#Peruvian Pepper Tree

[waywarddragoncollection]

The Peruvian Pepper Tree, rich in culinary and medicinal benefits, plays a vital ecological role. Organizations like Grow Billion Trees Partners promote its sustainable use and conservation for future generations

[concordlimeridgegarden]

California Peppertree

Schinus molle (Peruvian pepper, also known as American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, rosé pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, California pepper tree, pirul, Peruvian mastic, Anacahuita o Aguaribay and Pepperina)

Sprouted 15 years ago (2008) in our yard. 30 feet in diameter now. Never been pruned (I’ve totally ignored it - no water or fertilizer either).

I’m going to be pruning it today. Cutting out conflicting branches, dead wood, suckers, and lower branches.

[humanjeff]

pink pepper - dried fruit from Schinus terebinthifolius or Schinus molle (Peruvian and Brazilian pepper trees), relatives of the cashew. don't eat this one if you have a nut allergy!

Various things that are called some variation of "pepper" in various languages:

"Pepper," seeds of the plant Piper nigrum, a.k.a. black pepper, used as a spice.

"Peppermint," a hybrid of watermint and spearmint.

The edible fruits of the plants of the genus Capsicum, known collectively as "peppers," which includes bell peppers, chili peppers, etc. (some European languages make a distinction between peppers and capsicums by using the word "paprika" for the latter. A word that is a direct cognate with pepper.)

Allspice, also known as "Jamaica pepper," "myrtle pepper," but also as "spice pepper" in Finnish and Swedish (I suppose as opposed to the kind of peppers that aren't used as spices?), the dried fruits of the plant Pimenta dioica. More closely related to myrtle, guava, and eucalyptus than pepper.

Horseradish, a plant of the family Brassicaceae, thus making it a relative of mustard, cabbage, and radish, known in some European languages as "pepper root."

Ginger snaps, biscuits flavored with ginger, known as "pepper cake" in many European languages.

"Sichuan peppers," the dried fruits of the genus Zanthoxylum. Related to neither black peppers nor capsicums, but part of the same family as citrus.

Undoubtedly forgetting at least some but anyway. Forgot why I was doing this.

[regnum-plantae]

Schinus molle, Anacardiaceae

When I first saw this small tree while on holiday in Lanzarote I had a feeling I had seen it before, but I only remembered what it was when I came across a few female plants bearing clusters of small, bright pink fruits. Not all trees were laden with them though, as the pepper tree, also known as Peruvian and Californian pepper tree, is a dioecious species with separate sexes on distinct individuals. 

Native to arid and desertic areas of the Andean region spanning from Peru to Argentina, this compact, evergreen tree is well adapted to withstand prolonged drought and to benefit from winter rains, factors which made it very successful as an ornamental plant in the Canary Islands and many other parts of the world, like the Mediterranean, Africa and Australia, where it is often naturalised if not invasive. Although it is unrelated to the real pepper plant (Piper nigrum) the small drupes it produces following tiny white, star-shaped flowers, smell and taste very similar and are the source of what we know as pink peppercorn. I collected a few and checked their germination rate in this period using the wet towel and sealed plastic bag method: two out of six germinated readily within a week, but I realised that it is probably a good idea to take the time to completely remove the dry pink skin from the woody seed, as the two seedlings were covered in mould. I will try again later on this spring and will probably lightly sand them to remove the skin and thin out the seed coat to somewhat mimic avian seed dispersal, which is what generally improves germination of this plant. 

When the tree is pruned, the bark exudes a white resinous gum which has been traditionally used to treat digestive issues, whereas the aromatic oils contained in most parts of the plant have antiseptic, antibacterial and insecticide properties. Although the dried fruits are a common food item, care should be taken as they can cause allergic reactions in individuals sensitive to other Anacardiaceae like cashews (Anacardium occidentale) and pistachio nuts (Pistacia vera).   

[theantarwitch]

Book of Shadows: Peruvian Pepper (Mulli)

Element: Fire. 

Planet: Mars. 

Gender: Femenine. 

Power: Mars symbolism.

Sacred to the Incas, who call it The Tree of Life or Mulli. Appreciated by the many uses it had, was planted in the communication roads for the Inca Empire to protect the Chasquis (messengers).

Is a beneficent tree by his strength, freshness and beauty. They said that sleep below one brings a calm sleep since their soft smell cover the senses, the air moves his branches and keep the bugs away.

The fruits reveal a softer side of Mars, with a warm scent but not at all hot and to my mind more complex than black pepper.

Fresh green leaves in bunches are used shamanically in Mesoamerican traditional ceremonies for cleansings and blessings.

Properties: Gummy, resinous, dyeing, medicinal, combustible and melliferous. The seeds are called Pink Pepper and can replace the normal pepper. The leaves are useful for ulcers, urinary system, menstrual cramps, to more menstrual flood, to fight the flu and help with pulmonar issues, especially bronchitis, antibacterial, antiseptic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antifungal, antiviral, insecticide and repellent, boost the immune system, antidepressant, diuretic, for toothache.

[writings-of-a-hufflepuff]

Prompt List #11 - The Language of Plants (1/?)

All Prompt Lists

So I have a language of flowers/plants book and I wanted to write some stories with them myself, but I figured they’d make good prompts for people in general or a good reference list. 

This is only a small section of the book, so there will probably be more prompt lists in future on this theme. Some of these will be easier to write with/use than others.

Feel free to use 1 meaning or multiple meanings to create a story or drawing etc.

 Feel free to tag me in it as well as with all my prompt lists. 

Fir Tree - Elevation; Friendship; Height; Honesty; Longevity; Manifestation; Perceptiveness; Progress; Remembrance; Resilience; Time

Chinese Bell Flower/Parlor Maple - Enlightenment; Meditation

Yellow Acacia - Chaste love; Concealed love; Elegance; Endurance of the soul; Friendship; Immortality; Platonic love; Purity; Resurrection; Secret love; Sensitiveness

Gum Acacia - Platonic love

Bear’s Breeches - Art; Artifice; Fine arts; Misery; The Arts

Maple Tree - Longevity; Love; Money

Fernleaf Yarrow - Good health

Arrowroot ☠ - Courage; Healing; Heartache; Love; Psychic Powers; War

Cupid’s Bower - Such worth is rare

English Monkshood ☠ - A deadly foe is near; A foe is near; Beware; Chivalry; Danger is near; Deceit; Fraternal love; Gallantry; Knight; Misanthropy; Poisonous words; Temperance; Treachery

Sweet Cane ☠ - Affection; Aflutter; Aphrodisiac; Delusion; Fitness; Lamentation; Love; Lust

Fairy Candle ☠ - Rough

Desert-Rose ☠ - Death; Delusion; Fictional; Illusion

Maidenhair Fern- Discretion; Secrecy; Secret bond of love

Blood Drops - Painful recollections; Recollection of life’s pleasure; Sad memories; Sorrowful recollections

Hollowroot - Weakness

Red Chestnut ☠ - Good luck charm

Common Horse Chestnut ☠ - Luxury

Dog’s Parsley ☠- Foolishness; Gullibility; Silliness; To burn

African Pepper - Judge

Lily of the Nile ☠ - Love; Love letters

Buku - Good Fragrance

American Agave ☠ - Security

Flossflower ☠ - Delay

Common agrimony - Gratitude; Thankfulness

Common Corn Cockle ☠ - Gentility

Bugleweed - Cheers the heart; Lovable

Common Hollyhock - Ambition; Ambition of a scholar; Fecundity; Fruitfulness; Liberality

Lady’s Mantel - Soft

Aloeroot ☠ - Complete; Powerful

Indian Walnut ☠- Enlightenment

Buttercup flower ☠ - Heavenly Chief

Flowering Onion - Strength; You’re elegant; You’re perfect; You’re perfect and elegant

Broadleaf - Lingering presence

Bulb Onion - Emotional Release; Multi-layered protection      

Shallot - Unrequited love

Garlic - Courage; Get well; Strength

Chives - Usefulness; Why are you crying?

