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Butch Furse
For years when things start greening up in the springtime we’ve had a few stalks of rhubarb break ground on an old garden located in our backyard. Some of those years the plants were doomed by being mowed off. Other years the Betterhalf let them grow to eventually clip the stalks for her makings of jams or pies.
The longtime history of our backyard rhubarb aroused our curiosity. Some research found that initially rhubarb was either tabbed a “fruit” or a “vegetable.” History tells us it came from the buckwheat family. Rhubarb was commonly used for pieplant pies and was classified as a fruit. The conflict of fruit or vegetable arouse because at the same time rhubarb was being used for medicinal purposes for the treatment of gout, rheumatism, a cathartic and even a face powder.
A pieplant pie recipe appeared around 1874 with the recipe calling for a small teacup full of sugar for a medium pie .
“Advancement” in medicine brought on more uses such as the soothing of skin problems and even special shampoo mix that caught my eye. The shampoo mix called for rhubarb, honey and wine that was especially good for blond hair.
I guess I were born too late, since I was a former blond who now has gray hair. It sure would be fun and relaxing washing my hair with a shampoo mixture made of rhubarb, honey and wine that you could drink instead of having present-day shampoos stinging your eyes.
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Some people are like fences. They run around a lot without getting anywhere.
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During the pandemic pet shelters across the nation experienced an increase in pet adoptions the past year. A corporate magazine this month emphasized the point.
The corporation asked employees at their headquarters to introduce their new pet family members in the company magazine. The result was several pages that pictured more than 34 photos of newly adopted pets. That emphasized the point.
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We’ve all heard of “pork barrel legislation.” We drew a smile when a Tom Purcell of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review commented on the recent $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill that seemed to cover many issues not relative to the coronavirus. Purcell tabbed the bill as a “massive pork sandwich.”
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It’s smart to pick your friends, but not to pieces.
RL Furse is publisher emeritus of the News-Register
