Re: Pteris cretica

IS THE COFFEE HOT?
A very short one act play written by Rufino Osorio and inspired by Tony
Avent's post on the concept of "native."

Joe: Is the coffee hot?

John: The question of whether coffee is hot is a a human concept.  

Joe: What?

John: When I first started making the coffee, everything was the same
temperature--the pots, the water, the coffee. Before coffee gets to our
kitchens and we prepare it, no one would call coffee hot.

Joe: Did you hear my question? I just want to know if the coffee is hot.

John: I once found some old coffee and it was cold, no one would
consider this coffee hot, but indeed it is.

Joe: You mean, "but indeed it was"?

John: (Ignoring Joe) Most of the coffee in America came from somewhere
else. This is why some people give coffee different names with
geographic designations such as Jamaican coffee or Colombian coffee but
once it gets here it should all be called American coffee.

Joe: Ummm, are you ever going to tell me if the coffee is hot?

John: I say, today's arguments over where coffee comes from, how much we
import, what trade barriers exist, etc. are actually moot in the grand
scheme of things.  People just want to know if the coffee tastes good,
is the price reasonable and is it hot.

Joe: Yeah, I know, people like me. So, is it hot?

John: If a plane or boat brings coffee to America, then we call it
imported coffee, but if the coffee were to be grown here, we would call
it domestic coffee...very interesting.

Joe: The only thing that interests me is whether or not the coffee is
hot!

John: Keep in mind that when we use the term "hot," we are referring
only to sensory perceptions in which humans can comprehend.

THE END

Cheers, Rufino
USDA Zone 10a

Tony Avent wrote:
>         The question of whether a plant is native to a particular area is a human
> concept.  When all the continents were joined, all plants were "native".
> Some plants found themselves on the east side of the crack and are
> therefore considered native to Asia.  Others just on the west side of the
> crack are considered native to the US.
> 
>         Before the last ice age, few plants were native in the area that they are
> native today.  On our property here in eastern NC, we have found petrified
> redwood, cedar, and palm.  No modern day botanist would consider these
> native on our property, but indeed they are.  Most of the plants in the
> Florida panhandle were made native there by glaciers that deposited plants
> from much further north.  This is why needle palm is winter hardy to
> -15degrees F.  This is what makes much of todays arguments over natives
> actually moot in the grand scheme of nature.  If a glacier moves the plant
> then it becomes native, but if man or animals move the plant then it isn't
> native...very interesting.  Keep in mind that when we use the term native,
> we are referring only to time frames in which humans can comprehend.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE FERNS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index