The Source

Just received a bag of pinyon pine resin from New Mexico (28Antlers on Etsy), and oh, my word! As soon as I smelled it, I was tripping back to 1984 Nevada, riding along the eastern edge of the Sierras headed toward Sharkey's in Gardnerville in a rickety old pick-up truck with the windows down. The scent is a combination of pinewood, dust, hot asphalt, and sugar pine cones, with just a touch of sadness. It certainly set a mood for me, and I'm sure that it will add something lovely to a semi-bioregional incense featuring resins, woods, moss, and other native flora from the Western US. 

Lots have been going on around here, but I'm still laying low and just trying to get the work done, keep the dishes washed, and feed my brain (books, books, books!) No more wasted hours scouring social media platforms for . . . well, for the life of me, I don't know what! Nothing, I guess. This freed up my time to do a lot of online research. It's funny to me how many folks writing articles and blogs just copy and paste information, trusting in its face value. The particular subject I was researching took me down rabbit holes, many ending with the exact same copy and zero citations of sources, and then I found a potential source late on day one. This was set aside until the next day when I began another course of jumping down rabbit holes, and mid-way through the second day, I found the source of the source and then discovered who did the actual work from which all of these articles were written. It was like the damn clouds parted. Once I found the scientist who did the work, I checked out their social media and I gotta say, developed a bit of a crush. I also bought an obscure little book with more information on the subject from Abe for a pittance when it sells for an arm and a leg on Amazon, aka, The Devil.

Now to sort the information and write the article and fully cite the sources and reveal an even more amazing story than what has been rotating around the blogs and magazines for years. Wish me luck.