roadside find

[asakiyume]

Mugwort was what I set out for, as I have become addicted to mugwort tea.

Exhibit One: Mugwort



It's taller than me, which is something I love in a wildflower or weed.


But on my return, I found something wonderful by the side of the road: a book



It turns out to be King Spruce, by Holman Day. It was published in 1908.



Holman Day (1865-1935) was a Maine native, a journalist and newspaper publisher, and the author of twenty-three novels and three books of ballads. A scholarly article that wakanomori kindly procured for me dismisses the novels ("None of his publications, unfortunately, can be placed much above the level of the pot-boiler") but takes interest in the ballads. I think I'd like to find the ballads.

I think I'll try the book too, though. I opened at random and found this passage:

"And now, speaking of arresting in the name of the law," snarled the lumber baron, "and your duty that you seem so fond of, Rodlliff, get out your handcuffs for something that's worth while. It's three years in state-prison for maliciously setting fires on timber lands. It's a long vacation in the county jail for assaulting a man without provocation. There's the girl who set that fire; there's the man that struck me. So you see, Lane, your prisoner is going to have company."

Do you sense a villain?

Comments

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

Caffeine doesn't cause cancer, man.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I suspect the amount of safrole you get in a cup of sassafras tea is pretty negligible. Anyway, I expect I'll get cancer at some point, anyway. Lots of people do! The thing is, if you go out and pick your own sassafras, it's just you and the tree. No middleman. No person putting it in a package. No chance of adulteration. Plus--you're outside with a tree. I feel like all the good vibes that come from that probably do more on the good side than the safrole does on the bad side.

I mean, I wouldn't say this about *every* cancer-causing agent. Asbestos-- I'd avoid that, for example. And nicotine. But things like saccharine and safrole, not so much. (Actually, I'm not a big fan of saccharine, but I include it for an example because it's another one where the amounts you'd need to take to make a difference seem really small... at least, based on casual hearsay. I don't have any real *facts* at my fingertips.)

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

Aspartame is probably okay, but I avoid it because I don't like the taste.

How about, like, pokeweed? Would you eat that from the wild?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I haven't yet, but in theory, yes. It grows around here--but you can only take the really young shoots.

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

Yeah, 'cause it's poisonous.

I heard that if you eat young shoots of poison ivy, you can develop immunity to it.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

LOL, that I think I won't test.

[cheapriboflavin.livejournal.com]

I will chime in here to say that saccharine and aspartame are both disgusting. X(

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

How about xylitol?

[cheapriboflavin.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I've had that! I have had sorbitol, which makes me feel nauseous (as do saccharine and aspartame). My mother and brother are also allergic, but have different reactions. My mother just... swells. My brother gets violently ill. :(

[redcoast.livejournal.com]

I also avoid sorbitol because in large ammounts it causes diarrhea.

[cheapriboflavin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, thankfully I just get nauseous, which I guess leads to weight loss - because I can't eat... just not in the way its intended. :P