Chinese Leek - Courage; Strength

Alder ☠ - Giving; Nurturing

Aloe Vera - Bitterness; Dejection; Grief; Integrity; Luck; Most effective healer; Religious superstition; Small talk; Sorrow; Superstition; Wisdom

Field Meadow Foxtail - Fun; Sly; Sport; Sporting

Lemon Beebrush - Attraction; Attracts the opposite sex; Love; Sexual attraction; Sexual attractiveness

Shell Ginger - Comforting; Diversity; Pleasant; Safe; Strength; Unlimited wealth; Warming; Wealth

Blue Ginger - Aromatic

Peruvian Lily ☠ - Powerful bond

Common Marshmallow - Dying for love; Unmarried

Sweet Alyssum - Worth beyond beauty

Maile - Fragrance of love

Amaranth - Endless love; Fidelity; Immortality; Never fading flower; Unwithering

Foxtail Amaranth - Desertion; Hopeless; Hopeless not heartless

Flower of Immortality/Floramon - In waiting; Love

Amaryllis ☠ - Artistic endeavours; Beautiful but timid; Innocence; Pastoral poetry; Pride; Radiant beauty; Scholastic achievement; Shy; Sparkling; Splendid beauty; Success won after a struggle; Timidity; True beauty; Writing

Bitterweed - Courage; Immortal; Love is reciprocated; Love returned; Mutual love; Your love is given back; Your love is reciprocated

Blue False Indigo ☠ - Formless; Shapeless; To immerse; Without form; Without shape

Corpse Flower - Decomposition

Butterfly Orchid - Domestic quiet; Gaiety

Cashew Apple Tree - Reward

Poor Man’s Weather Glass - Appointment; Assignation; Change; Faithlessness; Rendezvous

Pineapple - Chastity; Joy; Perfection; You are perfect

White Mustard Flower - Resurrection

Common Bugloss - Falsehood

Garden Anemone ☠ - Abandonment; Abiding love; Anticipation; Being Forsaken; Estrangement; Every gardener’s pride; Expectation; Fading youth; Healing; Health; Illness; Love; Refusal; sIckness; Sincere; Stauch love; Suffering and death; Withered hopes        

Crown Anemone ☠ - Forsaken; Immortal love; Sickness; Withered hopes

Thimbleweed ☠ - Abandonment; Desertion; Forsaken; Love; Sickness; Serenity

Soya - Good luck; Cheer

Norwegian Angelica - Inspiration; Inspire me; Symbol of good magic; Symbol of poetic inspiration

Summer Snapdragon - Presumption

Christmas Orchid ☠ - Atonement; Guidance; Hope; Idleness; Purity; Reconciliation; Royalty

Kangaroo Paw - Unusual

Chamomile - All who know you will love you; Attracts wealth; Energy in action; Energy in adversity; Energy in times of adversity; Ingenuity; Initiative; Love in adversity; Patience; Sleep; Sleepy; Wisdom

Buffalo Grass - Peace; Poor but happy; Spirituality

French Parsley - Serenity; Sincerity

Snapdragon - Creativity; Deception; Force of will; Gracious lady; Indiscretion; Never; Presumption

Flamingo Flower ☠ - Abundance; Adoration; Happiness; Hospitality; Love; Lusty love; Romance; sensuality; Sex; Sexuality

Celery - Banquet; Entertainment; Feast; Festivity; Lasting Pleasures; Merriment; Rejoicing; Useful Knowledge

Indian Hemp ☠ - Deceit; Falsehood; Inspiration

Baby Sunrose - A serenade

Agar ☠ - Spirit of life

Lion’s Herb ☠ - Courage; Deserted love; Desertion; Folly; Foolishness; Love; Strength; Wisdom

Star Pine ☠ - Various Leaved

Madrona - Only love; The only do I love; True love; You are the only one I love

Cane Apple - Esteem and love; Esteemed love

Cape Dandelion - Omen; Presage; Sign

Burdock - Falsehood; Importunity; Touch me not

Crowberry ☠ - Grape of the bear

Palm Tree - Fertility; Peace; Spiritual; The Tropics; Victory and success; Vacations; Victorious

Sandwort - Sand-loving

Silverweed - Naivete; Simplicity

Dragon Root - Ardor

Friar’s Cowl - Ardor; Deceit; Ferocity

Sea Pinks - Sympathy; Sympathy for the Fallen

Horseradish - Bitterness of enslavement

Southern Wormwood ☠ - Absence; Aphrodisiac; Bantering; Constancy; Fidelity; Jest; Jesting; Lustful bed partner; Pain; Seduction

Grand Wormwood ☠ - Absence; Adultery; Bitterness; Destruction; Do not be discouraged; Exile; Idolatry; Love; Poverty; Separation; Torment of love; Unpleasant  

Dragon Wort - Horror; Lasting Commitment; Lasting interest; Lasting involvement; Permanence; Shocking Occurrence; Terror

Mugwort ☠ - Awareness of our spiritual path; Dignity; Good luck; Happiness; Tranquillity

Wild Arum ☠ - Ardor; Zeal

Spanish Cane - Chanter; Clarification; Communication; Complaisance; Imprudence; Music; Musical; Pipes; Purpose; Rendezvous; Song; Traveling; Woodwind

Milkweed ☠ - Hope in Misery

Blood Flower ☠ - An attack against love for love; Call to duty; Difficult lessons learned; Leave me

Butterfly Weed ☠ - Heartache cure; Let me go; Love

Asparagus Fern ☠ - Fascination

Garden Asparagus ☠ - Fascination

Yellow Asphodel - Languor; Regret

Asphodel - For the dead; I will be faithful unto death; My regrets follow you to the grave; Regret; Regrets beyond the grave; Remembered beyond the tomb; The Underworld; Unending regret

Aster - Afterthought; Daintiness; Elegance; Faith; Farewell; Fidelity; Hope; I partake your sentiments; Light; Like a star; Love; Power; Symbol of love; Talisman of love; Variety; Valor; Wisdom

Astilbe/False Spirea - I’ll still be waiting

Chinese Astilbe - Dull; Without brightness

Astragalus ☠ - Your presence softens my pain

Wild Liquorice ☠ - I declare against you

Belladonna ☠ - Falsehood; Hush; Loneliness; Silence; Warning

Golden Alyssum -  Tranquility

Autumn Leaves - Melancholy

Oat - Music; Musical; The witching soul of music

Nimtree - Complete; Freedom; Imperishable; Life; Noble; Perfect; The cure; To life; To Live

Azalea ☠ - Fragile; Fragile passion; Fragility; Modest; Passion; Patient; Romance; Take care; Take care of yourself for me; Temperance; Temporary passion; Womanhood

[h011y11]

Pink peppercorns, pink pepperberries, pink berries, Peruvian pepper and whatever else they may be called, are related to CASHEWS and can cause an anaphylactic reaction in those who are allergic to CASHEWS/TREE NUTS.

