The BackWoods Drifter

I learned something from researching Garlic Mustard. I have known for quite awhile the plant by sight. But I didn’t know that it spread so rapidly and is considered an invasive species. The plant actually originated in Europe and was thought to be brought to the US for either food or medicine.

Benefits: Garlic mustard has uses as a medicine for treatment of gangrene, and ulcers. It can also be used as garlic flavored herb with vitamin A and C. Additionally, garlic mustard can be planted for erosion control.
Above came from here… All about garlic mustard

Most every site I could find to read about this plant was primarily talking about how to get rid of it and the damage it can cause to the native plants.

I just couldn’t keep posting my story here. It is a long story and was taking away from the original purpose of this blog. So basically I’ve undertaken a new project entitled Justice Is Served. I’m not sure what I will do with it on completion of the story but that is a ways down the road. If you would like to keep up with this story please come and check it out. All of these posts have been moved to the new blog.

AKA- squaw-root, papoose-root

Uses- Native Americans used various preparations of the root of Blue Cohosh medicinally to treat rheumatism, toothaches, profuse menstruation, indigestion and stomach cramps, fits and hysterics, genito-urinary dysfunction, gallstones, and fever, as an aid in childbirth, and as a general tonic.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CATH2

Seeing this plant all over the mountains, up until a couple of years ago, I wasn’t aware of its name and uses. It’s amazing the amount of wild plants found in West Virginia that have uses stretching back to early America and before. With a knowledgeable hike through the mountains of West Virginia one could point out plants that are either very tasty or have medicinal uses, literally everywhere you look. West Virginia Heritage personified…

Ever since posting about my problems with the ex and the courts I can’t get it off my mind. Or better yet it’s my kids that are on my mind. I am the proud parent of three sons and a daughter. The oldest now is 21.

I have a story to tell and made an executive decision to tell it here. It doesn’t have anything to do with West Virginia or the outdoors. What it does have to do with is the future of four kids that nobody seemed to care about.

Four years ago my ex filed unruly charges against my then fifteen year old son and my only daughter who was thirteen at the time. I was working in Texas when I heard about it. I had been divorced for twelve years. In that time I had had very little contact with my kids. I would say twice a year was about the average. My ex made it nearly impossible for me. Most of the time I didn’t even know where they were. So when I heard about their legal problems in Ohio, I was on my way within two days…

That begins a journey through a legal battle where I was doomed when I left Texas. But being a father that loves his kids… knowing what I know now…. I’d do it all over again only I would fight harder next time. The course of events that this series will cover has made me consider a lawsuit against a few Ohio state and county organizations. But how do you put a price on the future your children may have had, had they been given the opportunity?

This series is going to be labeled Non-Custodial Parent. The reason for that is those words I heard so much during the whole affair that I now associate them with nothing good.
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Medina County Juvenile Court, Medina County Juvenile Probation, Medina County Job and Family Services, Medina County Sheriffs Department, Medina County Family Court, Cloverleaf High School, Oriana House

This post may read a little like a resume… sorry thats not intended but at the same time it’s unavoidable.

I’ve been an Electrician for nearly 25 years. In all that time I could never see myself doing anything else. I’ve taken numerous classes in relation to Electrical Engineering from troubleshooting to programming. I was a Maintenance Manager in Ohio. I was Chief Electrician on a new Albertson’s grocery store in Dallas Texas. I installed new chandeliers in a ballroom in a downtown Memphis hotel. I went to Wisconsin to teach a robot how to weld then took it apart and rebuilt it in Ohio…. in 3 weeks. I really don’t think I could have chosen a career more suited to my way of thinking. Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? I have been searching for the answers to those questions in the electrical field for a long time. But now…

I have been doing a job on the side lately laying custom tile. And to be honest with you, I enjoy it more than my real job. I’ve always been the type that loves to put puzzles together. I won’t even get one out unless I have the time to put it together because I won’t stop until it is finished. With that in mind, to me, tile is like a puzzle only a little better. It’s bigger and I get to make the pieces fit. I like being creative and tile certainly is a good outlet for creativity. As compared to electricity tile work is a no-brainer. Once the pattern is started there really isn’t a whole lot of thinking involved. I actually like that for a change. 25 years of going from one electrical emergency to the next kind of has a way of frying the circuits if you know what I mean. Two aspects of laying tile that appeal to me, simplicity and the finished product. Looking back over a tile job and thinking it will be there for generations to see. Pride and craftsmanship vs fix it and move on…

Maybe it’s time for a career change.

