A Nutty Experiment

There are a couple of black walnut trees on the property of my principal workplace. I typically leave the nuts be, because they are so difficult to crack, requiring special equipment to do it correctly. This year, I made the decision not to let this bounty go to waste- I decided to make nocino, a traditional Italian liqueur made by steeping unripe walnuts in grain spirits, for the first time. This recipe (technically for a French liqueur de noix- same difference, da vero?) looked promising, so I went to work.

In a short period of time, I was able to pick a bag of unripe nuts, enough to make a nice batch of liqueur. Here's a picture of my nutsack:

The thick husks of the unripe walnuts have a lovely green color and a strong aroma reminiscent of citrus fruits. They look much like pears until you cut them open to reveal the characteristic shape of the developing walnut:

The nuts, cut into eighths, went into a jar with the requisite spices, and then I poured in the pure grain alcohol left over from my latest batch of limoncello (about half a cup) and some cheap vodka- David Lebovitz' quote on this matter is worth repeating: Use the absolute (not ‘Absolut’) cheapest vodka you can find. It’s lunacy to use something pricey when the least-expensive swill yields similar results. And believe me, French peasants ain’t cracking open bottles of Stoli to make this.

Now, the wait begins... from what I've read, it's madness to even consider opening the jar until two months have passed, and an actually enjoyable product should result by Christmastime. By that time, the walnut stains on my hand should be gone.

Van Cortlandt Voodoo

Last week, on my walk to the 4 Train Woodlawn Station, I passed by Van Cortland Park and saw something bizarre:

This is a statue of a man, with red thread twined around its legs. I don't know the specific meaning of the thread, but a cursory knowledge of sympathetic magic, and multiple readings of The Face in the Frost, suggests to me that this is a charm meant to bind someone, possibly to keep a lover from straying. Perhaps it's a talisman meant to alleviate a leg ailment. I don't even know what tradition of "magic" this charm belongs to. This is not the first time I've found weird magical paraphernalia in this vicinity of the park. Maybe there's a Call of Cthulhu LARP going on in the park.

Magnificent Seventh

HJuly seventh... and a magnificent day to boot. Hmmmm... what would be an appropriate song to play today? I got it!





Or perhaps something more punchy, something to help you "move yourself to go again":





Hope everyone is having a magnificent seventh.

Proposed National Anthem?

I heard this ditty on the radi-adi-o tonight:





If it weren't so funny, it would be sad. Hope everybody had a good, 100% patriotic weekend!

Happy Independence Day!

Here's wishing all of my fellow residents of the United States a happy Independence Day. To all of my readers from the United Kingdom, there's no hard feelings- we love you folks! The typical celebration of Independence Day involves eating a lot of grilled hamburgers (or a horrifying amount of hotdogs) and drinking a lot of beer in somebody's backyard. The weather is supposed to be crappy tomorrow, and I'm working this holiday, as is typical (don't feel sorry for me, it's a double-pay day).

As a typical member of my age cohort, quite a bit of my early education can be attributed to the totally groovy Schoolhouse Rock series of cartoons... to this day, I can't recite the preamble to the Constitution without hearing this tune in my head. Among the history episodes, there was one specifically about Independence Day:





Hmmm... perhaps watching a rainy day watching Schoolhouse Rock videos is a good way to spend Independence Day- I'm partial to the grammar episodes. Fear not, there will be beer involved- I don't have to get to work until nightfall.

As an added bonus, I can watch the local fireworks display (if it's not cancelled due to weather) from part of the grounds.

Rain and Frog

Tonight, I drove to work in a pounding, torrential rain. The local traffic and weather reports largely consisted of dire flash flood warnings and tales of brave Ulysses roads closed due to high water. When I got to work, I found this handsome critter outside the building which houses my office:

That, my dear friends, is a fine specimen of the American Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana). This particular beast is about size of my not inconsequential fist. The American bullfrog eats just about anything it can cram into its sizable mouth, including other bullfrogs. A less focused but brighter photo shows its coloration to good effect, and reveals the creature's pretty eyes:

We have a pond on the premises which is basically a singles bar for bullfrogs, their amorous calls have been a constant soundtrack for the last couple of weeks on the job. Tonight, with the rain that we've been having, the whole property is kinda like a pond, which explains why this critter has been sitting outside the main entrance to the building. I sure am glad I'm not smurf-sized.

Selfie With Paper Tiger

The cool kids' hot topic these days is selfies with big cats. In a desperate attempt to appear cool and trendy, I took a tiger selfie, albeit with a paper tiger:

This is not my first cat selfie, though it is my first possibly illegal one.