Pink peppercorns, pink pepperberries, pink berries, Peruvian pepper and whatever else they may be called, are related to CASHEWS and can cause an anaphylactic reaction in those who are allergic to CASHEWS/TREE NUTS. "Pink peppercorns seemed like an innocuous ingredient until they almost killed my daughter. I'm so thankful for an Amazon reviewer for solving the mystery for us." #NutAllergy #allergies https://www.christinascucina.com/hidden-allergens-pink-peppercorns-tree/ via Christina's Cucina #makeallergyhistory #allergies #allergicreaction #allergic #nuts #sesame #sesameseeds #epipen #pretamanger #restinpeace #natashaslaw #peanuts #anaphylaxis #allergyawareness #anaphylaxisawareness #anaphylacticshock #share #natasha #makeallergieshistory #NHS #doctors #nurses #charity #charities #awareness #lifethreatening #savealife #cpr

[gedditor]

Peruvian pepper tree

[ma-worm]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy fuck Columbus day everyone(fuck all colonizers actually but this is specifically pertaining to the Americas for the holiday and he’s the most glorified sob), in celebration I'll give some fun information I researched. Credit to @fuckyeahfoodfantasy​ for the edits of tequila, margarita, brownie, and chocolate, thank you for making these characters more accurate to their birthplaces and/or not grey. Chocolate: The word "chocolate" comes from the Nahuatl word chocolātl and the food/drink is made from the bean/seed from the fruit of Cacao tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. Chocolate was recorded to be important to the Aztec culture, they were said to believe cacao beans were the gift of Quetzalcoatl and they had so much value that they were a form of currency.

Originally prepared as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or corn puree. It was believed to be an aphrodisiac and to give the drinker strength. Today, such drinks are also known as "Chilate" and are still made by locals in the South of Mexico. Only after it was imported to Europe did people start adding sugar and milk to chocolate.

Cacao was also used by other Mesoamerican cultures such as the Olmecs and the Maya people, and each culture had its own preparation and occasions for it that are certainly worth looking into further. Tequila: Tequila is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila and in the Jaliscan Highlands (Los Altos de Jalisco) of the central-western Mexican state of Jalisco. It is the most popular type of mezcal(distilled alcoholic drinks made from agave). Mexican laws state that tequila can only be produced in the state of Jalisco and limited municipalities in the states of Guanajuato, Michoacán, Nayarit, and Tamaulipas. Tequila was first produced in the 1500s near the location of the city of Tequila, which was not officially established until 1666. 

A predecessor to tequila is a fermented beverage from the agave plant called pulque. When conquistadors ran out of brandy, agave began to be distilled to create mezcal and tequila. Planting, tending, and harvesting the agave plant remains a manual effort, largely unchanged by modern farm machinery and relying on centuries-old know-how passed down through generations of farmers called jimadores.

Margarita: The margarita is a popular Mexican and American drink, the Daisy (margarita is Spanish for "daisy"), remade with tequila instead of brandy. This drink became popular during Prohibition as people drifted over the U.S./Mexico border for alcohol. There are many creation stories for the margarita although none of them can be proven for sure, partially because the drink may have been invented in multiple places around the same time period do to its simple concept and appeal.

In a classic margarita, you can expect to find tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. It can be served in many glasses although the most traditional would be the eponymous margarita glass. There are many variations on this recipe including things like flavored tequilas, different liqueurs, or even freezing and blending the margarita into a slush. Cornbread: Native Americans had been using ground maize as food for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. Corn, as we know it today, was actually the English word for any grain although maize was the one that retained the general term in modern times.

Native Americans, specifically the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek tribes gave recipes for maize dishes to the southern colonists and adapted as it became a southern staple food. there are many types of cornbread these days, baked, fried, pone, it’s an incredibly versatile recipe. Pozole, otherwise known as Hominy, which is swelled and softened kernels of maize can also be used in cornbread instead of cornmeal, as well as many other traditional dishes native to the Americas. Brownie: The brownie is a sheet cookie developed in the United States in the late 1800s. Originally it was most likely meant to be a more convenient type of cake developed by the upper class’s chefs. While this is a more European styled use for chocolate, recipes have been developed using more traditional means, such as the addition of chile, the removal of dairy and processed sugars, and/or using different cooking methods.

Turkey: Turkey meat has been eaten by indigenous people from Mexico, Central America, and the southern tier of the United States since before our records of those regions. Turkeys were once so abundant in the wild that they were eaten throughout the year, the food considered commonplace. Turkey with mole sauce is regarded as Mexico's national dish.

Turkeys were domesticated in ancient Mexico, for food and/or for their cultural and symbolic significance. The Aztecs, for example, had a name for the turkey, wueh-xōlō-tl (guajolote in Spanish), a word still used in modern Mexico in addition to the general term pavo. There’s plenty of evidence that Mayans and other Native American groups had been domesticating turkeys over a very long time as well.

The character in-game has many Eurasian elements despite this and I am not actually sure why, from his clothing to the apple in his basic art. It would be nice to see a redesign more faithful to Turkey’s roots but I did not have the time or funds to arrange for that for this project.

Popcorn: Popcorn is a way of processing maize that predates many if not all other forms, an archeological find known as Bat Cave finding samples of it that have been dated back to about 5,600 years ago. 

Popcorn, or momochitl, seems to have been both a religious element (art and accounts from conquistadors describing it being used for ceremonial headdresses, ornaments, components, and necklaces) and as a staple food. Zapotec, pre-Inca Peruvian, Pueblo, and Iroquois native Americans were all documented to have uses and recipes for and with popcorn, and it speculated that even more groups of people had access to it and simply didn’t record it since it was such a normal food for them. 

Popcorn would be given as a token of goodwill during peace negotiations and settlers were taught how to make it, it was almost exclusively American food since it would not keep during overseas trips. During the Great Depression, it became more popular in America as a snack food thanks to its low cost and has maintained that reputation.

 Popcorn’s in-game design reflects the more modern fanciful decoration and uses, due to the color of popcorn, the sheer range, and mostly the fact that the in-game Popcorn could just be albino I chose not to try to adjust his design to be more regionally accurate. Pudding: Pudding, more specifically Flan as I believe the game’s character is designed after, is a dish brought to the Americas by Europeans. However, Flan has become an incredibly popular dish especially in Central and South America, to the extent that there are varieties specific to regions. This is possibly reflected in part by the character’s bolo tie. 

While Flan is not a dish native to the Americas it has been raised to new levels and enjoyed greatly by the people so he was allowed to stay. Honorable mentions -

Turducken: Turducken is a dish invented and made popular in the United States. Her backstory does talk about the history of Mado, specifically, it’s colonization, but her role in everything is actually more related to dealing with the aftermath. She frees the trapped and suffering souls, she was summoned after the primary point of conflict. Similarly, the dish Turducken was invented post-colonization, in more modern times specifically by Paul Prudhomme in the 1970s in Louisiana. Additionally, the ingredients of a Turducken(Turkey, Chicken, and Duck) are not all American. While Turkeys and Ducks can be found in North America, Chickens are native to Southeast Asia and brought to the Americas by European settlers. Steak: While steak is a popular food in the Americas and a native bovine, bison, can certainly be used to make steaks, what we know as a steak is not a traditional food of the Americas. Furthermore, the character has many more European elements to his design, and his horns are definitely not those of bison, so I feel safe saying he doesn’t qualify for this specific list. Hotdog, Hamburger, B-52, and Cola: While these are accepted foods common in the Americas, they were invented in modern times and definitely aren’t traditional foods by any means. Regardless, they still get a mention Boston Lobster: While lobsters are a crustacean found on American coasts and there are accounts of Native Americans eating and using them, I do not believe this is the same as the food soul. Lobsters can be found all over the world and the name in the CN version of the game "麻辣小龙虾" translates to spicy crayfish which is going to be closer to the intended dish. While you can also find spicy crayfish in the americas it would be more accurate to assume it means the popular dish in southern China, considering his relations to Rice and Salt and Pepper Mantis Shrimp, rather than the Cajun style. Additionally, his clothing is definitely not designed with the Americas in mind. That's all folks, happy holiday, colonizers have no rights. this was pretty fun to make and a lot of research went into it, I wholeheartedly encourage looking more into these foods and the history of the original American people if you liked this.  Worm out

