Bush Books

Len Beadell is regarded as Australia's last true explorer. His exploits in building over 6000kms of roads (such as the Gunbarrel Highway) through outback Australia in the 50s and 60s are legendary. This book is about building a road west of Alice Springs, near the Gibson Desert. It includes an account of Australia's longest towing exercise: a bulldozer towing a grader for 800kms at 3kph! A challenge to all who are leading a soft life!

This book gives a voice to all those adults and children who don't follow the norm, who see possibilites in everything. Arabelle can't bake a cake or sing or write poetry, but when her father suggests she grow flowers, she accepts the challenge. Unable to kill the weeds, snails, moles and beetles that come to her garden, she chooses to see success in another light. A wonderful book for all those children and adults who measure success by a different yardstick than those who think an expansive green lawn is the epitome of success!

"Ian Maclaren" was the pseudonym used for fiction writing (Scottish fiction) by John Watson. This book (best seller 1895-fiction) is a collection of stories, set in the fictional village of Drumtochty. It is thought that the village of Drumtochty was based on Logiealmond, where Maclaren began his ministerial career. The picture that he painted of rural life is closer to nostalgia than reality. It does demonstrate the importance of the Church in every aspect of people's live at that time.

When the planes hit the twin towers in New York on 9/11, I was in shock, like most people, but once I realized there was not a terrorist around every corner, or anthrax in my mailbox, I stopped checking my computer to see if we were on yellow, orange, or red (terrorist) alert and began looking into government and politics. I wanted to know the answer to that famous question, "why do they hate us so much?"

I read books, watched documentaries, looked for articles on the Internet and asked questions. The more I learned, the less I trusted Bush, and by the time we were bombing Iraq, I was so angry with him that I could no longer be silent.

Our soldiers were dying and the civilian casualties in Iraq were horrifying. I saw pictures on the Internet of dead babies and small children with missing limbs, and I could not comprehend how a Christian could order such a massacre.

I referred to my Bible, which told me to respect and pray for our leaders, but I could only muster prayer, not respect, for Bush. The fruits of his labor looked rotten to me. Where was his compassion? Where was his love for others? What about God's command, "thou shalt not kill"? What kind of role models kill to show that killing is unacceptable?

All I could see was Bush's lust for war and it made me sick. I could not believe the man had the support of so many Christians. No matter how I looked at it--Bush was wrong to take us to war, and we were wrong to let him. Could others not see this, too? Obviously not, he was re-elected in 2004. Either God's people are in absolute denial, or the election was a set up. I'm not sure which, but I do know one thing--life as we know it became surreal somewhere along the way. It truly is, as Saul Landau's book title reads, A Bush & Botox World. God help us!

BUSH DOCTOR:
Forgotten Folklore & Remedies
From Jamaica and the Caribbean

By Sylvester Ayre




A review by Marty Martindale

Your reviewer was in a little bookstore on the southern Caribbean island of Grenada when Bush Doctor caught my attention. There is little doubt millions of Caribbean people have known remedies they used on each other over the years, from bush teas to tree sap compresses, which could alleviate many ailments. However, few, very few, have taken the time to write these folkways down and get them circulated, worldwide, as a book.

Sylvester Ayer, the author, was a member of the first free slave village of Sligoville, Jamaica. His home was in St. Catherine. For many years he populated a small museum with relics of old beliefs, myths, remedies, also with what he called Means along with some mixtures of locally foraged foods. From all of his findings and life tales comes his fascinating book of some 100 pages.

Here are a few items from his Beliefs, Myths & Truths section:

If a woman went into labor unexpectedly early, they could delay delivery by placing a fist-sized stone on her forehead.

Van-van oil was regarded as a love charm. If rubbed on the hand of one seeking a new love, she would be his after he merely touched her.

They learned dogs would become fierce with regular drinks of strong coffee. Feeding them ganja-tea made them even more dangerous.

Some of the Remedies, Ayre cites:

For hypertension they gave crushed garlic in water daily. Another aid was coconut water and lime juice. Comfrey tea was another as was a combination of banana and breadfruit leaves boiled to become a tea.