A couple of years ago I took my ex-wife to court for custody of our kids. Although this would make for a helluva post, I’m not going to pursue that topic just yet but I am going to say that because of a valiant effort on my part and single mindedness of the court system, I lost everything I owned in pursuit of doing the right thing. I was literally made homeless from the sheer amount of time I had to spend at court. For about a year I remained homeless, camping in the mountains mostly. I didn’t really care about anything. The system failed big-time and I wanted nothing to do with it.

I was reading another blog and the person was really talking trash about homeless people. Undoubtedly because they are much better than the homeless person. I can’t see how they would be better unless they crap 24 carat gold. Some people are homeless through no fault of their own. Some homeless people are that way because of a drug or alcohol addiction. And like it or not addiction is a sickness. The body craves the chemical so bad that it is the only thing you can think about. In the same post the person was talking about homeless shelters. “Build it and they will come…” Wanna know how to solve that problem? Put people in these shelters that Don’t have the system tattooed across their foreheads and Do actually give a rats ass about humanity in general. Maybe then they can actually help these homeless people.

You know what? I don’t have the answers to solving the problems of homelessness… but I know this, putting someone down because they are less fortunate than you, well…

Thats just stupid…

I remember years ago going out with my parents and grandparents to pick greens in the Spring. Poke, Creecy (Wintercress), and Mustard. Poke Salet is another early Spring arrival. The best place to find poke greens is right along the edge of old mountain roads (gaswell, stripmine). Do not be tempted by its delicacy to use poke for salads in a raw form. Uncooked pokeweed can be violently cathartic and cause severe poisoning.

Pokeweed ( Phytolacca americana ) is a hardy perennial through most of the middle and southern states. It likes rich soil with plenty of moisture, humus and organic matter are ideal conditions it will grow to shrub-like proportions, six feet tall with branches spreading over an equal area. Given room, poke is an attractive plant with dark green leaves brightened at almost every axile by a tassel of yellowish white blossoms. The blooms are followed by clusters of berries that change from green to red and finally turn a rich, royal dark purple in the fall.

It is these berries that give pokeweed its less familiar name of “Inkberry.” During the Civil War many a letter home was written by a soldier boy who fashioned his own quill from a wild turkey feather and squeezed the juice from ripe pokeberries to provide the ink. Some of these letters, legible as the day they were written, can be found in museums today, attesting to the permanence and enduring qualities of inkberry juice.

An interesting thing about Pokeweed is that a substance found in it known as PAP or Pokeweed Antiviral Protein has been found to destroy the Aids virus. It is currently being tested in government approved clinical tests. Pokeweed has been used by Native Americans and folk healers for centuries as a treatment for cancer, herpes, liver problems, and many other health problems.

I don’t have any pics of the full size plant but I will get some in the near future.

I came across this pic the other day… It reminded me of a friend I had a few years back in Ohio. His job would have to qualify for one of the worlds worst. He was a Township Skunk Trapper. I actually worked with him at another job. The skunk trapping was something he did on an on-call basis. The first time he told me what his side job was I couldn’t believe it. One day he actually came to the job with a trap in the bed of his beat up old truck. And the trap had a skunk in it. I wasn’t going to go near it. But, one reason he brought it was to prove to me they wouldn’t spray. He said in all the time he had been trapping skunks they had never sprayed him. And yes, I found that hard to believe. But sure enough there was a skunk in his truck in a trap and it didn’t really seem to care and obviously didn’t feel threatened.

(NOTICE) No skunks were hurt in the making of this post…

A few months ago I was up in Tucker County working. I was staying at a motel in Thomas West Virginia. Since the ski resorts are in that area there are a few shops that sell souvenirs. Work takes me all over the state. I like to buy a souvenir from each area I visit. I stopped in this little outdoor type store. Sleeping bags, tents, guns, that kind of thing. I was actually there to buy coveralls. It gets cold on Mount Storm. Anyway, they had a section in the store for Indian art. I’m a sucker for any kind of Indian art from dreamcatchers to paintings. The first thing to draw my attention were these painted turkey feathers.

As soon as I saw the feathers I knew I’d be leaving the store with one. It was the perfect memento from Mount Storm. I took it to the counter expecting the feather to cost me about twenty bucks. I actually had a twenty out. She adds it all up and the feather was right at fifty bucks. I nearly choked… I wanted the feather but I don’t think I would have given fifty bucks for it. But I did, mainly because I was too embarrassed to back out of the deal.

This isn’t a good photo but as soon as I got the $50 feather home I wrapped it up in this $3 picture frame. It’s in the frame because it’s a $50 feather and it’s a reminder of a valuable lesson learned. I don’t regret purchasing the feather because the artwork on it is well worth the $50. I just wasn’t prepared for the cost at the time. One thing is for certain… it is the perfect memento.

A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, the End.