[newwitchiness]

A List of Herbs and Spices

Acerola

African Bird Pepper

Agar Agar

Agrimony

Alfalfa

Alkanet

Alliums

Allspice

Aloe Vera

Angelica

Anise

Annatto

Arrowroot

Asafoetida

Ashwagandha

Arnica

Astragalus

Balm Of Gilead

Barberry

Barley

Basil

Bayberry

Bearberry

Bee Balm

Bee Pollen

Beet Root 

Beth Root

Benzoin

Bilberry

Birthwort

Blackberry

Black Cohosh

Black Haw

Bladderwrack

Blessed Thistle

Blue Cohosh

Blue Flag

Blue Vervain

Blue Violet

Boldo

Boneset

Borage

Boswellia Serrata

Buchu

Buckthorn

Buckwheat 

Bupleurum

Burdock

Burnett

Butcher’s Broom

Butternut 

Cabbage

Calamus

California Poppy

Calendula

Canadian Snakeroot

Camphor

Caraway

Carob

Cascara Sagrada

Caster Oil

Catmint/Catnip

Cat’s Claw

Cayenne Pepper

Celandine

Celery

Centaury

Chamomile,German

Chamomile, Roman

Chaparral

Chaste Berry

Chervil

Chia

Chickweed

Chicory

Chipotle

Chives

Chrysanthemum

Cilantro 

Cinnamon

Cinquefoil

Citric Acid

Clary 

Clay

Cleavers

Clove

Club Moss

Codonopsis

Colicroot

Coltsfoot

Comfrey

Coneflower

Copal Oro

Coptis

Coriander

Cornflower

Corn Silk

Couch Grass

Cowslip

Cramp Bark

Cranesbill 

Cubeb

Cumin

Curly Dock

Damiana

Damson

Dandelion

Devils Claw

Devils Club

Dill

Dong Quai

Dragons Blood

Dock

Dulse

Echinacea

Elder

Elecampane

Eleuthero

Epazote

Eucalyptus

Eyebright

False Unicorn Root

Fennel

Fenugreek

Feverfew

Feverwort

Figwort

Flax, Flaxseed

Frankincense

Fuller’s Earth

Galangal

Garlic

Gentian

Ginger

Ginkgo

Ginseng

Goat’s Rue

Goldenrod

Goldenseal

Gotu Kola

Grapeseed

Gravel Root

Greater Burnet

Great Mullein

Green Tea

Grindelia

Ground Ivy

Guarana

Gymnema

Hawthorn

Heartsease

Henbane

Henna 

Hibiscus

Honeysuckle

Hops

Horehound, Black

Horehound, White

Horse Chestnut

Horseradish 

Horsetail

Hydrangea

Hyssop

Irish Moss

Jasmine

Jewelweed

Jimsonweed

Juniper

Kava Kava Root

Kelp

Kudzu

Lady’s-mantle

Lady’s Slipper

Lavender

Lemon Balm

Lemon Verbena

Lemongrass

Licorice

Liferoot

Line

Linden

Linseed

Lobelia

Lomatium

Lovage

Lungwort

Lychii Berry

Mace

Madder

Mandrake

Maidenhair Fern

Maidenhair Tree

Mallow

Marigold

Marjoram

Marshmallow

Meadowsweet

Milk Thistle

Mistletoe

Motherwort

Mugwort

Muira Pauma

Mulberry

Mullein

Mustard

Myrrh

Neem

Nettle

Nutmeg

Oats

Olive Leaf

Onion

Oregano

Oregon Grape Root

Orris Root

Osha

Papaya Leaf

Paprika

Parsley

Passion Flower

Patchouli 

Pau D’arco

Peppermint

Pennyroyal

Peony

Periwinkle

Peruvian Bark

Pipsissewa

Plantain

Pleurisy Root

Poke Root

Poplar

Prickly Ash

Primrose

Psyllium 

Pukeweed

Purple Coneflower

Purslane

Quassia

Queen Of The Meadow

Radish Seed

Raspberry

Red Clover

Rehmannia

Reishi Mushroom

Rheumatism Root

Rhubarb

Rose/Rose Hips

Rosemary

Rue

Safflower

Saffron

Sage

Salt (Sea)

Saint John's Wort

Sarsaparilla

Sassafras

Savory

Saw Palmetto

Schizandra

Self-heal

Senna 

Sesame

Shavegrass

Sheep’s Sorrel

Shepards Purse

Skullcap

Skunk Cabbage

Slippery Elm

Soapbark

Soapwort

Southern Wood

Spikenard

Spirulina

Squaw Vine

Squawroot

Stevia 

Stickwort

Stillingia

Stone Root

Strawberry Leaf

Suma

Sweet Cicely 

Sweet Sumac

Sweet Violet

Sweetgrass

Szechuan

Tansy

Tarragon

Thuja

Tea

Tea Tree Oil

Thyme

Tonka Bean

Tribulus Terrestris

Turkey Rhubarb

Turmeric

Unicorn Root, False

Usnea

Uva Ursi

Valerian

Vanilla

Vervain

Vitex/Chaste Tree

Violet

White Willow

Wild Yam

Willow

Wintergreen

Witch Hazel

Wood Betony

Wormwood

Xanthan Gum

Yam 

Yarrow

Yellow Doc

Yerba Mate

Yerba Santa

Yohimbe Bark

Yucca

[andrewtillman]

Day 16 - Tasmania - Geeveston to Ross

Another first today. I was awakened at 06.00 by a witch 🧙‍♀️! I woke up on the floor, in a strange room, next to a strange dog and, as my eyes focussed, I found myself looking at a tiny witch; and my first thought was that I’d been kidnapped and given hallucinogenic drugs.

Turns out I’d slept on a (very comfy) mattress on the floor and it’s Halloween. AJ’s daughter Tori, was testing out her costume. It certainly gave me a fright 😱

Partners in crime - Tori and Wilma casting spells on my mattess before she turned into a witch...

A friend of AJ’s has a salmon farm just up the road and yet another smokes fish, so breakfast was smoked salmon (in vast quantities) and poached eggs..... yum yum!!

There was then a brief hiatus in our voyage of antipodean discovery, as Charlie’s Vincent was suffering and needed some remedial work (welding) to his gear linkage and a bit of wire crimping to his indicator wires.

After a short delay while repairs were completed, off we chugged.

We stopped for a photo opportunity..

...and Alan and I swapped bikes so that I could have a go on his mobile sofa. It was, as you’d expect from a mobile sofa, quite comfortable, and I could’ve gotten used to it and dozed off so, as we approached the Hobart traffic we swapped back, as I thought it was better to be on something familiar in heavy traffic. I’ve made it this far so I’m not taking risks now.

We broke up our journey by stopping at Richmond, a picturesque town preserved as it was in the late 19th century

It’s gaol has been restored and preserved.

Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomons was a pickpocket in London who was caught and sent to Oz as a convict. He escaped, got sent back to London, was caught dealing stolen goods, sent back to Oz, somehow became a guard at the gaol and, to cut a very long story short he is believed to be the inspiration for Fagin in Oliver Twist.

Richmond is also famous for the oldest bridge still in use in Australia (since 1823)...

....but my personal cultural highlight of Richmond has to be the Pooseum. Yes, that’s right, a Poo Museum!

As you can see from Alan’s pose, it’s not to be sniffed at. No, really, you don’t want to sniff it!

