the plant. over 15 varieties once cultivated in hawai‘i, for consumption when the root is pounded and mixed with water. elsewhere in the pacific the same mixture is called kava. in other circles, the plant is known by its scientific name - Piper methysticum.
archaeology often leads to places resplendent in silence, places that are more often forgotten than not. places that, usually through the window of a fast-traveling automobile, are permanently distant - and forever reinvented - in the background of our modern lives.
this time it was a literal key to padlocked ranch gates and a hidden valley. two days spent surveying solo on the lands of the historic j six ranch in cochise country was time well spent.
windward means wet. wet means erosion. erosion means exposure. exposed on a ridgeline with both sides tumbling away into nothing but clouds, i admired this hitchhiking leaf - and then got back to watching my steps.
a walk along the beach at dusk, body warmed by a pint of old peculier from a quick stop at a pub in seahouses. northeastern coast spectacular as usual, and pam’s hospitality unrivaled.
