August 13, 2005

12:22 a.m.

Now It's Tea

So last night I had another dream thing. In the dream I saw "Yerba Mate" printed on something, clearly enough to read. You know how in dreams, numbers don't add up and written things are usually all garbled? Here was "Yerba Mate" printed quite plainly. Now, I've probably never even encountered Yerba Mate in person, not more than once anyway, and I'm not sure even about that time. But today I looked it up, and decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to go and get some tea, as either my higher self, my inner self, my inner child, or somebody in the spirit world seems to be suggesting that I begin a relationship with some of this substance. Either that, or the door to the Akashik Records opened again, and there, this time, to my surprise, was a box of tea. I don't know where the demi-god Yi was; probably off looking for more suns to shoot down.

Whilst at the health food store, I also found an herb tea that is supposed to encourage lucid dreaming. C'mon, it's not a hallucinogen. I don't even drink real coffee. But, since I'm having such fun with my dreams lately, I thought it would at least put me in a more focused place, if I think my tea is contributing. So I looked up Sweetgale, and it turns out to be the badge of the Campbells. Who knew? Fragrant wood and willowlike leaves; it also boasts "fruit catkins" and "resinous nutlets." Wow! Nutlets! Oh -- those are all on the male plant. There are apparently male and female plants. (I guess the females have... titlets or something. Then when they mate, they get chiclets!) The branches have been used as a substitute for hops in Yorkshire, and made into beer. The leaves are often dried to perfume linen; the bark is used to tan calfskins; the catkins, boiled in water, produce a substance like beeswax which is used to make candles. Also, "if gathered in autumn, it will dye wool a good yellow colour and is used for this purpose both in Sweden and Wales." In Sweden, a strong infusion is used to kill insects and vermin and to cure "the itch," whatever itch that refers to. The dried berries are used to spice broths. The Chinese (and certain Americans with lucid dreams) use it for tea. Good God, it's a WomPom! (This is an obscure reference to a very silly song that the Kings Singers once recorded, about a made-up plant that could do just everything.) The dream reports may get even more interesting very soon.

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In other news, I had the extreme delight today of visiting Home Depot to get PAINT for my apartment. I've been planning the color schemes for almost a year now, and collecting color swatches. So I bought almost everything I'll need, except the bathroom paint because I forgot those squares, brought it all home and painted some little areas on the walls and trim to see how they'd do. After mulling it all over for a few hours, I decided to change the kitchen trim and one of the wall colors. I'll need to primer over the trim that I test-painted, as it's very dark, before repainting it. But it's always a little different on the walls, finally, so my experiment means I'm out a gallon and a quart. Maybe I can give it to someone. Anyway the imminent arrival of color in this too-white apartment is making me delirious, happy, tingly like Christmas.

There's more, there's always more, but I'm too tired and the Go to Bed Angel is arguing with me. I go to my dreams.