You will notice that the penguin on the sign has something emitting from it’s bottom region and all the pictures that you can see on the building itself are of animals defacating.

...and just in case all this imagery is still a little too subtle, it has this tasteful statue outside to make absolutely sure you get it...

Please don’t ask why the Pooseum it’s here or, for that matter, what is inside. We didn’t venture in. We decided $16Aus each was a lot of money to look at a load of sh*t.

Talking of which, I also had my first Dunny experience today...

...of course, I checked for Funnel-web spiders and snakes before fully-committing but it passed without incident🤣

This is a peruvian pepper tree. If you scrunch the leaves and sniff your fingers it’s like sniffing ground black pepper - but without all the sneezing fun.

Tonight is our last night on Australasian terra firma, as tomorrow evening we will be on the ferry back to Oz and we catch the flight home in the evening☹️

We are staying tonight in Ross which is a pretty little town on the Macquarie river with a population of 404, which we have swelled to 407 tonight!

While we were having dinner, someone purporting to be the hotel manager came and sat down with us, asked about Charlie’s Vincent which is parked outside, and offered to take us to the barn of a local billionaire who lives in Bermuda but has a large collection of vintage bikes nearby.

We are meeting him at nine in the morning.

I may wake up tomorrow afternoon on a mattress on the floor, kidnapped and seeing witches, having been given hallucinogenic drugs😱

OMG - dejá vu!!

Interesting Ozzy fact:

There are no bumblebees 🐝 in Australia! They have them in Tasmania, but they have never made it to the mainland. - I have now confirmed this fact. Sorry I ever doubted you Charlie 🙏

21.45 All Saint’s Eve. Ross, Tasmania

[the-coconut-asado]

Oh Stumptown my Stumptown!

Portland likes to keep it weird. Officially. You could even buy the tee shirt if tee shirts weren’t so predictable.   

From a poster invitation to “Hear my TED Talk about DIY and Impending Doom” to the Big Legrowlski (sic) night club that hangs carpets on the walls -  not to balance the sound for the band but because they really bring the room together -  the City has an off-beat vibe that feels authentic even while it gets you scratching your head. And where else would you queue round the block for a voodoo-doll shaped doughnut with a pretzel stick through its ‘heart’?

You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that Portland is  the Hipster Capital of the World. You know it’s hipster because it sells more coffee and has more microbreweries per head than anywhere else in the US.

We came for the food because People That Know told us to. It’s not simply that everything is delicious but that chefs, cooks, carts and food enthusiasts are trying to do different. It’s like Masterchef has landed in Twin Peaks. Entrepreneurs are making ice cream out of chickpeas and it works. A pastry chef has re-interpreted her favourite childhood book on a plate and you rejoice in the complex flavours of her tiny reconstructed bunny. So who’s the bunny boiler now?

One thing that puzzled me is why the City changed its name from the original Stumptown (pretty weird) to Portland (the Holiday Inn of city names). Devon, a local lawyer who we chatted to most mornings in Baristas Cafe, explained that Portland was never officially called Stumptown.  It became its nickname due to all the trees they had to cut down to build it, leaving the eponymous stumps in their wake. Stumptown is also the name of their iconic coffee brand, which I always assumed was NYC’s greatest invention. This is one of the many ways in which travel expands your mind.

Devon embodied something else about Portland: its friendliness. Even the passport officers are anxious that you have a good time. Full disclosure,  it wasn’t just Devon that we sought out each morning - it was Pepper, his cute little dog. I would eat Barista’s fresh, flaky rhubarb hand pie just to drop crumbs that Pepper would breakfast on. 

Devon put us onto a couple of great places to eat - one we made it to, one we didn’t. But more of that later.

Where to begin to describe this steel guitar food odyssey? Let me take you through our many highlights from the  mountain of food we consumed. Set it to the soundtrack of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Thing.

Our first evening, tired and hungry, we stuck to our guns and found Andina, the City’s Peruvian eatery. When you are both tired and hungry it’s easy to get seduced by posters boasting ‘Meatball Monday’ and forget your mission, but our persistence paid off. That legendary Portlandia hospitality squeezed us into a nook where there really wasn’t a free table, and we dined greedily on humitas, ceviche, lamb shank and seafood, washed down with Oregon’s finest home-grown Pinot Gris. I didn’t quibble that they brought something different from my order. In my fractured Spanish ‘Arroz con Pato’ probably did sound like ‘Seafood Risotto’  - and the risotto was obviously going to be delicious before fork met lip, so I didn’t send it back.

Next day, which coincidentally was Taco Tuesday, we hit the street food. 

Portland is big on street food (see: hipster capital of the world). Most food vendors have carts - permanent fixtures where the chef builds enough of a following over months or years to be able to open a small restaurant. Nong’s Khao Man Gai was just one of these. They do one dish - a Vietnamese poached chicken with a secret chilli sauce, accompanied by rice cooked in the chicken broth. You can also have a version with shrimp, pork or Tofu. We bought a bottle of the sauce to bring home. Life’s too short.

It’s not all carts - there are a fair few trucks too. 

One which specialised in cheese toasties challenged “ Come and relive the taste of your childhood. But if your childhood sucked, we’ll share the memory of ours”. Have you eaten a cheese toastie recently? I mean really felt the embrace of  a sandwich of molten cheese and fried bread? Maybe your childhood did suck after all.

That evening it was the turn of The Hairy Lobster restaurant, and that bunny dessert I mentioned earlier. Little Bunny Foo Foo to give it it’s full name. A delicate carrot cake, covered in cheesecake mousse, accompanied by a ginger crumb, caramel sauce and a marshmallow rabbit. 

Despite it’s show-stopping appearance and fusion of flavours, it was their roast squash with curry sauce and pumpkin seed praline that was the stand-out dish for me. The Lobster picnic for our main was pretty damn good too.

Friday brings me to Devon’s first recommendation, Pok Pok,  a teeny Thai eatery in the suburbs. Getting there had the added advantage of passing through a neighbourhood full of rambling old houses in the Amityville Horror style. I recalled the first time I had heard of Portland was from a TV thriller full of witches and jabberwocks called Grimm. They had definitely filmed it’s eerily beautiful moments around here.

If I had to single out a food highlight in a week of next-to-no food lows, I would choose Pok Pok. It gave me my first food coma in a long while. Something about it’s smoked aubergine, pork belly curry, marinated chicken with two dips, sublime mango with sticky rice and that rhubarb blush cocktail… I sense I am sharing my food coma with you now. Their signature dish is hot spicy chicken wings. The couple on the table next to us were too full to finish theirs so offered them to us. Maybe it was the wings that tipped me over the edge. I’ll never know.

And so to our last day, and the big daddy of Portland nights out: Jake’s Crawfish. Over 100 years old, walking into Jake’s is like walking into one of Sinatra’s memories. It has a justifiably stellar reputation, and seems to have maintained it for a century. I ate Steel-head trout for the first time, fished on their doorstep from Oregon’s Columbia River, coated with a horseradish crust, and preceded by half a dozen of the plumpest oysters I have ever eaten.

I haven’t yet mentioned Portland’s biggest hipster foodie habit: brunch. No matter what day of the week, the restaurants that brunch are always full. For most of our trip, we were waking up too early to really do brunch justice. Those rhubarb hand pies at Baristas had satisfied our hunger by around 8AM so a mid-morning banquet wasn’t really on. One day, however, we made it to Tasty & Alder in the Pearl DIstrict of the city and managed to sneak in a table for two before the queues built up. Worth it for their Green Frittata with salsa verde (who ever thought of doing that before?) and lightest, fluffiest American biscuits. We never made it to Devon’s second recommendation: Burmasphere, his friend’s Burmese cart on the other side of the river. And now we have an excuse to return.

