I saw egrets across Galla Lake and Iron Weed blooming, but mostly I saw brown landscape on my walk.
Young men are destroying their productivity with silly video games. Old folks just use tv doing the same.
Been seeing Boneset blooming when I walk. Boneset and the killer weed—Snakeroot look alike. Boneset is also called Joe Pye weed. Joe Pye was an Indian medicine man in New England who cured typhus using Eupatorium perfoliatum, boneset. It relieved symptoms of break-bone (dengue) fever.
Boneset was introduced by Indians to American culture as a remedy for fever. They used it to induce sweating in order to break fevers. Supposedly they often fought fever which caused a deep muscular ache so intense that it made one feel as if their bones were breaking - thus the name, boneset - as it rid the body of the fever, the bones no longer ached. However, the history would seem to go farther back than our native Americans. There are reports of the plant also being used as far away as Asia Minor as long ago as 100-ish BC. Mithridates Eupator was the king of Pontus in Asia Minor from 120 to 63 BCE. He had to flee a murderous mother, supposedly, as heir to the throne and in his exile to the wilderness, he purposefully consumed small amounts of poisonous plants to build up his immunity. One of the plants he was supposed to have ingested was from the genus that now bears his name, Eupatorium, of which common boneset is but one of 200 species. He likely ate some White Snakeroot too. It is extremely toxic and has the notoriety of having killed Abe Lincoln’s mother via the milk she drank from cows who’d eaten it.
Ada delivered the poncho to her cousin Hailey. I’ve been spelling her name wrong.
Yesterday I visited my special friend Mary George Standridge. She’s 95 years young and her mind is still sharp as ever. She out remembers me! I snapped this picture of her and Eulis from one on the wall. She’s 20 years older than me! She’s has two children but they’re out of state attending a Granddaughter’s wedding. My friend Margaret is checking in on her for them. She would have loved attending the wedding but can’t travel for hours now. The wedding is in Iowa.
She was 18 when she married. Eulis passed about 10 years ago.
Getting off to school on the right foot is important. Yesterday was the first day of school for three of my girls—Ada, Greta and Laura. Laura and Erin make homemade cinnamon rolls for first day back breakfast. Laura shared with me. Clayton starts later this week. Praying all children have a great first day as it makes a big difference in the following year. No cell phones this year. Surely more learning will take place with less distractions.
Sigrid starts Wednesday. She’s stressing a little as she can’t figure out some of the things she’s supposed to be doing. When she gets on campus, she’ll get it all done.
I think Ing starts her new job Wednesday too. She’s really loving her new home!