For measles they boiled dried corn kernels and water for 40 minutes, cooled and administered.

For toothache they burned the shells of dried coconuts and smeared the residue on affected gums.

For underarm perspiration odor, they applied lime juice to the area.

They treated diabetes with a tea made from red water grass.

Thrush mouth was treated with the juice of green tomatoes. They also used the juice from the inner part of trunks of banana trees.

One of their treatments for diarrhea was to place six buds from a guava tree on the patient's tongue who chewed them thoroughly.

In a third section Ayer calls Means he tells how they used found items to act as tools or utencils for their work:
Strainers were fashioned from sheets of fabric-like material from the coconut tree.

In the absence of soap, they scrubbed with emptied ackee pods.

For black shoe polish and ink for school pens, they relied on certain flowers from the hibiscus bushes.

Gourds served as food containers or "pakkies" as they were called.

Burned, dried orange peel drove mesquitos away.

Foods were simply concoctions of what each island yielded, and with ingenuity, they created favorite dishes. Ayre includes recipes which frequently involve fascinating methods.

Jackfruit Whack
Asham Cake
Choco-Fix-up
Arrowroot Porridge
Coconut Custard
Corn Dumplings
Kwa-Kwa or Flour Dumplings
Bana Friggazee
Jokotoh
CoCo-Shoots Soup
Corn as Coffee
Chocolate Veal

If you wish to give a gift to someone in the field of wholistics, this would be an excellent choice.

Marty Martindale's website is: FOOD SITE OF THE DAY

Some great stories of bush flying on floats, skiis and tundra tires!
I think that the best tales are flying in the Noorduyn Norsemen and the Dehaviland Beaver, Otter and Twin Otter.
There are also a lot of great stories of the Piper Cub, and Cessna 180 and 185.
And some experiences with the DC3 and Canso (Catalina).

The book is a really informative resource and quite comprehensive on the general geographical locations and types of food available.

There were a few areas where it could have been better and areas where you would need supplementary material if you are really interested in finding out how to identify Australian Native Plants as food sources:

1) Needs to have pictures and descriptions identifying all species listed in Appendix 1 as food sources. Too small a percentage have associated pictures, descriptions or topographic locations where the plants are to be found.

2) Need to have defined methods of catching and killing the animals. Eg Lizards. it is not explained how to catch the damn things without being bitten. (ditto the snakes)

3) Need to include more detail on how to prepare foods which have been gathered.

All in all, a great book. Very informative and entertaining, but not enough to go bush with, unless you have the aforementioned supplimentary material.

I know of Donald Haack as he has stores here in Charlotte, but I had no idea of the life he had led. A facinating read. A little rough around the edges but a great story. This book covers Donald as he and his wife and later two children travel to South America to make their home and a go at the diamond trade. The diamonds are few and far between but the adventures of this bush pilot are not. I highly recommend

When it comes to public speaking, most modern presidents have their speeches written for them. But when the time comes for them to speak their own thoughts, take cover. In "Bushisms", Larry Englemann has collected some choice examples of the 41st president's sometimes incomprehensible, often hilarious words of wisdom. An example: "When I need some free advice about Saddam Hussein, I turn to country music." You may not believe this phrase and others far more zany were spoken by the commander-in-chief, but you will be rolling on the floor in laughter.

Some years back, I had two wonderful cats. I immediately bought some books to help me with their care. This was one of those, and it was very helpful to me.

It's twenty years old, but still seems a welcome resource, as I reread it.

Cats, as with all other animals, have unique characteristics and behaviors. This book does a nice job of making sense of cats and providing answers to questions that can come up.

Does your cat show signs of illness? Chapter 9 does a nice job of laying out symptoms and suggesting how one might proceed, based on those symptoms.

Are you having problems with your cats eating properly? Chapter 5 addresses a series of common questions along these lines.

What about grooming (not something that cats seem to enjoy!)? Chapter 8 addresses many basic questions along these lines.

In short, this is a nice resource for those who have cats as part of their family. I found it useful, and I suspect that others will, too.