When it came to rustling up some recipes that take me straight back to Portland weird, I whittled my list down to three: my version of Tasty & Alders’ green frittata with feta and salsa verde; a less labour-intensive version of Andina’s Arroz con Pato, made with chicken or guinea fowl; and in the spirit of weird, though by no means original, a cake inspired by Churros con Chocolate. The best possible end to a Taco Tuesday.

I messaged a friend of mine that had moved to Portland a few years back and asked why she had ever left. “ Too much rain and not enough art.” she said.  

You missed the point Sweetie. Great Food IS great art. And if you can’t stand the rain, get into the kitchen.

Green Frittata with Feta and Salsa Verde

A great little brunchy-lunch dish packed with flavour for the carb-conscious. If you want to add some carbs, slices of toasted sourdough will go down a treat. Serves 4

Ingredients

8 large free-range eggs

1tblspn, double cream

100g asparagus spears, chopped into 2 cm chunks

100g shelled garden peas or petit pois

50g feta cheese

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa verde:

Small pack of flat-leaf parsley (around 15-20g)

½ a small pack of mint leaves

3 tbsp. Capers

7 anchovy fillets

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp dijon mustard

8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

How to make:

Bring a small saucepan of salted water to the boil, then add the peas. After a couple of minutes, add the chopped asparagus and continue simmering for another 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water. Put to one side.

Next, make the salsa verde. Put all the ingredients except the olive oil into a blender, season generously with pepper and go easier on the salt (anchovies and capers are already pretty salty). Then, add the olive oil and blend again. Don’t over blend at each step - it's nice to keep the texture a little rough.

Put a skillet on the stove and melt a knob of butter. Beat the eggs, add the cream and season. Lightly saute the green vegetables in the butter for a minute or two. 

 then pour the eggs over and crumble the feta cheese over the top. Cook for a couple of minutes until the bottom is starting to brown.

 pop under the grill to continue cooking, until the top is a light golden colour and the frittata has firmed up with a slight wobble (keep a close eye on this, probably takes 2-3 minutes).

Cut the frittata into 4 wedges and serve with a dollop of salsa verde on top.

Arroz con Gallina Picante

I never did get to eat Arroz con Pato in Andina, but while I adore the rich flavour of duck, devoting two or three days to confitting it before finishing the dish is only for the dedicated dinner party cook. This version with a spicy chicken and a feta-enriched herb sauce (based on a Melissa Clark recipe)  goes down just as well - or the richer Guinea Fowl, which I have used here. And Peruvian aji amarillo is now more available by mail order - substitute ordinary chile powder if not. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 medium-sized chicken or guinea fowl, jointed into 2 breasts, 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs (discard the back or freeze to make stock at a later date)

For the marinade:

6 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp paste made with aji amarillo powder and olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp sriracha sauce

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp ground cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

½ a large bunch coriander leaves, broken up

2 jalapeno chilies, chopped

75g feta cheese, crumbled

1 garlic clove, crushed

Juice of 1-2 limes

2 tsp chopped fresh oregano

½ tsp dijon mustard

½ tbsp aji amarillo paste (see marinade earlier for method)

1 tsp honey

1 tsp ground cumin

½ cup extra virgin olive oil.

For the Peruvian Rice:

3 tbsp sunflower oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 onion, finely chopped

3 heaped tsp aji amarillo paste (see marinade earlier for method)

½ large bunch fresh coriander, broken up and blended till smooth with a tblspn water

500g fresh chicken stock

300g bottle of beer or lager

2 x small green chillies, chopped finely

500g basmati rice

1 red pepper, chopped into small chunks

100g fresh garden peas or petit pois

How to make

First, make the marinade. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl, cover the fowl of your choice in it, cover with cling film and pop in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

For the sauce: put all the ingredients into a blender, and blend till smooth. Pour into a bowl, cover and refrigerate, taking out about 15 minutes ahead of eating to bring to room temperature.

For the rice. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and saute until starting to turn golden. Add the blended coriander and chili paste  and cook for a couple of minutes until the paste has thickened slightly and smells delicious.

Pour the beer into the saucepan, cook for a few minutes then add the chicken stock. Bring to the boil, season, then take off the heat, cover and put to one side.

Heat the oven to 200C. Pat  the chicken or guinea fowl pieces dry, then pop onto a shallow baking tray, season and drizzle with olive oil. Put the tray into the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes.

While the meat roasts, finish the rice. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a medium sized saucepan, add the peppers and cook for a couple of minutes. Then add the rice and stir into the oil and peppers until it starts to crackle a little at the bottom. Add the peas and chilies and stir again, then add the stock, beer and onion garlic mix. Stir, season if needed, then cover and simmer on a low heat for 25 mins.

Fluff up the rice and spoon onto plates. Top with the chicken or guinea fowl pieces, and crown with a dollop of sauce.

Churros Bundt Cake with Dipping Chocolate Sauce

I love churros, and I love a Bundt cake. If you want all the flavours but none of the faffing or frying, then give this a try. The cake will keep, covered in a tin. Just remember to reheat the chocolate sauce for dipping or pouring each time. Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the cake:

2 ¾ cups plain flour

2 tsp. Baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp. Salt

170g unsalted butter

130g caster sugar

50g soft brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 egg yolk

1 375g punnet of sour cream

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

For the cinnamon sugar ‘glaze’

2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 tsp caster sugar

For the chocolate sauce:

½ cup cocoa powder

Pinch chilli flakes

100g dark chocolate (70%)

1 cup double cream

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp cinnamon

How to make

Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease and flour a large bundt cake pan (make sure to get into all the nooks and crannies).

Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl (ideally using an electric stand mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one and continue to mix between each addition, finishing with the egg yolk. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract and beat again until just incorporated.  Mix all the dry ingredients, add them to the butter and egg mix and fold in until smooth. 

Pour the cake batter into the bundt tin and bake for around 50-55 minutes until a skewer inserted near the middle comes out clean (I usually check the cake after 45 mins). Invert the cake onto a rack to cool.

Mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Melt the butter and paint all over the surface of the cake. Dust the cinnamon sugar over the buttered cake, making sure you pat it in places to stick.

To make the chocolate sauce. Pop all the ingredients into a saucepan, then cook, stirring constantly, on a low heat until the chocolate has melted, everything is smooth and custardy. Let it bubble slightly then turn off the heat.

Serve slices of the churros cake with warm chocolate sauce poured over. There are some who prefer their chocolate sauce served cold. That’s fine too.

[dreamboytranscripts-blog]

Ep. 1- Goodbye, Esmerelda Part 1

DANE: The milky way galaxy. Planet Earth. Cleveland, Ohio. Twelve-year-old Esmerelda looks out the window of her father single-engine airplane.

All of Cleveland is rolling underneath her. The trees look just like broccoli, she thinks. And the lake looks like one of her mom’s silver plates and it’s getting bigger in her eyes. And she smiles.

Now, little Esmerelda doesn’t know this probably, but a hundred years ago or so her great great grandfather John Stonefall, the oil tycoon, bought all the land currently rolling under her for a suspiciously small sum. But rather than build on the land like everyone expected, he instead had it all dug up. Leaving mounds of dirt everywhere, much to the chagrin of the locals. Petitions were signed, ladies groups had lunches. Finally, as a compromise, Stonefall filled most of the holes, built a summer home on a small piece of the land, and donated the rest of the city of Cleveland for parks.

