Great news with the pepper plants! One of the pots has a small green stalk emerging from the dirt. I actually thought nothing would happen because they were left outside in the weeks worth of continuous heavy rain. I thought the seeds might rot and the plants would never have a chance to sprout, thwarted by external forces beyond their control.
It was the throw down of the century. The Bronzed Midwest giant swaying like wheat, towering over the corn stalks. Staring back across the 4 ft ebony pole, the compressed, creative youth full of vigor and dreamy eyed passion. The lawn seats breaching the arena’s edge, intimacy of the moment scenting the breeze. Nothing like this has been seen since the epic bout of David v. Goliath. The magnitude, titanic pressures buzzing ear drums, glimmers and flashes, highlights of the Coliseum in Rome. Every crowd, large and small roots for the underdog, prays that the giant is toppled because it gives them hope to navigate the next day. From the start their hearts pattered as if cloaked in the essence of daffodil.
The golden whirling satellite danced the tango around the ebony pole. Shadows and blurs were all the bronzed giant could decipher. Push and pull, the tides, a flip of the coin, fates dancing with glee as the champion emerged. Sacrificing his body, punished like a voodoo doll, imprecise acupunctured soul. Rope burns mounting, rainbows adorning the skin, he battled on, his honor to uphold, shame to deflect. Completing its arc, tucking itself in for the evening, the setting sun trumpets the downfall of one.
Alas, today hearts break, dreams are shattered, and futures forsaken. The frayed rope and golden sphere carousels to the finish line. The towering giant emerges victorious and salutes the fading light with a tip of his beer. Resiliency is born this day. The pure joy of the game, the fight, the spirit of life etches itself into the soul of second place. Another day will come, another battle to wage, perhaps then the flip of fates will change and the doe eyed youth grows into his destiny, his potential. When that day comes the bronzed Midwest giant will tilt back in his rocking chair on the porch and nod his head to the usurper and smile as nature runs its course.
Quite often I get the urge to create. It is a combustion driven yearning to generate something from the soul; art, digital media, songs and poetry. Repeatedly I reach the brink and roll back down to the bottom, unable to ladle out substance from the boiling cauldron of tumultuous creativity. Today that changed. I had the geometry all wrong. A new day, a new angle, and the variables align in harmony.
If there is anything I did not learn from a quarter century of apartment living, it is the art of gardening. Let’s say that I once killed a cactus or two during my tenure. New surroundings trumpet new beginnings. It occurred to me that container gardening might be the way to go. I tend to buy variants of spicy peppers from the grocery store on a weekly basis so this felt like the perfect pairing. Derrik + spicy pepper container garden = blissful respite. If I kill them off, I bought 100 seeds for $2. I’m not too concerned about the initial mortality rate of my garden. I like variety so it seemed sensible to start out with two pepper variants; Serrano Chile, and Hungarian Yellow Wax. I’d never heard of a Hungarian Yellow Wax pepper before but it from the package I felt its potential calling out to me.
So far container gardening has not imposed any unruly challenges. Buy pots, add soil, nestle seeds, top off with soil, apply water, and wait. This is day one chronicled and it is quite possible by day five, I will be repeating day one. I’ll aim for weekly updates or any monumental pepper breakthroughs that may occur.
If you are curious about these two pepper plants you can find some details here:
Serrano Chile – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serrano_chile
Hungarian Yellow Wax - http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/health/3610002/
It all started with a headache that wouldn’t quit. It grew like a maelstrom from the deep; the mightiest of squalls bowing before it. In my ill-fated logic I concluded a single Advil would suffice. 60 ticks of the large hand later, only two more Advil could lead me to the land of dreams that evening, the pain retreating enough to allow sleeps soft caressing tendrils to guide me through to the coming day. The morning rays bursting through my window, constant buzzing emanating from my phone, it was another lovely morning. Best of all, my head felt no residual pain. The lull would not persist.
With the rooster’s crow it arose once more from the depths to invade my skull. It enjoyed the view so much it decided to stay and read the paper while drinking coffee. Alas, my resolve collapsed, not from the pain alone but from the inability to concentrate. Ali recommended Excedrin as it gets her through the toughest of months. I set out to the local Price Chopper to forge my freedom.
Seldom do most folks stop and think how much variety we truly have in our lives. My journey to the pain medicine isle enlightened me. My thinking capacity crippled I struggled to identify what I truly needed. Two particular items rose to the forefront of my notice, Excedrin Extra Strength and Excedrin Migraine. I was confounded at what I saw. The two products were identical in all ways but one. That difference being of a cosmetic nature as you’ll see in my diagrams. Instantly, the inner nerd awoke to disprove what my eyes interpreted. Is it possible the formula interacts differently in the body? Perhaps there is a delivery mechanism to target specific receptors. Cold reason screamed from within, suckers’ gimmick!
My business acumen led me to believe such marketing ploys were bad ideas. Branding and product differentiation are important. When the only difference between, two, three, and even four of your products is the color of the box, it isn’t really a different product. I don’t see how the business is not cannibalizing sales, especially since each of the product variants sell for the same price. It goes deeper than that. The operating costs to support four brands that should be one, including marketing costs is substantially greater than the cost to produce and support a single brand/product. If I were a share holder I’d be pissed. I did not run the numbers nor research the financials of the Excedrin individual products so there are probably individuals out there that will throw statistics back at me. Ultimately it comes down to basic math and a simple formula. Profit = Income – Expenses. If I have additional expenses to market three additional products that are actually the same product, my expenses have increased by a factor of n. The end game is lower profits and margins for the company and the share holders.
Returning from my digression and back home the Excedrin Extra Strength came through in a big way. Within a half hour my cerebral functioning had returned to normal, or as normal as I ever am. I rode off into the sunset or some other such nonsense that ends all writings.
Tonight’s rice bowl receipe falls into the experimental category, if such a thing exists for these creative delicacies. It was a bit of a hodge podge but I’m going to deem it the Primavera Rice Bowl with Sausage.
Ingredients
- 1 Italian sausage stuffed with garlic and spinach
- basil an rosemary seasoning to taste
- Uncle Ben’s 90 second instant rice – Basmati Flavor (1 package)
- Diced Serrano peppers
- frozen bag of multi-colored bell peppers and onions
- Tomato Basil and Garlic Spaghetti sauce
- Olive Oil
Directions
- Grill Italian Sausage ( I used leftovers from a previous days grilling)
- Slice Italian Sausage
- Dice Serrano peppers
- Add olive oil to skillet and turn to medium heat
- Add bag of peppers and onions
- Add in sasuage and Serranos
- Add basil and rosemary
- Stir in sauce
- Heat rice for 90 seconds
- Enjoy!
So easy I can do it!
