TICKLE TONGUE, WILD PLUM - MISTLETOE - GETTING IN LINE

 EAST TEXAS TICKLE TONGUE TREE

(experimenting with font size in this week's blog)

Neighbors over to visit this past weekend and in the course of chatting outside they noticed we had a "Tickle Tongue Tree". They told stories of when they were younger, that they would slice off a part of the tree bark and touch it to their tongues. The 'tickle tongue" is likened to the tingling of a foot or leg that has fallen asleep and is awakening back to normal.

"All parts of the tree including the bark will numb the gums and tongue when chewed or sucked. Native Americans used prickly ash or tickle tongue tree as a painkiller. Native Americans chewed the bark for toothaches and drank berry tea for sore throats. The bark and berries are stimulants and have been used historically to treat digestive problems, rheumatism, skin diseases, nervous headaches, varicose veins and congestion. Prickly ash provides cover for wildlife and the blooms help to make a delicious honey."

URL Here

A short walk out back they also discovered we have a wild Plum Tree.

A small tree next to the back yard tree line. It is struggling to grow and survive. 

After the big rains today (Sunday last) I will trim around it and pull it from leaning into and around the tree behind it. Two stakes in the ground with a little tension to get it started and better on its own. Closer monitoring from now on.

All of a sudden the new season is upon us (along with daylight savings) and normal growth and sprouting of East Texas greenery has begun. 

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MISTLETOE 

My wife (Dallas original) pointed mistletoe out to me when we first arrived in east Texas. Clumps of growth in host trees. 

Our neighbors have a few trees where mistletoe has a foothold. I ask him if he and his wife came out from time to time to kiss under the tree. He made me laugh out loud. 

Point here, I never knew this before. Now, damn everywhere we look, Mistletoe has found homes.

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Bush Beans

They were just starting to poke their heads out Monday. 

I started them on damp paper towels for a few days and then set them in moist potting mix and under the Texas sun. Mother Nature!!

Sunday morning just before publishing.

All of these beans started out with the same exact environment to begin life. Bean genetics and mother nature? Lets see what another week in the Texas sun and rain will develop. Stay tuned.

MORNING BLT

Obviously over-sized and a challenge. First half of the sandwich was textbook BLT. So was the second half as it started to unravel.

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MY RADAR

Image from "My Radar App" this past Wednesday morning. Earlier that morning the approaching storm from the west was twice as wide and I expected it to last a few hours in passing. But by the time it make it to us it was no more than an hour. Quick moving and a good soaking.

Bright sun out later in the day and that has lasted through this weekend. 

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IF THIS IS WHAT GETTING OLD LOOKS LIKE

Both my wife and I missed Thursday this past week. We figured that out Friday morning. Her was confused as was I. 

I was getting ready to take the weekly garbage to the end of the driveway for pick up. And I was also thinking about our get-together pizza night scheduled for dinner, picking up her computer and our shopping schedule that day. But therein lied the blank look. I asked my wife what day it was. She said Friday and that was correct. 

I told her I was getting ready to take the garbage as always planned on garbage pick up day, Thursday. Confused. 

We looked at our phones, yep, Friday. So what happened to yesterday Thursday. And so it went over a bowl of sliced bananas in cream for breakfast.

We reconstructed Thursday and what we had done. All seemed real. But why the 24 hour delay on prepping garbage pick up. Well hell, it just did not happen although that task had parked in some corner of our brains, but delayed a full day. Not good. 

I told her we need more posted notes. She said to put it in our phones for weekly reminder notifications. Very sad, but I did. 

So next Wednesday and every Wednesday hence forth I will get some notification to get the garbage to the curb. I fear that this is still no guarantee of future days lost as we age. 

GUT LEVEL FEELINGS OF A COMING WORLD OF HURT 

This past week of green screen biden and his publicly calling Putin "a killer" is more than troubling.

The barbed wire circle of decision making in DC is way in over their heads. "****ery" with inside our borders is one thing, but there are things in all lives that we just do not mess with. I believe Putin is one of those things. Green screen is way in over his head. Holds true for all his decision making. 