The Stonefalls ended up liking it in Cleveland. Despite the controversy, they were happy there and they breed like rabbits becoming more and more cousins with cleaner and cleaner money. And that money eventually thinned and settled, becoming locked up in foundations, orchestras, zoos. Many of these cousins left Cleveland, but a few stayed. Their lives buoyed by the steady pumping of old trusts.

And it was one of these cousins, a guy named Roger Parring. A man made foggy from a life of never having had to know that he had never really had, who took his little daughter, Esmerelda Parring, for a ride in their single-engine airplane. Now, later on that night they will show their flight path on the news. A single red line that ends abruptly in the solid blue section at the top of the map graphic. Apparently, their engine began to malfunction as they were right over Pepper Heights and people on the news later will say they could hear it.

A sound like a saw in the sky.

But while that plane was still in the air above Pepper Heights, I didn’t hear it. I was far below, sleeping late in an old bed in my friend’s guest room. Huge white clouds were racing through the sky, making the light in my bedroom change from bright to dim to bright to dim. But I didn’t notice that either. I was deep in a dark dream.

Now, my dreams are pretty fucked up usually. Like me and my mom are astronauts and she’s floating away and I can’t do anything about it. Or like the train car I’m on is full of a thousand big, fat slow black flies landing on everybody's face and lips and they don’t notice because everyone is reading their Kindles that sort of thing. And I don’t dream about sex that often but, when I do it’s always something really awful. Like I’m at the deli and the guy behind the counter is making me fuck my cousin, Bryan, in front of a line of old ladies waiting for their hams and I can’t get hard and everybody is waiting.

Anyway, ever since I got to Cleveland I’ve been having this strange recurring dream. It always starts the same. I’m in the water. Hanging suspended and it’s deep water. And it’s dark, I can’t see anything. The water is the same temperature as my body. It feels pleasant. My hair’s just gently swaying. And then I feel a little bit of cold on my legs. And at first, I think it feels sort of nice. And then a little bit more cold and then slowly I realize, that’s something huge is moving underneath me.

I start to freak out and I start to try to get away but I can’t get anywhere. The water isn’t moving and I feel the coldness coming up more and more cold like the thing is getting closer. So I start to crash and I open my mouth to scream but the icy water rushes in. It hits the back of my throat and zooms down into my stomach. I feel it fill me up. And then it zigzags it’s way through my intestines like a cold knife and just before it gets to the back of my asshole, I wake up.

And I throw off the covers and I look down. And my dick is rock hard. Like so hard that it’s actually like bobbing up and- oh fuck I am late for work. I jump out of bed, I throw on my faded red Zenarc Corporations t-shirt and I tuck my boner into my shorts as best I can. I run downstairs and grab a pop tart and I dump a glass of water on the counter somewhere near the plants and then boom I’m out the door.

I usually walk through the neighborhood, Woodshire to York to Willowbrook to Cedar Ridge and then I cut through the woods. But not I have to run right down the main street area of Pepper Heights, Rivington Road, because I’m running late.

I get to the four-way stop and people in Ohio are way too polite for four-way stops so everyone just of sort sits there going:

“No, you go first” “Nah you go first” “No please I insist” “No please”

So I just run diagonally right across screaming. [sounds of screaming and honking cars] Now the thing about Rivington Road is that it’s a busy little street. There’s all these different kinds of food: Indian, Ethiopian, a Ramen place, a Sushi place, a Chinese food place, a toy shop, an independent bookshop, records, second-hand clothes, Peruvian imports, A head shop, a couple of bars, and even a gay bar. All in like a few blocks and it’s always crowded.  And there are so many different types of people and outside of New York, I’ve never ever seen anything like Pepper Heights. It was such a mix of people. People from every country, every income bracket. All living in the same neighborhood. It felt like some sort of lefty public tv fantasy. All these different kinds of lovely humans right here on Rivington but not a single fucking one of them knows how to walk at the right speed. “MOVE!”

I turn the corner right by the mirror store and boom. I see a truck, I almost run into it. Some sort of utility truck. It’s like parked half on the grass and half in the street. And I hear cussing coming from somewhere close.

“Cock sucker motherfucker son of a bitch”

And it sounds like it coming from above me so I look up. And there is a sort of crane coming up from the utility truck to bucket and there is a man in the bucket fiddling with the light pole but I can’t really see him because he is silhouetted by the sun but he’s just cussing up a storm. I have never heard some cuss so blatantly and out in the open and I mean this is a neighborhood. There’s like old ladies and like little kids-

[child's voice] “Move fucker!"

DANE: “Hey!”

A little girl comes out of no where she almost runs me over on her bike. Jesus. Okay, just a few more blocks. And I don’t have to run anymore I think I can just walk briskly, I don’t want to be a complete sweaty mess when I get there. And I’m only…..13 minutes late that’s not so bad. That’s close to ten minutes, it's almost ten minutes late. Okay.

I get to the side entrance, this big metal building and above the door, there is a sign that says “Zenarc Corporation: Shuttle Bay Five.” I stop for a minute. I take a breath. And then I open the big metal door. The cold air instantly hits me. The security guard gets up from his chair and blocks the hallway. He crosses his arms and stands in front of me. His eyes narrow as he demands to see my id badge.

“Really I’ve worked here for three weeks and I’m late.”

After a ridiculous amount of looking at me up and down, looking at my badge then looking back at me looking at my badge again, he lets me pass. Four more heavy metal doors and finally, I’m in the shuttle bay.

VOICE FROM OVERHEAD: “Mission Log 10182135 - Project Objective: To survey the 69 known moons of Jupiter for possible helium2 deposits. You are to report any signs of helium2 directly to your superiors at Zenarc Corporations upon debriefing. All 69 target moons are classified as lifeless but nonetheless, you are advised to keep your scanners on. Be safe and happy hunting miners.”

DANE: Okay, hold on for a second. I know what you are thinking.

Cleveland? Why Cleveland? Why did I go to Cleveland?

Well, I went to Cleveland… because I was tired. Tired in- tired in like a cosmic sense. Like a big sense. Not like a day to day tired. Not like ‘I need a nap tired’ but like ‘I need a 6-month soul nap’ tired. And my friend Emily was going to be gone for 6 weeks so she said ‘Come stay in my house, water my plants, and you can be alone’ and I thought ‘Alone. Alone time. That sounds great. What a gift to somebody who's been living in New York, especially a musician.’ So I thought ‘I’ll write an album.’ And so I went. I took my keyboard, I set it up in her living room, I turned it on, I sat on the bench and Grindr-ed. And ate my way through an Amazon shipping error of Doritos but every once in a while my free hand would reach out blindly and finger a random cord.

Grindr for some people, I think, is fun. Like they can just pop into it and then pop right back out of it whenever they’re done. But for me, I’ve never been able to stop having fun. But not in like a- not in like a ‘I’m always having fun’ kind of way. But in like a- like ‘There’s so much fun that it hurts’ kind of way. Uh, it just eats all of my time, obsessively. But after three days, I still hadn’t gotten laid and all of my white keys were orange. So I deleted Grindr again, and started looking for a job. But after literally walking into a mirror while dropping off my application at the American Apparel and being given what I thought was a rather gosh but nonetheless classic runaround by the assistant manager at the Chipotle, I was running out of options within walking distance. But I finally scored a late season job working at this tiny little neighborhood amusement park. It’s called the Pepper Heights Zoo. This place has been a risk free tax haven since before plastic was invented. It was like a nursing home for the old oil money and the zoo part was a motley collection of creatures gotten cheap for various reasons. But the most popular attraction by far, the animal on all the lunch boxes, the star, was an elderly zebra named Zoe.

