Rivenrock Gardens Cactus Blog

This is from the newsletter I sent out this morning….

 Our cactus is one of those plants that puts out growth spurts depending on the weather and seasons.
   At this time, we have more growth coming off the plants than what sales can keep up with. This is when we start reaching out to restaurants and markets to sell our excess leaves.
   Of course, anyone who wants to buy larger lot sizes should be getting a substantial discount on the prices.
   So we now offer our Commercial Grade Nopalea grande cactus at a special price for those who need the boxes big and heavy.
   Thirty five pound boxes of cactus for forty five dollars. And you pay the UPS shipping costs. You can go to http://www.rivenrock.com/bulknopal.htm to see the page with the details.
   This is a very substantial discount, and one we are sure most bulk buyers will be happy to get.
   We offer you the opportunity to take advantage of this special offer… but it will not last long. As I’d mentioned before, this offer is based upon the growth patterns of the plants, and when they stop this current flush of growth, we will get caught up with the cycle of output/demand, and take this offer off the table to await the next flush of growth.
 
   This is what I find so good about this newsletter, I am able to notify buyers and potential buyers of the availability, and help them to take advantage of the growth spurts the cactus put out…. using this tool, I am able to more effectively keep up with the growth of the cactus, and the plants are happy because the demand will more easily meet their output.
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Also, for those of you who don’t really know… we are big on the concept of people knowing where their food was grown and the growing practices of the grower. This is somewhat possible to do in a Farmer’s Market setting, or perhaps even through your local co-op that might post notices detailing who grew the particular sustenance you seek. But what of foods bought over the Internet and sent thousands of miles away through the mail?    We want you to know who we are, and what we think.. to that end we offer you a glimpse into our lives through our blog at http://www.nopalcactusblog.com/ . This way you can get an idea of the people who grow your cactus, and what our soils are like, our cultural practices, and the overall look of our countryside here on California’s Crown jewel, the Central Coast.
We live in a special spot, and we like to show off our home, do pop in and take a look.

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If you’d like to subscribe to the newsletter to be notified when we have special buys, the link is at our main cactus sales website at www.rivenrock.com, or from the link below…
  

   We’ll not be sending out mails to you all the time, this newsletter is just for an occasional ‘heads up’ when there are availability issues, or the occasional flushes of growth that tempt us to pass on savings to our customers who wish to take advantage of the temporary overabundance of cactus leaves.
   Expect an e-mail newsletter perhaps every week or two in the spring and summer, less often in the winter.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, including my own and my wife..

Here’s some good Mother’s Day thoughts sent to me by my friend David Brannon

I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me.
They have clung to me all of my life.  - Abraham Lincoln

The best thing to give to your mother:  conduct that will make her
proud of you.  - Francis Maitland Balfour

Character contributes to beauty.  It fortifies a woman as her youth
fades.  A mode of conduct, a standard of courage, discipline,
fortitude and integrity can do a great deal to make a woman beautiful.
- Jacqueline Bisset

One mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters.
- George Herbert

A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make
leaning unnecessary. - Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Live and Learn…
I’ve learned that being told I’m just like my mother is the best
compliment I’ve ever been given. - Age 21  (c) H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

:-)     SMILE!    
My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think
she enjoyed it. - Mark Twain

:-)     SMILE!    
Sweater, n.:  garment worn by a child when its mother
is feeling chilly.  - Ambrose Bierce

:-)     SMILE!    
It’s not easy being a mother.  If it were easy, fathers would do it.
- from the TV show  “The Golden Girls”

PBF IN ACTION!
Try to do things that will make your mother feel proud that you are
her son, and never do anything that would cause her to feel grieved
or ashamed.  She has done much for you; do this for her.
- Lord Robert Baden-Powell

