My pride and joy!

I was happily shocked to receive a postcard from the city announcing my block as a pilot area for automated curbside recycling and trash collection. If the pilot is successful, deemed feasible and wholly enacted, Cleveland would be on par with cities like San Francisco and Portland when it comes to being recycle-y.

Below is a preview of how the system will work. Currently, my roommate and I recycle by delivering plastics, cardboard, paper and metals to recycling dumpsters in our area. This initiative should make the process more convenient and hopefully encourage others to recycle too. My only reservation is that I will become spoiled by the pilot program, only to have it taken away.

RTA rocks. As does Cleveland.

On Sunday I went on a plant identification walk at Edgewater Park with Josh and Jocelyn of Plant Ally Herbs. Josh and Jocelyn sell tinctures, oils, teas and other plant-based apothecary at the farmer’s market on Professor Avenue across from Lucky’s Café in Tremont. While they advised the group not to eat things growing at Edgewater, many of the plants they identified are edible and/or medicinal when they’re found in untainted soil.

Josh and Jocelyn explained how to identify certain families of plants, look-alike plants, edible plants, medicinal plants and invasive plants.

Revisions suggested by Josh on 10/9/07:

Jenita!  here, sorry it took so long!
Here are the little adjustments that would
probably be good.- Chicory is cultivated both
for "coffee substitute" and just as a
straight-up vegetable.

- Bittersweet Nightshade: It's about the last
3-400 years, and justfor Europeans.  Indigenous
cultures in the U.S. have been cultivating
potatoes for ages, and probably tomatoes and
other stuff too, though I
don't really know.

- Evening Primrose is also a delicious edible
plant (haven't tried it yet; but next time I'm
out of cleveland and one crosses my path...!)

- I wouldn't touch the burdock description at
all, but, just as a note-- it's all edible
(some parts more than others, esp. young
leaves/stem, budding flower heads, and, in
particular, the roots).I've eaten burdock root,
but not that I've picked myself.

Edible Plants

Oxalis/Sorrell

This is one of the few edible plants I already knew of. I used to munch on it when I was a kid; we called it sour weed because of its lemony flavor.

Mustard

I did have a little taste of this tangy plant--delicious!

Dandelion & Chicory

Both Dandelion and Chicory are in the Asteraceae (or composite) family of plants. According to the tour guides, this is the most common and varied family of flower in North America and includes daisies and sunflowers. Chicory is sometimes cultivated for its root, which is dried and ground as a coffee substitute or additive. Dandelions are edible: greens, roots and flowers. We looked at the similarities between dandelion and chicory flowers and I learned that each petal of a dandelion is actually a complete flower.

Lamb's Quarter

The entire Lamb's Quarter plant is edible. The seeds can be ground into a flour and the roots and leaves can be eaten. The plant is high in calcium, similar to nettles. This plant is also called pigweed and is in the Chenopodium (which means "goose foot" family of plants.

Chenopodium Leaf

Quinoa, Amaranth and Beets are also in the Chenopodium family.

Thistle


Thistles are related to artichokes. They have poky bracts around the flower head. If you can conquer the spikes, the thistle is edible.

Grapevine


I've only eaten grape leaves after they have been stuffed with rice, but it is nice to consider the simplest form.

Queen Anne's Lace/Wild Carrot

Queen Anne's Lace is a biennial plant; the first year it produces an edible root, and the second year it flowers. Garden variety carrots will revert back to Queen Anne's Lace if left to their own devices. The roots of QAL are edible and are paler and more fibrous than a garden carrot. The flower of the plant is an umble compound, which gives it a "fireworks" appearance. It is in the same family as parsley, fennel and dill and looks quite similar to Poison Hemlock. The difference? The Queen has tiny hairs on the stem.

Mulberry

Mulberries are edible, but what I found most interesting is that one mulberry plant can have 2 or 3 completely different shaped leaves.

Poisonous Plants
Bittersweet Nightshade

According to J&J, it is only within the last one hundred years that humans have been commonly eating nightshade fruits, including peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. Some nightshade plants are very poisonous and effect the central nervous system.

Purple Vetch



Purple vetch is in the pea family and can have a similar appearance to clover. Purple Vetch is poisonous, but Clover is edible and can be used to make tea. Clover has smaller petals.

