Our Spice Bush Abounds - Day 84 - Daily Haiku, with mini-review of "Ready Player One"
Our spice bush abounds
far more than I realized
good harvest come fall
Cori MacNaughton
I'm posting this one a tad late because I had a lovely date night with Marek, and we went to see "Ready Player One" in 3D,because we both LOVED the book, and were really hopeful that the film would be handled well.
And the film is pure Speilberg, one heck of a fun, wild ride, even though the first half hour or so has virtually nothing to do with what actually happened in the book, and many of the really important things that did happen in the book are left out completely. Other important things are kept in, albeit in abbreviated form, or changed until they are almost unrecognizable.
So would I recommend the film? Yes. And no.
If you're a purist, and want the book and its story to be treated with the utmost respect, you'll probably hat the film, and would be better off re-reading it and waiting for the film to come on cable, or not bothering at all.
On the other hand, if you're willing to not only suspend reality, but also any expectation that the film will actually have anything to do with the book, then you'll probably have a good time, even though you'll be calling "bullshit, bullshit, bullshit" on a high percentage of the pivotal scenes.
Still,an enjoyable ride, I loved the casting, and the scene where "Chucky" appears I nearly choked to death trying not to bust out laughing out loud.
Though, in truth, we saw it in Cookeville, so no worries. On Saturday night, the 10:00 showing, there were literally ten people in the theatre - including us. Yes, really. So, if nothing else, we know who our fellow geeks are. ;-)
So, back to spice bush, a couple of years after we bought our place, a friend I met on eBay of all places, visited us on our place, when she and her husband delivered our first "guest goats" to help us clear out our barnyard, which worked for them as well, since they didn't need to feed them for the duration.
And, while we were walking our place, she immediately noticed some spice bush at the edge of the woods behind our main house, and commented that she wished she had spice bush on her land, because it was an indicator of really good soil. So, from the beginning, I was pleased to know we had it here.
When I started researching it, I discovered that spice bush was one of the species introduced to European settlers by Native Americans, who used the leaves of spice bush to make an excellent tea. The fruit, a small oval red berry when ripe, they used as two separate spices, separating the seed from its soft red covering, drying both, and adding them to other foods either in whole or powdered form.
Walking around the place in the fall, I tend to scrape off the fleshy part with my teeth and save the seeds to plant, but the seeds are good as well, even when fresh. But then I like really spicy foods, so it may be an acquired taste,but as "spicy" goes, they're actually quite mild. And quite tasty.
In the past ten days or so, I checked out our known spice bushes, so that I would recognize their blooms, since I hadn't really checked them out much in spring.
And I was surprised to discover that, not only are our known bushes literally covered with blooms, but that we have several times the number of bushes close to the house as i thought, not to mention a large number between the main house and the studio.
In fact, I've been watching two small bushes next to the front porch of the studio, because I didn't want to cut them down before I knew what they were, and lo and behold they both turned out to be spice bush. So one bush we will maintain where it is, but the second we will remove and plant in a better location, because they are too close together for both to bear well. But, clearly, that means our soil is excellent there as well. ;-)
And, in the meantime, we seriously need to do in (read: there may be flame throwers involved) as much of the poison ivy that is growing all over our barnyard and around the studio as possible, so we can keep the number of new seeds down to a dull roar, and slowly take back our place from the dark side.
And I would love to hear your take in the comments.
I Dance Toward My Blessed Death – Original Poetry
Our Black and White Hope – Day 82 – Daily Haiku
Marek, My Best Friend – Day 81 – Daily Haiku
Sorting Through Receipts – Day 80 – Daily Haiku
Forms of Life – Jean-Luc Ponty – Jazz That Changed Me, part 2
Once a Blue Planet – Jean-Luc Ponty – Jazz That Changed Me
Black and White Kitty
Hickory Syrup – Day 78 – Daily Haiku
Rural Internet – Day 77 – Daily Haiku
Birds Singing Brightly – Day 76 – Daily Haiku
If you feel my posts are undervalued, and/or you want to
donate to tip me, I would appreciate it very much.
In the process, you will be helping our small organic farm to operate,
to help others, and to feed and house all our animals better. Thank you!
Bitcoin (BTC) – 37Z9UabFyygFYXMoChifdCkyFgPJtKwXRj
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – qq5p7dkr9239u6fer98lyc3cjvhcwcggzuxyde9mjp
Ethereum (ETH) - 0x731e363a4e6C680D47aFA63e4620342964a9d0Fb
LiteCoin (LTC) – MprMcJSAXKvtBouDQRSSk85qbms8ak3xDY
The following are a few affiliate links, to companies we really
believe in, that will further help us to operate, to help others,
and to care for and feed our animals.
If you have any interest in becoming affiliated with these companies,
which may bring you additional income, please contact me,
and perhaps we can work together!
Dr. Al Sears, well known anti-aging doctor, with his first-class
line of supplements that actually work:
https://primalforce.net/?aff=1893
Melaleuca, a company that has been making natural, eco-friendly
products since the 1980s, that not only work as well as
chemically laden versions from the supermarket,
but are safer, and typically save money overall in addition.
