APROPOS OF LEARNING SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY

 Well, not every day, but pretty much so. I stumbled upon a video on Youtube that illuminated something that I was not familiar with and that is how Valerian flower and plant looks like. Valerian doesn’t look all that much. It’s definitely not gorgeous, doesn’t have a smell, and looks plain, simple and ordinary. It even raises suspicion as to its being poisonous. I was so prejudiced against that herb, because I didn’t know what it was in the first place. I think I was just being cautious.  

When I was a kid I remember my friends and I used to encounter that herb all over our neighborhood. I think the reason it was all over to be found was that there was more grass, more trees, more butterflies, etc. I can`t help but remember that vividly. Now there are no butterflies, for instance and no valerian, for sure. 

Anyway, we used it to scare each other making spiders out of it.  Once someone threw something green at me what looked like it had huge tentacles and legs, so I almost fell to the ground flat on my back. Then they showed me the trick. The thing they did was just pick the part of the flower with all the little white flowery-like things arranged in a huge petal that I think is called sepal and when stripped off all the little flowery parts you are left with the spidery looking green legs and tentacles. Run for cover!

Go check that video by Fleet Foxes and enjoy! 

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