bones and nails, and reduces inflammation in the joints and muscles. The minerals in the salt content of seawater, including potassium and magnesium, also reduce stress. At night, sleeping near the sea, we are lulled into a childlike slumber by the cradling rhythm of the waves shhhhing along the shore.

Now, having mixed in equal measure tropical sunshine, floury white sand and life-giving seawater, you may sprinkle the whole liberally with coconut trees. This is a prettying touch, for the trunks of coconut palms are pliable and sinuous; in howling, tropical winds, they swoop and sway with the undulant arms of exotic dancers, and the whispering of the palm fronds is sensuous and alluring.

And now for the pièce de résistance, the MARGARITA.

Tequila, triple sec and lime comprise the glorious margarita. Let us examine the life-giving benefits of each.

Tequila is distilled from the blue agave plant grown in the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Agave nectar is a healthy, natural sweetener, and distilled to its essence of tequila, is known to produce a healthful bliss and inclination to merriment, both of which are healing to body and soul.

Triple sec is a variety of Curaçao liqueur, an orange-flavored liqueur made from the dried peels of bitter and sweet oranges and oranges, as we know, are an excellent source of vitamin C and many other essential nutrients. They fill the body and soul with warm, tropical sunshine.

Limes, the small, intoxicatingly fragrant, deep green fruits, also have antioxidant and anti-cancer properties and are another excellent source of vitamin C, one of the most important antioxidants in nature, helping to prevent the heart disease, stroke and cancer.

To maximize the healthful benefits of the margarita, don’t forget to rim the glass with sparkling, crystalline sea salt!

The healing effects of the Paradisiac are sublimely manifest in one’s first taste of this delicious concoction. The mouth relaxes in a smile, and the tiny lines around the eyes begin to smooth out, though at times an irrepressible fit of laughter will deepen them. The spine curves like the graceful coconut palm and the eyes glaze over with sunshine and a sleepy sort of good will.

All is pleasant. Everybody happy.

Give us a little of the steel drum now, the scratch, and the iron drum. Yayus, mahn…