Comparing Clover to Purple Vetch



Pokeweed

I think I may finally understand the expression "happy as a pig in a poke". The mature Pokeweed plant is poisonous. The poison is stored in the roots and travels into the entire plant as it grows. Some eat the young shoots and compare the flavor to asparagus. It also makes sense of the song, Poke Salad Annie.

Medicinal Plants
Boneset

Boneset is a misnomer as the plant shouldn't be used to help repair broken bones. Boneset is used to break fevers and got its name from an outbreak of Break-Bone Fever. It is used in a tea or a tincture.

Plantain



Plantain or Plantego is used as a spit poultice to draw out infection. It is both an analgesic and an antiseptic. Jocelyn explained that it can be chewed and then place topically on a scratch or a bee sting.

Evening Primrose



Evening Primrose is used to balance female hormones. It can be made into a tincture, oil or tea using the leaves, roots and stems. The plant is also an astringent and a sedative.

Evening Primrose Buds



Cottonwood Tree



The Cottonwood Tree is related to the Willow Tree and its bark and leaves are analgesic, astringent and diuretic. It is known as an "aspirin" plant and an be used as an anti-inflammatory. When Cottonwood buds are boiled in oil, it is known as the burn salve, "Balm of Gilead".

Myrtle/Periwinkle



Mrytle should not be ingested, but it can be used topically as a capillary constrictor. You can pack a nosebleed with the leaves to stay the flow of blood.

Industrious Plants

Cattails

The Native Americans used the leaves for basket weaving and the tops for torches. Plant Ally Herbs says that the top can be boiled and eaten like corn.

Teasel



Teasel looks similar to Thistle. The plant is so named because it was used to tease wool as it was combed out in the refining process.

Burdock Toss



The Burdock's burrs can be thrown effectively at your friends and enemies. If it lands in someone's hair, it may have to be cut out dramatically with scissors.

Pretty to Look At

Frostweed/Fleabane

On Saturday I went to half of Brian Swimme’s talk at River’s Edge in Rocky River. Swimme is a mathematical cosmologist.

Thinking about:

• Matter and spirit as synonyms
• To be sane in our culture is to be considered insane
• “We need to lean toward the conflict and not isolate ourselves with self-righteousness and blame.”
• Also a lot of talk about the universe expanding, the generosity of the sun and the interconnectedness of, well, everything.
  

I went to Nonprofit Organizations and Management class last night.

Thinking about:

• My professor referred to us as Idealogues. I looked it up: One given to fanciful ideas or theories; a theorist; a spectator.
  
• “The 1947 Studebaker was a well-engineered automobile, but the company did not adapt to its environment”. Ford stayed, Studebaker did not.
  

I went to economics class tonight.

Thinking about:

• Nothing is on sale if you don’t need it.
• An average person works 2,000 hours a year.

Not thinking about:

• Opportunity costs
• Demand curves
• Graphing maximum social benefit
  

Unrelated/elated knowledge:

• I have been wrapping my mind around the City Wheels car sharing program, and I am interested in tool sharing programs, but I had no idea an "art sharing program" exists at Oberlin College. Brilliant!
  

Ten days in California.

Day 1:
6 am Rapid to the airport. I drank coffee, browsed a pile of magazines and intermittently slept, drooled and woke with a neck cramp. Hybrid car rental fiasco (expired licenses and an attendant who played dumb for us-thank you) and then brief beach excursion on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica; palm trees and pastel stucco baked in the sun. We were obvious tourists on the beach in our street clothes. Surprised by actual waves and got wetter than I intended--tried to remember the last time I was at the ocean--left with sand scoured toes.

Later on, crazies at Venice Beach: smooth jazz bicycle rider, chair drummer, a choir of droning singers, face-painted teens; the homeless seem softer here than in Cleveland. We had dinner at Fig Tree's Cafe.

Day 2:

First, out for coffee; then, two jazz dance classes at The Edge separated by a lunch date with Chris at Cafe Audrey. Dinner at Leonor's Mexican Vegetarian Restaurant in Studio City. Then on to the Frolic Room and another bar for some drinks: a brandy side car and then a glass of Chardonnay.

Day 3:

Coffee, Ralph's for picnic supplies (oranges, avocados, tomatoes, pita, hummus, apricots) then Malibu Beach for sun, waves and thieving seagulls. The view from my towel was peppered by surfers on one side and gulls, cranes and storks on the other.

