Went off on my weekly coastal run last night. The  (full) moon had just come over the horizon, and after getting lost and cold last week, I had gloves, a warm hat, and a flashlight and windbreaker in my Camelbak carrier. Closing barn door after… A big storm front moved in and pretty soon, the moon was blocked. Unlike last week, I knew exactly where I was and retraced my route from last Tuesday and saw where I’d taken a wrong turn. Kind of like when I was a diver on the high school swimming team, did a full gainer, and hit the board with both knees. My coach made me go right back and do the dive again. OK the 2nd time.

   On the path back down, salamanders were out in force. They’re kind of like dumb, happy mini dinosaurs, taking their time—clomp, clomp, clomp. Nobody wants to eat them; I imagine they’d taste like mush. When I got back to the pub, here was this beautiful little fox on the lawn. Healthy coat, bushy tail, constant awareness.

Nature’s Garden & The Foragers Harvest by Samuel Thayer

Kevin Kelly recently sent me an email about these books, reviewed on his Cool Tools (here), and I just got them, and they are the best I’ve seen. From Kevin:

“…They are AMAZING. This guy knows his stuff. And he is a great teacher. He does not include any plant unless he has gathered and eaten it at least 50 times! So he shows the plant in all of its life cycle from seedling, to mature, to seeding, and in great detail of how to find it, and how to harvest it — not just a few plants but enough for a meal. And the common lookalikes and their stages. And what not to do while harvesting. There’s tons and tons of photos of his process. His chapter on acorns is magestic — born out of years and years of making meal from dozens and dozens of varieties in dozens of different species in dozens of different states. And he is pretty picky about laying out what tastes good based not on one try but dozens and dozens of tries. He has two volumes; because these are based on his own first-hand knowledge, they are biased to the midwest. (If he cites any second hand knowledge beyond his own he humbly gives a full citation of the source.) Nature’s Garden is a bit broader in geography, but really you want both volumes. They are similar with no overlap of plants, but each contains his general orientation, so can stand alone.

He is to wild food plants what David Auroa is to mushrooms. I believe he knows more than Euell Gibbons did. I’ve spent evenings the past week reading it till late at night. He has completely re-invigorated my interest in wild greens.”

That’s Mike Basich, legendary snowboarder, spokesman for GoPro cameras, and star builder of Tiny Homes, shooting a self portrait (with his GoPro), of himself driving down the highway, with a billboard in the background featuring a photo of him wearing a GoPro Hero. Kids, don’t try this…

Sent in by Evan Kahn

Back in the ’80s I knew a guy working in a D.C. reggae record store who’d clue me in on good records. Vinyl. When I first got this I thought Toots was channeling Otis. Plus some Memphis Horns.

Here’s an Amazon review:

Hibbert is widely revered as a reggae pioneer, but he’s also a Caribbean cousin of Otis Redding and Al Green, which he proves on this collection of ’60s and ’70s soul covers. Sly and Robbie anchor the rhythm section of a crack band that also includes guitarist Teenie Hodges and Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns. Together with Hibbert, they reinvent Redding’s “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember,” Green’s “Love and Happiness,” and eight other classics (among them “Hard to Handle,” “It’s a Shame,” and “Freedom Train.”) The result isn’t pure reggae or unadulterated soul, but a hybrid as appealing as both at their best.–Keith Moerer

Here.

   Last week I heard Toots doing “It’s You,” such a good song, I love the Itals’ vocal harmonies. Who’s doing vocal harmonies of this quality these days? Here (play the one on the album Pressure Drop).

https://grooveshark.com/#!/artist/Shirley+And+Lee/1217778