I was introduced to them by a co-worker in 1990, lost track
of them, and was thrilled to find them again about a year
and a half ago. I strongly recommend their products.
http://www.melaleuca.com/corimacnaughton
Prime My Body offers a nanoenhanced hemp-based CBD oil
that is legal in all 50 United States, and clinically proven to be
absorbed 3X better than the leading pharmaceutical brand.
I have used it on myself and my animals with excellent results.
https://Crescendo.primemybody.com
If you are interested in becoming an affiliate yourself,
check out this link:
https://enrollpmb.com/Crescendo
All words and images are my own. The photos of the spice bush on our place, although taken in the fall of mature berries, were taken by me, likely with my old Blackberry semi-Smartphone. I do have more recent photos of the blossoms, but couldn't find them tonight, but I'll post them hopefully tomorrow.
The photo of our dog, Lolo, and our late cat, Miod, I took as they were cooperatively begging at the dinner table, despite our longstanding rule of not feeding them from the table.
You can see how much that deterred them both.
Resteeming is welcome, you may link to my post from your own website or blog, and you may use excerpts and/or images as long as you credit me, and link back to this post.
Please ask for permission, before using my work otherwise, as all rights are reserved.
Was reading your old article here but of course its old now so thought I would reply in your newer one.
You managed to meet the great Wilson, I'm quite envious! I attended his concert in Manchester last week and managed to piss him off!, but that's another story can read about on my blog if you like.
Just nice to see someone outside the UK who is a fan and more of a fan than me maybe!
I owe it all to my husband, who used to own a music store in Brooklyn, NY, and introduced me to a world of music I had never heard of; and I was able to do the same for him, since I've tended to gravitate toward artists that no one else has ever heard of before. ;-)
I actually have met other American fans, though, and interestingly, one of them is the stepdaughter of my childhood best friend, who commented on my Porcupine Tree T-shirt that a friend had introduced her to the band, and that she loved everything she had heard so far.
So there is hope.
I have tried to introduce their music to my friends but they just don't get it. Good to know there are Americans that are fans. He does tour the US quite extensively and makes the effort to be seen. I love Blackfield too, but I think you will probably know their back catalogue by now.
Yes, we saw Blackfield in NYC, and they were great. It was a small club, maybe three hundred or so people, which is my favorite kind of venue.
Unfortunately the next day or two is when Wilson's dad suddenly passed, and they cut the tour short so that he could be with his family.
I was blown away by the caustic response by some with tickets to the canceled concerts; too many people seem to view entertainers as "owing" them something, and forget that they are people too, with lives and feelings.
I haven't heard their latest album yet, but I'll be ordering it soon.
Blackfield V is decent. There's more Steven in it again so it would be!
Yeah, one thing I've always admired about him is how generous he is in crediting his collaborators, such as Aviv Geffen being the lead man and spokesman for Blackfield, and Tim Bowness doing the honors for no-man, despite the latter having originated as another SW solo venture, like Porcupine Tree.
My dad, who was a jazz pianist, always said that the way to tell the best musicians is that they surround themselves with musicians even better than they are, which is precisely what Wilson has done. And it has served him incredibly well throughout his multifaceted career.
One of my absolute favorites among his projects is Storm Corrosion, and quite frankly I probably still wouldn't know Opeth or Akerfeldt were it not for Wilson. I especially love the title track, but the whole album is great, and who knew Akerfeldt had that voice? I'd only heard him growl with Opeth.
Which is another reason why I love Wilson so much, because I have found a number of artists I love through his recommendations. Stellar taste in music, incredible talent in songwriting and production values, and as a stage performer, I've yet to see his equal, which is saying a lot.
I really need to listen to the Storm Corrosion collaboration some more. I'm quite the Akerfeldt fan too even the growling songs are OK, especially 'Bleak' which has Steven singing in the middle of it.
I bought the first two Opeth albums that SW produced, Blackwater Park and Deliverance, and while I like the music, I haven't listened to them much, because a little growling goes a long way for me. I like to be able to understand what is being said.
That said, I also bought "S.U.S.A.R." by Indukti, on the strength of Mariusz Duda's collaboration in-between the first two Riverside albums, and it took me several years to really listen to it closely - at which point it remained in my car's CD player for a couple of weeks, because I loved it so much.
So Opeth's time with me will undoubtedly come.
Which goes back to my gratitude to SW for introducing me to so many great artists, because it was due to my initial unquenchable infatuation with Porcupine Tree that Marek's best friend, Michał, introduced me to Riverside, saying that they were "Poland's answer to Porcupine Tree."
And, I've loved Riverside ever since, not in a small part because Duda uses the metal growl as an accent, or a condiment, rather than as the main course. And I'm devoted to his solo project Lunatic Soul as well. Great stuff all the way around.
Hey Great Post! Get Free Automated Upvotes here: http://bc.vc/fYMbjV2 Get 0.1 STEEM FREE JUST TO JOIN! Enjoy! :)