Day 4.

Hit the road for Yosemite National Park. Drove through the Mojave Desert. Tunes. Silence. The air was dry and when we stopped for gas the desert surprised me with its silence. Pink bathroom with handwritten signs reminding me to conserve electricity and water and turn out the light thank you very much.

We arrived at Tuolmne Meadows in time to start a 5.8 mile hike to our campsite at Glen Aulin. We were amateur, but plucky. The last mile was lit by crappy flashlights. I arrived cranky, my hiking companion was kind.

Day 5

Woke up in a chilly tent and percolated coffee slowly to drink on sun-warmed rocks as we looked at picket pins. On the hike back to Tuolomne Meadows to camp for the night, I dangled feet in a stream. Dipped in-too cold- briefly. We celebrated our daylight arrival with porter and noodles. I kept thinking of Gary Snyder poems.

Day 6

We de-constructed the campsite and drove to other side of Yosemite for a system-shocking mass of tourists and buses and taco stands. Walked a mile to Mirror Lake. There was no lake. California is in a drought. Left for San Francisco, but spent the night in Oakley. Wandered and debated over dinner and then settled on Asian fusion at Silk Road. We toasted to "vacillation as a means of adventure". Met a couple of Amtrak workers at the Fat Lady's Bar.



Day 7

Hangover from tequila, lemon drop, beer, wine train-wreck inspired by the Amtrak employees. In to San Francisco after a slow start of juevos rancheros and search for decent coffee. Perused the Mission (great murals). Dinner in the Tenderloin (Pho) and then an art gallery opening. Drinks and a little dancing at Levende.

Day 8

9am class at the Yoga Tree, a good reminder to tend my personal garden as I wondered how my vegetables were growing back in Cleveland. I missed my cat. We searched for perfect Mexican food. Buena Vista Park, Haight and Golden Gate Park meander. Cyclists! Fisherman's Wharf then bookstore to finally read some Gary Snyder.




Day 9

Twelve-hour ride down Highway 1. Breathtaking views. I kept thinking, "this is America?". Felt small and recognized and reconciled my generally land-locked life. Late arrival to Los Angeles for Chris chat and sleep.

Day 10

We volunteered to be bumped from a flight as a means to finance future travel. Four hours of reading, lolling, handstands, downward dogs and way too much airport food (purchased with an airline voucher). It was raining in Los Angeles when we left. I joked and said that LA was crying because we were leaving. I was ready to go home.

I bought four magazines today in preparation for plane travel to and from California: Yoga, Utne Reader, Mother Earth News and Tricycle. I feel both guilty and excited about my purchases. I am a former (recovering?) magazine addict.

I used to be ridiculously obsessed with magazines and my subscriptions included, but were not always limited to: Utne Reader, US News & World Reports, Time, Newsweek, Knitting, Mother Jones, National Geographic, The Smithsonian, Dance, Contact Quarterly and Jane (before it became stupid)—plus a slew of literary, art and design magazines and random zines I would buy intermittently.

Managing to avoid a career in journalism, I have regulated my appetite for mags. I now allow myself the pleasure only at airports and beaches; compartmentalizing my desire. Since I live in a land-locked state and no longer go on tour frequently, my magazine consumption has truly been restricted.

My thoughts are salivatory and my fingertips anticipate flipping those glossy rags, but a rule is a rule and I’m making myself wait until I get to the gate.

Cleveland comedian, and good friend, Micheal Ivy had a week-long gig MC-ing at Pickwick and Frolic in August. I met Ivy when he was a chef, and I was a server, at Parker's New American Bistro. In between making sorbet, chocolate souffles and apple tarts, he would scribble in this tattered notebook he kept at his station. In between spacing out and getting yelled at by the executive chef, he would make fantastic deserts.

At the time, I was a full-time modern dancer and he had dreams of becoming a comedian. So, we'd talk about the difficulties and rewards of a "career" in the performing arts.

He left Parker's to pursue his goals. He started with some contests at the Bassa Vita Lounge, helped to create aone productions, performed at comdedy nights at Rockstar and submitted videos on TBS's comedy website. He has been paying his dues and networking for at least three years. Needless to say I am thrilled for him and impressed by the way he has helped to grow the local comedy scene.

Thanks for the laughs!