Another world war? Seems more and more possible. Beyond imagination. Green screen is a toy that Putin can play with to include the whole DC Sshow. My guess is Putin will play these folks like an old fiddle for his own entertainment. Not for long though.

And the triple fall/face plant walking up the stairs of AF1. I find watching the video very sad. For the man and for this country.  

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I am seeing floating stories that the price of food is going to go through the roof. Sounds plausible.  

Best put in a few more bags of rice and canned meat. 

Planting more garden. 

This coming problem is something we can all do something about today. Whole chickens still under a dollar a pound and an average cost of a loaf of bread is $2.50.

Canning, hot bathing, and dehydrating this summer. 

I thought that blogging about "The After" was a one tiered concept. Today it appears there are more "after levels" inside youmeandtheater. 

AND FINALLY;

Awake at 03:00, wallowed till quarter to four and then moved quietly out of the bedroom. Her stays in bed another half hour, too, wallowing and then follows. 

Both of our computers have been gone through now and both running mirror software backing up on external drives daily. We have installed Dissenter Browser (based on Brave) and Duckduckgo as our entry portal to the net. Seems to be working wonderfully and getting reports of how many adds have been blocked and no tracking every net move etc. Good enough!!

I do my best thinking in the quiet of the morning. Peaceful here in east Texas. Just far enough away from the city and big city, yet not out in banjo land. There are hundreds of back roads, pastures, rolling hills and scenery to last us the rest of our lives. Her and I even have found time as of late to discuss a few day road trips for fun. Remember fun?

I have often said here I enjoy people watching and in these current days of radical change, this behavior yields wonderful moments of entertainment for me. Gives way to long talks of all things we find harder and harder to understand. But there is learning taking place in the watching of people out and about. 

While on the road to the bigger city for shopping at our local global market this weekend, I noticed a line of people inside the store. Older folk. Most mask wearing. General appearance of aging, some ailing. Many were peering over the shoulders of others as they filled out paper work. A dozen or so and the line was getting longer. So I asked! 

"The Vaccine." There it was. Nondescript worker bees handing out forms, offering advice and half dressed in unbuttoned medical garb. 

Our "local" global shopping market was giving the shot. 

And it is here at this point in this weeks blog where I sit at the edge of the rabbit hole. Do I drop down and let go of what I think about all of this or do I circle one more time and let you get on with other blogging? I so want to drop into the rabbit hole. 

Suffice it to say I knew it was just a matter of time before the offerings of this medical device would be available along with vegetables, clothing, sporting goods and a deli counter. One-stop shopping. 

The young gal re-stocking the shelves might well take her break and then be called to help in the jabbing line. Distribute medical advice and another cure all government programs to any shopper wishing that product. 

I responded to the answer to my question of why people were standing in line with an oh; "we have ours thank you." My wife looked at me, smiled and told me I was a bad man. I am not. Quite often though best to just move on.  

But within all of this, witnessing the lining up of so many folks for medical treatment from volunteers at our local shopping center just overwhelms my ability to grasp. I do not know how else to qualify all of this and the times we live in. 

Getting on the government buses and rail cars is not out of the question for a large portion of the American population. No questions asked. None. Nada. The promised ride to health and happiness, colorfully written on the side banners seems more than enough. 

It's an opinion. 

Could C19 preventatives be as simple as this?

A doctor's opinion shared-

Vitamin C   2,000 mg  1X Daily

Vitamin D3 5,000 IU   1x-2x Daily

Zinc      100mg          1x Daily

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Worked the garden this weekend. Tomato plants along with most everything else hitting the stands. We get two plantings here now. A few weeks after the first round is planted, we plant another round. Harvest time doubles I am told. But nothing grows unless I plant. 

Thanks for visit. You know the drill. Heads up. Ask a lot of questions this coming week. Seek ideas and other opinions. Ponder. Wonder. Read. Skill sets for all.

Have a blessed week.