My favourite wildflower

is considered a weed by most. It's common chicory, a very useful plant that is used in coffee in the deep South and also as a coffee substitute. It is also sometimes added to beer. Its root and leaves may be eaten, although the leaves are usually cooked to remove some of the bitterness. It is related to Belgian endive and radicchio. The plant isn't much to see but the flowers are a beautiful purple-blue--and they are aethereal, as they close when brought indoors or on cloudy days. Indeed, in Linnaeus' flower clock, chicory was used due to the regularity of its blooming time.

The picture to the right was snapped by me this morning on the way to the bus stop. The one below (a close-up that is much better), is by Alvesgaspar (Joaquim Alves Gaspar), who placed it on the Wikimedia Commons and licensed it under the Creative Commons 2.5 Generic Licence.

Okay, I think I'd better go. A storm has blown up with lots of thunder and lightning. Hope the electricity stays on.

I had no idea lupins were legumes

But they are, and they can be used to fix nitrogen in the soil and also keep the soil from eroding. Here's a nice film from the BBC that not only explains that, but mostly shows lovely meadows of various wildflowers that I found relaxing.

Random things

The other day when I was at the pharmacy I saved a little girl, maybe 2 years old, from being smooshed by a trolley full of boxes being pushed by an employee who didn't see her. Mom didn't really have time to get her and was slow to react. I said, 'Child!' and stopped the trolley with my hand, just like moms smack their kids in the chest when stopping a car too quickly. So, all was averted. As much as I don't really interact with children well, I do care about them, and rather think of them as a the future of our community, and therefore they're everyone's responsibility when it comes to this sort of thing. I don't know how logical it is, but it is how I feel.

Walking alongside the road the other day I came across a patch of daisies, which made me happy. I used to pick wildflowers in Danville occasionally. I thought about picking them and taking them home, but decided that others should be able to enjoy them, although to be honest, most people drive right by and probably don't notice them. Plus, some wildflowers can be endangered--for all I knew it was some subspecies of daisy on the protected list. So I left them.

They got mowed down yesterday. Such is life.

I took a quiz on Facebook to see what kind of roleplaying game alignment I would be. I came out neutral good:

Known as the 'Benefactor' alignment, a neutral good character is guided by his conscience and typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against Lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A neutral good character may cooperate with lawful officials but does not feel beholden to them. A doctor that treats soldiers from both sides in a war would be considered neutral good. Zorro and Spiderman are commonly cited as neutral good.

I found out about the quiz because Bill, with whom I used to game, took it and came out chaotic good. I'm not surprised. :)

Oh, and I got my Facebook domain name in the great Facebook Land Rush. So it's http://facebook.com/eilir, but I think you have to be a 'friend' to really see much.