Originally posted in 2005 at www.rivenrock.com

Local lore has it that when we see tarantulas in the summertime, the fall rains are within six weeks from falling. This has proven true by my reckoning before, but this is the earliest I’ve ever seen the tarantulas. And I am sure it will not be raining in the middle of August. I’ve never seen it rain in August here; in fact we usually go without rain from April to November. August is just not a month we can hope for rain without getting our hopes dashed. Don’t hope for any unlikely event.
   But why are the tarantulas running around already?
   The Male tarantulas are the ones we are likely to see, they are off searching for a nice girl spider to raise a family with. The girl spiders stay in their home saving their energy waiting for a nice boy spider to ‘come a’callin”. When he does they have a short courtship ritual during which she will see if he possesses the proper skills and attributes she would want passed on to her own progeny. If he passes the test, she will submit to his advances, then after mating if he is not quick enough she will jump onto him (she is much larger) and she will bite him and kill and eat him. This will give her enough food reserves to sustain her growing eggs.
   Now, this explains why the tarantulas roam six weeks before the Fall rains, they wish to have the eggs developing before the rains come, the young will be hatching in the first rains, and will roam off into the greening lush chaparral to start their own lives in the cooler moister time of easy living on the Central Coast.
   There are many things the old-tyme country folk use to reckon time and when to perform things, and how the weather will be. Some of these are dismissed as ‘old wives tales’. But some seem to work well, and of those that do, there is a natural explanation if we could just unlock the secrets to nature.
   Another legend here regarding the tarantulas concerns how high above the creeks they build their nests in the hillsides. It is said they can tell how wet the winter will be, so if it will rain a lot and the creeks will rise high, they want their nests high above the creeks, if it will be a short-rain winter, they will be placed lower to the creek, so they will be nearer their food prey coming to get moisture.
   Another legend here has to do with cattle, when the cattle lay on the ground a lot, it will rain soon as they will not want to lay on the cold wet ground, so they rest their legs up now, so when it rains they will be able to stay on their legs for days and weeks, ready prey for reckless teenagers off for an evening fun of beer drinkin’ and cow-tippin’.
   Vickie’s favorite way to tell the weather is whether a cat will sleep with it’s head upside down, this will often presage wet conditions she says. But I’ve found this to not always hold water. Perhaps it is tied to humidity and not actual rainfall, but I’ve often seen her mention a cat sleeping in that position, and then within hours it has rained.
   Nature is full of wonders, and they were all made for us by God to enjoy in this world. Don’t mess up what God made, hold it tight and well, and revere all that is given to you by the Almighty.

   UPDATE: Six weeks later we did get 1/4 inch of rain overnight and into the next morning… so again, the tarantulas did not lie.

Tao-Teh-Ching; Chapter 51
The Tao is the mother of all beings,
The virtue of Tao nurtures them in nature,
The material world gives them form,
Environment and circumstance complete their abilities.
Therefore all things honor the Way, and venerate virtue.
This honoring of the Tao, and the veneration of virtue are not commanded,
They occur spontaneously and for this reason the Way continues to create beings
While virtue continues to nurture and develop them.
The Tao gives birth to all, yet it lays no claim of ownership,
It nourishes all, but it does not control,
This is the mystic virtue.

   Garmarna is a now-defunct folk music band from Sweden. They specialized in taking old Norse folk tales and putting them into song using both modern and Midevil instruments. One of the pleasures of watching their videos is the energy and vitality which they possess as a group. Another bonus is the glimpse into another culture, one in which I have spent several years living in.

   Their song ‘Euchari’ is one that is poignant for me, I miss the gutteral sounds of Germanic languages being spoken on the street… I miss also the sights of the architecture of the ‘Old World’. Watching a video like Euchari brings back some deep memories…

 Here their tale is a sad story, but one which we all know happens often enough…
It is the story of the parents wishing their daughter to marry into wealth,
but instead she settles for the love of her life.. a poor shipsmate.

Friends and kinsfolk met to deliberate
To whom would they marry off their kinswoman this year
Rosy youth
They deliberated
To whom would they marry off their kinswoman this year

We want you to wed the son of a king
Who has more gold than poor Roland has land
Wed the son of a king
Who has more gold than poor Roland has land

On Saturday and Sunday the word it was spread
Monday and Tuesday will show what she gets
Word was spread Monday and Tuesday will show what she gets

On Wednesday and Thursday the wine was made
Friday and Saturday the wedding was cheered
Wine was made Friday and Saturday the wedding was cheered

They drank for days, they drank for two,
But the bride wouldn’t to the chamber go

They drank for two
But the bride wouldn’t to the chamber go
They drank for days, they drank for three
But the bridal bed she refused for to see

They drank for three
But the bridal bed she refused for to see

Then entered in a poor ship’s hand
Wore a blue blouse both tattered and torn
Poor ship’s hand
Wore a blue blouse both tattered and torn

He stood at the table and he spoke
“I see only masts and the places where they go”

