No More Midnight Toker

Although my days of toking and boozing are long over I am fascinated by this whole legal Recreational Cannabis industry. On our recon patrols for the perfect RV site for the Summer we see the retail shops, the billboards and pamphlets in the tourist racks at truck stops. Hell, in one truck stop there was a Starbucks, Cinnabun, Subway and then right there in plain sight you have the Sweetleaf  cannabis shop with neon signs and daily specials on a board hanging over the counter. The aroma of the fresh herb is thick in the air.

Now, don’t get me wrong I’m no prude and I’ve done plenty of my share, but I came from a time when it wasn’t legal, in fact it was so dangerous that I have had clients who served hard time for an ounce of weed. Recently, before leaving Nashville for the Northwest I understand that the Nashville Council reduced penalties to the sons and daughters of white families, and they think that in the next ten years they will extend that same courtesy to blacks.

I don’t know if I could even tell you of my experiences in the legal/penal systems of the South. Think about it, an 18 year-old from some shithole town in North East Arkansas, not much education and no worldly experience, pulls a five year stretch in the ADC at Tucker Farm for having a half ounce bag of pot. My experiences were frightening and often other worldly. That’s the world that I grew up in so this industry is such a jolt.

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The next few years will be interesting if we get this Trump AG Jeff Sessions from Alabama where one could get a life term for possession. Jeff Boy says that this industry is going to be shut down because, “…good people don’t smoke that stuff.”

A Lost Friend And A Sick Hickory Tree

As I ponder the problems with the Hickory tree directly outside my writing room window my mind wanders back to things I have read about trees. Hermann Hesse called trees “the most penetrating of preachers.” Virginia Woolf reminded me that three centuries earlier, a forgotten English gardener asserted that trees “speak to the mind, and tell us many things, and teach us many good lessons.”

While all of the other trees surrounding our house are vibrant and green, thick with leaves, this 75’ triple Hickory seems thin for leaves and during a storm the other day it dropped many, covering the roof and front yard. Thinking it might need water I ran a hose from the rain barrel to the base of the tree and emptied 225 liters of water. I’m concerned.

I learned from an experienced forester that if a tree near your house troubles you it might be a good idea to take it down. I used to reach out for guidance in these matters to my friend Glenn. He would come out set up a lawn chair and sit quietly with the tree for upwards of an hour. He would then walk around the tree taking samples of the dirt and put a sample into his mouth and hold it there for awhile before spitting it out. Following that he would put his hands on the tree and listen to it's message.

At that point he would know what to do. Maybe, it needed nutrition, had a parasite, a mold and one time he found that the tree had suffered a lightening strike. Glenn taught me how to fell a tree and I have done a good job on a number of occasions. Unfortunately my friend is no longer with us. I sat in the lawn chair, tasted the dirt and leaned against the tree. My gut tells me to feed it, water it watch it with loving care as Glenn would have done.