[Homestead] Pokeweed and in the pokey

Bunjov at aol.com Bunjov at aol.com
Fri Oct 17 23:08:11 EDT 2008


Hi, Bob -
 
Yeah, I felt sorry, too...but it took a while.
 
The best friend I mentioned happened to be a Rosebud child whose parents  had 
been banned from the S.D. reservation because his father was a mean drunk.  
When he and my son first hooked up, they were about 11. His mother eventually  
got a job at Anheuser-Busch in Van Nuys, and they lived for almost a year in a 
 van in the alley behind our apartment building. She was never able to get 
into  an apartment because her husband drank up her every paycheck.
 
I will admit that my thinking has always been colored by empathy, and some  
kind of 'identification' issue and endless 'cloudy' memories that I'm not  sure 
are even mine. Nothing gets my back up faster than disrespect for The  
People...be they Navajo or Sioux or Hopi, or anything else. To me, they're all  "The 
People".
 
The mom's name was Jenny, and she and my son developed a special  
relationship - which I encouraged, because she was a really nice lady who worked  hard. I 
used to do her taxes. They are the same family that took this same son  with 
them, at age 14, back to the reservation for a visit...and now he is a  
computer geek who talks to trees. So do I. We're out here.
 
I did have to draw the line, though, when the boys would raid my freezer  and 
take all the meat downstairs to the family's BBQ set-up, and I would arrive  
home from my second full-time job and be greeted by delicious aromas  wafting 
up from the alley while I had nothing to eat.
 
Years after I had moved to another part of the San Fernando Valley, my  
downstairs buzzer would ring at 2 in the morning, and I'd switch the TV to  Channel 
6, and I could see who was downstairs waiting to be buzzed in. It was  always 
the best friend - Barry - with no place to go, and always hungry. 
 
He still wore his hair in the shoulder-length page-boy, and was always  
appreciative of a good meal, a shower, and a change of clothes. He never grew  
much, over the years, and was destined to be of short stature, big-boned, and  
hefty. I figure the lack of exercise was from just standing around waiting to  
see where his next meal was coming from.
 
Aside from the boys' 'escapades', he always treated me with the greatest  
respect.
I had told him many years earlier that as long as I had a place, he'd have  a 
place.
 
I don't know where he is, but I wish him well. He'd be welcome here  today.
 
Sandy
Mid-Mojave
I know there are websites that deal with Native American registries. I am  
ashamed of myself that I've not taken the time to try and find him, and the rest 
 of the family. They are special people from my past - and my  past-past.
 
 
 
In a message dated 10/17/2008 7:12:29 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
bobford79 at yahoo.com writes:

Sandy,  'sorry; I didn't notice that it was directed just to me;  Yes it did 
show  up.  And, I felt bad for your kid :)  ....bobf


--- On  Fri, 10/17/08, Bunjov at aol.com <Bunjov at aol.com> wrote:

> From:  Bunjov at aol.com <Bunjov at aol.com>
> Subject: [Homestead] Fwd:   Pokeweed
> To: homestead at lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Friday, October  17, 2008, 8:04 PM
> Hi, Bob -
> I had meant this to go to the  list, also - did it ever show
> up?
> Sandy
>  Mid-Mojave
>  
>  
>   
>  ____________________________________
>  From: Bunjov
> To:  bobford79 at yahoo.com
> Sent: 10/17/2008 5:21:41 P.M.  Pacific  Standard Time
> Subj: Re: [Homestead] Pokeweed
> 
> 
>  They do indeed exist. I've priced them on Ebay and they
> go for a   gazillion 
> dollars. At one time I had a priceless collection  of
> 45's, given to  me by the 
> owner of the local 'dive',  who was a good friend.
> My youngest son and his best friend, in their  mid-teens
> (experimenting  with 
> alcohol - or something!)  decided to play Frisbee with
> oncoming traffic  one 
>  midnight in the middle of Van Nuys Blvd.
> Needless to say, you can  imagine his dismay when I let him
> rot in jail  until 
> his  court date.
> Karma lives, and I'm it.
> Sandy
>  Mid-Mojave
>  
>  
> In a message dated 10/17/2008  5:12:18 P.M. Pacific Standard
> Time,  
> bobford79 at yahoo.com  writes:
> 
> I  remember the song, Sandy.  On every  jukebox (Do
> jukeboxes still  exist?)
> I just googled to  see what year the song came out and was
> made  curious by 
>  the blurb about poke salad, which it said should be said
> "poke   sallet" (from 
> some old  english word that means 'cooked'  greens).
> I  don't remember if people pronounced it one way  or
> the other  ...bobford
> 
> 
> --- On Fri,  10/17/08, Bunjov at aol.com 
> <Bunjov at aol.com> wrote:
>  
> > From: Bunjov at aol.com  <Bunjov at aol.com>
> >  Subject: [Homestead] Pokeweed
> > To:   homestead at lists.ibiblio.org
> > Date: Friday, October 17, 2008,  6:01  PM
> > There are photos and more information on the  site.
> >  Doesn't anyone remember  
> > the song  - maybe mid-seventies -  "Poke Salad
> > Annie"?
> >  Sandy
> > Mid-Mojave
> >   
> >  _http://www.altnature.com/gallery/pokeweed.htm_ 
> >   (http://www.altnature.com/gallery/pokeweed.htm) 
> >    
> >  
> > Pokeweed
> > Phytolacca   americana
> >  Other Names: Poke Salet, American Pokeweed,  
> Cancer-root,
> >  Cancer jalap, 
> > Inkberry,  Pigeon Berry, Pocan, Poke, Poke Root,  
> Pokeberry,
> >  Reujin D Ours, 
> > Sekerciboyaci, Skoke, Virginian   Poke,
> Yoshu-Yama-Gobo, 
> > Yyamilin 
> > Caution :  Toxic when  misused. For  experienced
> herbalists
>  > only. Can cause 
> >  intense vomiting and  diarrhea.  
> > Habitat
> > Pokeweed is  a  common perennial  native plant, found
> in
> > Northern and Central   
> > N. America from the  New England States to Minnesota  
> and
> > south to Florida and 
> > Texas,  naturalized in   Britain and other countries.
>  Growing
> > in damp rich soils 
> > in  clearings,  woodland  margins and roadsides.
> Cultivation:
> >   Pokeweed is an 
> > easily grown plant,  succeeding in most  soils  and
> full sun
> > or partial shade. The 
>  > stout erect stalk  is  tall, growing to 10 feet or
>  more,
> > smooth and branching,  
> > turning deep red  or  purple as the berries ripen and 
> the
> > plant  matures. The 
> > root is conical, large  and  fleshy,  covered with a
> thin
> > brown bark. Leaves are 
> >  about 5  inches long and 2  to 3 inches wide, simple,
> >  alternate,  
> > ovate-lanceolate, and smooth. The flowers   which 
> appear
> > from July to September are 
> >  long-stalked clusters and  each has 5  whitish petals
>  with
> > green centers. The fruit is a  
> > rich deep  purple round berry,  containing a rich 
> crimson
> >  juice. Gather young 
> > edible shoots in spring, the   roots  in fall, slice
> and dry
> > for later use, and  
> >  berries as they   ripen.






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