And he spoke “I see only masts and the places where they go”
And the maiden went up to the high loft
And ran down the path to the broad sea shore

Went to the high loft
And ran down the path to the broad sea shore
She ran on the rocks, she ran on tiptoe
But took great care to mind the blue waves below
Ran on tiptoe But took great care to mind the blue waves below

And she was invited on board the ship
And there they bade her drink both mead and wine
On board ship
And there they bade her drink both mead and wine

“I see, I see on your white fingers small
The wedding band has not been there for long
White fingers small
The wedding band has not been there for long”

“I see, I see on your golden hair
That before yesterday the wreath was not there
Golden hair
That before yesterday the wreath was not there”

“I see, I see on your lily white breasts
That small children they have not consoled
Lily white breasts
That small children they have not consoled”

And now the maiden lays at poor Roland’s side
She feels neither sorrow nor anguish
Rosy youth
At poor Roland’s side

(lyrics translated by Milicent)

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‘Herr Holger’ is an old Swedish tale about a corrupt tax official (Mr. Holger) whos perfidy is uncovered by the King who has him beheaded. Sent to hell for his crimes, his ghost pleads with his wife to return the purloined goods to their rightful owners and save him from hell. His wife refuses to live in poverty, so his sentence is sealed by his wife.

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Some people think cultural cross-pollination is a new thing. But I submit that the foreign is always exotic when it is seen in glimpses. Adam Smith wrote in ‘Wealth of Nations’ of the beneficial influences of cross-cultural meetings and teachings. This is a subject that has long fascinated me, I suppose because of my own family history in these matters. My mother was born in Budapest Hungary which was once known as ‘The Paris of eastern Europe’. As such it was at the crossroads of Eastern influences on Europe. My fathers’ family spent three hundred years making their way from Maryland where they landed in the late 1600’s, and working their way west valley by valley, marrying into native peoples as well as the other immigrants from Europe.  Learning of other peoples and cultures and customs can deeply enrich what you know and how you perceive things.

In this next video we can see some cross cultural growth, the seeds of belly dance are bred with the seeds of Northern Europe to produce an interesting amalgam of dance in this one video… with the song ‘Klevebergselden’ by Garmarna.
The dancer is a student of Midevil history and Norse Sagas, so she took a Norse tale about a murdered woman, and using her belly dancing skills, turned it into a mix of Mid Eastern and Norse…. yeah, I like it.

In agriculture we call this ‘Hybrid Vigor’. It means that cross-bred, line-bred, or even just a static population with no new gene introduction becomes weak. One needs the new seed from other places, in the end it makes for a vigorous and active organism, or in the example of a culture, it makes for an invigorated and strong society. This is the secret that has made the USA so strong… we are an amalgam of a hundred peoples, most anyone whos’ ancestry is here for several generations has the blood of a dozen tribes and countries. This made for a strong people, and a people that can reach back for inspiration from the deep recesses of ancestral development.

This is an airbrush painting I did some twenty-five years ago. I call it ‘African Lion’.

The belt hanging over it is a ‘money belt’ used by some vendors in Peru. I have an uncle (since deceased) who was a world traveler. He went to China and Russia in the early seventies when it was hard to get permission to go to those countries, he went again to those countries in the eighties and told of the huge changes in them. He also travelled to Peru at one time and gave me this belt on his return.

  It is amazing how much some people touch us in our lives. This uncle had been married five or six times through the years… I guess these days we’d call him a ’serial monogamist’. He used to tell us all the time to “stay single, and raise your kids the same way”. For some reason that kids nowadays would not understand, that was a hilarious line in the sixties.

   He was one of those fellows who not only went from country to country and woman to woman, he also went from job to job. He worked for a while as a gravedigger, and in the late fifties as a ’slot-machine technician’ in Las Vegas. Eventually he took a job as a Correctional Officer at Alcatraz. This ended up being the job that changed his life and caused him to stop roaming around so much. The Federal government gave him stability and a home of sorts, and he had many interesting experiences working with the Federal Prison Service. He told me a few times of the ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’. My uncle was a bit surprised that the movies continually show the ‘Birdman’ with pigeons, but he did not have pigeons at Alcatraz. He was also portrayed as a nice man, caring and wise; but Uncle Jack said the Birdman was actually a mean terrible and vindictive person.

  We go through life, we experience much, and we try to learn from those before us. Listen to the old folks, they’ve been through it all before.

