The Yarn Spinner

  T umblegeddon   Cow hands, wagon trains, Indian tribes, buffalo herds, there are many icons of the Old West, but   none are more   a prominent staple of Western movies and American imagination. None say   "You gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?" like the twisted balls of dead foliage that roll across deserts and roam the open range: Tumbleweeds.   And   they may be romantic symbols of our national love affair with the Wild West, but tumbleweeds are     invasive   weeds   called Russian thistle, and many modern-day Westerners are not fans, claiming the Russians taking over. (The weeds, I mean.) Tumbleweeds are complex.   They start out fledgling thistle bushes, with beautiful   reddish-purple striped stems, tender leaves, and delicate flowers. Animals feed on the succulent new shoots, including mule deer, pronghorn sheep,   prairie dogs and birds.   Cattle   find the shoots tasty as well, and this...

  Corinthian Leather     “I know my own needs” he says in a silky Latin accent as a flamenco guitar plays in the background. He picks up a set of car keys with a small gold medallion attached to the ring. The   well-groomed   pitchman stylishly dressed in light colored suit jacket with a large satin shirt collar splayed over the open lapel is Ricardo Montalban. . Cut to a panning shot of the round headlights   and to the passenger quarter panel of the 18 foot long 1975 Chrysler parked in Ricardo’s driveway. A trio of trumpets sound off in exaltation as Ricardo  slides behind the wheel. “The tastefulness […] the workmanship.”   His voice, smooth and sweet. From our passenger seat, we see him roll up his driver side window with the touch of a button. He refers to the vehicle’s “thickly cushioned seats,”   and then…..watch for it,,,,,,here it comes! “…its available soft CORRRINTHIAN leather.” A string section fills in with the f...

                                      Root Glass   Chapman J. Root moved to Terre Haute, Indiana in 1900 and opened the Root Glass Works a year later. The glass company not only supplied bottles to the United States, but also to Europe and Central and South America.   Root Glass proved to be   so great a success, Mr. Root, a savvy businessman, decided upon a form of backward vertical integration. For the non-business majors, a company exhibits backward vertical integration when it controls subsidiaries that produce some of the inputs used in the production of its products. In this case he opened a soda bottling plant. He already made the bottles. He decided to begin bottling his favorite non-alcoholic beverage. You know it had to be Root Beer. People are so intuitive.    Sorry to take the fizz out of your pop, but it was Coca Cola.   Later Root ...

                       Bacon Bites and Porky Pie I n England they call  a side of bacon a "gammon" and a thin slice of bacon is known as a "rasher," but any way you slice it, many of us savor the taste of bacon and enjoy  bacon and eggs.                       As the bacon begins to sizzle (Can you hear it?) a mouthwatering aroma fills the kitchen.  Smoky, meaty and slightly sweet, it evokes a feeling of comfort and relaxation,  especially if you have a tough day ahead, or perhaps it is raining or cold or maybe you’re just feeling a bit cranky  - just the thing to make the day feel better. As the meat caramelizes, the fog-like aroma grows strong slowly nestling around the kitchen table. The bacon crisps up and its redolence - the bacon bouquet -  draws you out from under the covers like a muted bugle call of reveille. Eac...