"Artemisia absinthium L. : A somewhat shrubby plant 50-100 cm high. Stems with many branches finely hairy leaves 5-10 cm long, several times divided into ovate or oblong segments, finely grayish hair......."
"Budd's Flora of the Canadian Prairie Provinces.
I love dad's bookshelf. I'm still discovering stuff there to read.
In other news: the holidays are going good here. It's nice to finally get a break. I hope you all had a merry Christmas, and here's to a happy New Years. I plan on spending it as is traditional: watching bad movies, avoiding singing Aulde Lang Syne (of all the great Robert Burns poems you could have chosen, why that one?) and pontificating drunkenly on evolutionary biology. (don't ask me why this happens, it just does every time TJ and I are together).
So, happy holidays, and see you all in a week or so!
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5 comments:
Wormwood.
We have that growing in the garden at home. I love how it smells. I once made an absinthe wine out of it by flavouring and existing wine with the leaves of that and several others. It was lovely, but nerve-wracking because it is, after all, poisonous. This is also why I decided against trying absinthe for the first time in the Evil Eye Lounge in York.
And on Burns: I agree. New Year's should be celebrated with:
Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi' bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an' chase hee,
Wi' murd'ring pattle!
Ahh Absynth.
I almost burned somebody's (cough*scrode*cough) house down while drinking absynth that I imported to Canada in a less than legal way from the Czech Republic. Tis a funny story, but one for another day :-D.
Happy Holidays to you sir, shall see you next year! That is, unless the long debates on evolutionary biology cause some kind of drunken academic battle which causes your demise or your head to explode - this is why I'm avoiding politics this holiday (a hard feat during election season). TAKE CARE!!!
Actually, absinthe is just one variety of wormwood. The genus Artemisia is the wormwoods. Appearently sages such as pasture and prairie sage are also both classed as wormwoods.
I really need to get my own copy of Budd's Flora.
V-Bee: Is that "To a Mouse"?
Eric: Oh, c'mon! Auld Lang Syne is basically all about having another round of Scotch, and guilt tripping the host into dealing it out. How can you dislike a song like that?!
As an aside: My favorite Robbie Burns poems/songs are A Man's A Man For A'That, when I'm feeling social-consciousnessy, and A Red, Red Rose, when I'm feeling romantic.
Yes, it is "To a Mouse." I love that description: cow'rin, tim'rous beastie. Best description of a mouse I've ever heard. And a fair one of some people I've known. And of a small cat that lives with Eric. Other Burns to love: Highland Mary.
Ye banks and braes and streams around the castle o'Montgomery ....
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