Lyrics from the Swedish band Garmarna,
the song name Varulven (Werewolf)
Album: Guds Spelemän (1996) (God’s Musicians) Original Swedish Version: ‘Varulven’
Jungfrun hon skulle åt stugan gå
Linden darrar i lunden
Så tog hon den vägen åt skogen blå
Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden

Gud trösta Gud bättra mig ungersven
Linden darrar i lunden
Min jungfru är borta min häst är förränd
Ty hon var vid älskogen bunden

English Translation:

The Werewolf

The maiden, she would go to the cottage
Linden trees quiver in the grove…
So she took the path through the forest blue
She was carrying the fruit of love

God comfort, God improve me, young page
Linden trees quiver in the grove…
My maiden is gone, my horse is dead
She was carrying the fruit of love

A green ratsnake

I found a snake I have heard of but never seen here before. As I was walking from our orchard back to the house I found him winding his long lithe body around a bunch of grass along the roadside. He has a very smooth skin, so unlike the snakes we normally find here. The coloration is almost a lime green on the upperside, and a lemon yellow on the bottom. This is a most striking and unusual snake. Also, he was very sedate while being held by us, he did not try very hard to get away. But he did keep his eyes on the camera, almost anywhere I held the camera he kept his eyes on it, watching and observing the camera. Also, he had a terrible odor, some kind of a defensive mechanism I suppose, it smelled so like the water snakes I’ve caught before. Senticolis triaspis (Green Ratsnake)

Beehives near Avila Beach California…

Originally Posted in June 2005

Beam me up Scotty ‘Star Trek’ Star James Doohan Dies

   It was with a bit of amazement that I heard today that the actor who played ‘Scotty’ on Star Trek died at 85 years old today. I suppose that’s the thing with celluloide, the body ages in reality, but all who see the actor see him and think of him as not aging. It was also with some amazement and respect that I learned that he was a WWII vet, and participated in the landings on ‘D’ Day. He took several hits, including one in his chest that might have been fatal if it had not been stopped by his silver cigarette case.
   Star Trek was a series that was ahead of it’s time. It depicted a time when women would be in command positions, when persons of all races and ethnicities would be working together under a planet-wide system of government in a beneficial democracy. I for one am not a fan of one-world government, we are not far enough evolved for that yet, but it is the far thinkers, the Jules Vernes and the Gene Roddenberry’s who can look ahead, to dream the technologies, and the social evolutions that will be required to live the world of their fantasies. I just hope it is the Star Trek model we work toward, and not the ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Dune’ model that comes from our climb into the stars.
   On an interesting note, I understand that the censures of the early days in television would not have approved of many of the social interations and sexual innuendo’s that were presented in the original series, but that the writers staged it in such a way that it ‘included purple people on polka-dot planets’ and the censures were too confused and did not know how to respond, so that many of the scenes that might have been deleted were included.

And what of Marriage?

Excerpted from~ Kahlil Gibran~ ‘The Prophet’

Then Almitra spoke again and said,
“And what of Marriage, master?”
And he answered saying:
“You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

   What is marriage, what is a relationship? What is the nature of two people who join together to form a company? When one person has a good product for a business but has no financing and business savvy to plan the business they must look to another, a partner to help finance and run the business. This is the concept of marriage. When a person wants to raise a family it is simply too much to do alone, they need a partner in the endeavor. They need someone who is loyal and steadfast. Someone who has a similar mindset to childrearing and other factors that form part of a relationship.
   Too often relationships are built only upon the sexual lustful sides of mutual attraction. Now certainly being able to appreciate your mates’ looks is important, but it cannot be the single overriding concern in a relationship. Looks will fade with age, and the bright golden hair of spring will be replaced by the silver halo of winter.
   Steadfast loyalty and humor will be likely to outlast silky thighs and firm tummies. Look for the same high qualities in a mate that you would look for a business partner, because your life is your business, and you need as solid a person in that endeavor as you need in the business world.
   Being together and having fun is good, but sometimes both people need some time off on their own to fill their life with the things that mean a lot to them. Don’t crowd, trust them to do what is right when not under your gaze. And you have to do what is right also. Spend some time together doing the things that make both of you happy. Laugh a lot, it is easier to laugh than to quarrel, and it lasts in the memory much more pleasantly.
   If you have the right person you should be able to look back years later and think of the times together and know that you both got along well, and the bad times were so few and far between that they were insignificant when compared to the good times.