Now, I don’t have any experience with animals myself so they gave me a job as a ride attendant on one of the few rides. This large indoor roller coaster called ‘Jupiter’s Lifeless Moons.’ It was right next to Zoe’s exhibit. Everyone just referred to it as ‘The Moons.’ It was a pretty tame ride actually, with a rider minimum height of only 48 inches. 44 if you had an adult. The whole idea was that it was a space shuttle that took space prospectors out to the moons of Jupiter to look for helium2 deposits. My job as an employee of the fake space prospecting company, the Zenarc Corporation, was to unload the kids, instruct them them to report any helium2 deposits during their debriefing in the next room and I had to use my most official sounding voice. And the park did a pretty good job making it all seem spacey and fun, there were flashing lights and space props. And in line, you heard a robot voice saying the mission objective on loop.

[Overhead voice plays again]

There was even, like, space adventure music playing from hidden speakers during the ride itself. That was the cool thing about the Pepper Heights Zoo. They piped in music all over the park like specifically made for the park. A lot of it was recorded years ago by these three ladies. They were sisters. The sherggeburg- the something sisters. I- I don’t know but you can buy their CD in the gift shop.

[Music fades in]

Dreamboy

Dreamboy

You’re my only dream boy

Dreamboy

Dreamboy

You’re my only dream boy

Dream fade into the night

But rather than die away

Why don’t you stay

Dreamboy

Dreamboy

You’re my only dream

Dream

[Music end]

But they also recorded a theme song for Zoe

[Upbeat(Kind of crazy) music starts]

[Sisters laughing]

Zoe, Zoe

The most amazing zebra

Zoe, Zoe

She’s our favorite friend!

La la la la..

[Music fades to background]

And since the ride shares it’s huge metal building with part of Zoe’s exhibit I did have to listen to that on loop for my entire shift. Other than that it was a pretty easy gig though, I just had to stand behind my podium and say my one line into this rank microphone that jesus smelled like a hundred summer’s worth of spit.

“Attention all miners aboard Shuttle Five. Please report your helium2 findings in the debriefing room.”

The lap bars clank open and the kids scramble out. They all run into the next room, the debriefing room but one girl lags behind. She stands there beside the track. I realise slowly that I recognize her. She has ridden the ride several times this week and she’s dressed like a Catholic school or-or I don’t know what I think they dress like. The lap bars slam down automatically on the coaster behind her but she doesn’t jump. The empty car disappears into the dark tunnel to pick up another batch of kids in the next room, leaving us alone.

“Are you okay?”

GIRL: “I’m perfectly fine.”

DANE: “O-Okay. Um, you need to report to debriefing.”

GIRL: “Please. I’m nearly 60 inches tall.

DANE: “O-oh um…”

GIRL: “I know it’s all pretend.”

DANE: “Okay, well you still have to leave before the shuttle comes back though okay?”

GIRL: “I know. I just thought I’d wait till they clear out a little. The other kids.”

DANE: She nodded towards the debriefing room but she wasn’t really looking at it. She wasn't looking at me either and she spoke like a small adult.from the 1960’s in that creepy way that kids who are raised by their grandparents sound. Her eyes settle on a far door. I instinctively step out from behind podium. Then another door opens and a man enters. He walks quickly towards me. His nice suit makes him look completely out of place but he stops when he notices the little girl.

MAN: “Oh! Hello there!”

DANE: He winks at me as he walks over to her and bends down to her eye level.

MAN: “So, tell me. Do you have any helium deposits to report?”

DANE: She says nothing. She just glares at him. It’s the kind of glare that stays anchored on his face as she walks around him and disappears into the debriefing room behind him.

MAN: “Awww. That’s a great age.”

DANE: This man is Eli Critch, the director of the Pepper Heights Zoo.

ELI: “Hello Dwayne.”

DANE: “It’s um..it’s Dane, actually.”

ELI: “Oh yes of course. I’m sorry, Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane.Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. Dane. I knew that! Dane. Dane. How are you liking it over here at the moons?”

DANE: “Um, it’s fine.”

Somewhere else in the building the old roller coaster car makes a turn and the whole building responds with a soft metallic groan.

[Kind of a aggressive groan from the building]

ELI: “Okay. Well, I just wanted to give you an updated set of keys. Changed the locks last night. Can’t be too careful. What with the current...rigamarole situation.”

DANE: He sets a key ring on the podium. Two shiny new keys on it.

ELI: “That’s the broom closet, that’s the front of the ride and that should do ya’”

DANE: Then he smiles and there is an awkward moment where he is just smiling at me. And then the smile turns off like a neon sign and he walks away. But he stops short in the middle of the Shuttle Bay and turns back around. That green shuttle approaching light flashing on his nice suit.

ELI: “Oh, indeed. You do know that door leads to Zoe’s night time enclosure, yes?”

DANE: He points at the far door. I nod slowly.

[music change to softs casual music]

Now I’ve always loved the grocery store at night. Like a 24-hour grocery store is like my church. And it’s mostly because there are no people, yeah sure but, also because everything has been restocked and straightened and it’s perfectly neat. There’s just row upon row of brightly colored boxes with little cartoon faces all peeking out the same way. And I think it’s because everything is so neat and there are no people moving around and there’s this bouncy music playing, that if you look for it you can really glimpse the shape of a terrible screaming skull behind the gorgeous face that the grocery store. And it hits you. You are standing in a warehouse of death. A plant and animal morgue.

Tonight I want a pie. But the bakery section of the store is dark. Like the lights were out in just that corner and also the pie case, I know exactly where it’s at, I can see it from here, but it has a shorted light tonight. And it’s blinking randomly. Giving the whole bakery section sorta bad part of town feel. Now… I’m maybe a bad boy, maybe not a bad boy, depends on who you ask, but I’m certainly not afraid of the dark and I mean… sort of a rebel. I even have the cart with a squeaky wheel. So, I like squeak right over to that bakery section.

CART: “Squeaky. Squeaky. Squeaky. Squeaky. Squeaky. Squeaky. Squeak.”

Dane: And as soon as I cross the threshold, I see them. Sitting in shadow. Three little girls. Girl Scouts maybe, behind a table. About 12 years old, give or take. They had doll eyes. Over thin smiles.

GIRL: “Good morning.”

DANE: “Oh! Go-But it’s just after midnight.”

GIRL: “Technically morning.”

DANE: “Oh. That’s uh… That’s pretty by the book.”

GIRL 2: “There are enough lies.”

DANE: They’re all wearing matching uniforms? And they all have different patches and I recognize the one girl from the ride easier. It’s the girl that lagged behind and she recognizes me. And the other two are twins but with, different hair.

“Uh… Are you selling something?”

GIRL:“No. But if you would like to donate we would be most appreciative.”

[kmorgantini]

Peruvian pepper tree. (at Metz Stage Stop Cemetery) https://www.instagram.com/p/CknHwpruNnu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jimbell]

Peppercorn Tree (schinus molle) It is native to the Peruvian Andes. The bright pink fruits of Schinus molle are often sold as "pink peppercorns" although S. molle is unrelated to true pepper (Piper nigrum). Also know as Peruvian pepper, American pepper, Peruvian peppertree, escobilla, false pepper, rosé pepper, molle del Peru, pepper tree, peppercorn tree, California pepper tree, pirul, Peruvian mastic, Anacahuita o Aguaribay and Pepperina. They grow to 15 meters (50 feet). Out at Gunnedah in central west NSW this weekend. I remember climbing these as a kid at school in Dubbo. They’re all over the central west. Tough as nails tree. #peppercorn #peppercorntree #schinusmolle #tree #pepper #redpepper #shade #mygarden #red #green #myplants #homegrown #australiangardens #australiangarden #hardy #easygrow (at Gunnedah Show Society) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdxc0_WPm3d/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=