The Jalapeno Slug is a mythical creature that resides

In the Bagel Factory.

Bageleros are always chattering about how delicious it would be…

If such a creation existed.

Yesterday, to my surprise, someone told me that they ATE one!

Imagine that – EATING a Jalapeno Slug!?!

Seems like an awful close encounter with something that is only said to be real. 

I just can’t believe it.

Jalapeno Slugs don’t exist.

The Jala-Slug, drenched in the mystery of it\’s own reality,

Remains supernatural.

Like Bigfoot (who surely exists),

Believe at your own risk,

When the only evidence is eyewitness.

There’s just no PROOF that such a Jala-slug ever took SHAPE.*

Bakers cannot corroborate,

Leaving this story utterly incomplete. Not even the toaster is talking.

If rumour has it, the Ja\’la’la-slug may have truly slithered

Cross the oven threshold to achieve immortality in the world of man.

But we can never really know,

Except in each man\’s own heart (belly) and soul.

But remember, there is a boy – a boy who believes. He was raised atop a poppy seed muffin – one of our own, here at the bagel factory (you may say he was born and BREAD here). Anyway, the boy has been here for years, and has dreamt of the Jalapeno Slug for as many years as he has been, here.

\”At last,\” he now claims, \’the dream is realized\’…

Is this boy just a muffin?

Bageleros may never know.

Whose to decide, if Ja’ tale should survive?

Seems resurrection is not A\’ PEELIN\’ for today\’s proof.

Of a Jala-slug Rebirthing,

Our muffin SON can only pray.

After that, Time will say.

Mission: Slinging bagels; spreading cheese.

Enter customer,

Who asks for a dollop of jam on his bagel, half.

In serving, I say!

“I’m sorry sir, this isn’t a dollop at all; 

It’s more of a schmear.
I hope that will do.”

Replying quickly with a smile,

\”Shape\” Shift

slug sculptor, bagel master 

Wild Man Bagelero brings students of “Jalapeno Bagels” into the Bagel Factory to meet Clink, our bagel-shaping machine. Wild Man B. asks our guests to guess how many bagels we make  in a day. Children are crowded around and peering over my stack of peels as I move newly born bagel dough onto them.

Someone calls out, “One dozen!\” and then, \”Two dozen!”

We shake our heads, \”Nope.\”

Then they cry, “Five hundred!” 

But Wild Man says, “No! It\’s more! More!”

At last, the brightest boy of all harkens, “INFINITY!” 

And he\’s right – that\’s how many bagels we make every day – infinity!
Certainly, a good enough answer for me.

If a seagull flies over the ocean, what kind of gull flies over the bay? 
A Bagel.

I take a chance to follow Mike, on a mountain bike, the other day – six miles downhill on The Couch. Soaking wet, but warm. It has rained so far today, but there is a clearing in the clouds.

Top of Fickle Hill, is windy with a chill; we quickly descent. Talk about Head First! I fly over the bars into a sweet bush that cushions the tuck and roll. Consequently, I learn how to keep one’s butt down descending the watery path.

Further down-trail I am sucked into the middle of a puddle. I hesitantly surrender to its muddy brown center – only to find it saving me, from a tree, that is indeed, flip flopping over the path, just ahead!

We ford a handful of streams-turned-creek by speeding down the bank to pedal through moving current to climb the opposite shore. There are trees here that sprout thirty trunks, all covered in fleecy bright green moss. Here, shrouded in a cloud of redwood jungle. Giant ferns grasp as I pass, lightly. This place is unearthly; yet wholly rooted – grounding.

It’s lovely. I am left SOAR, counting bruises and scrapes. I don’t know if the Couch Trail has – for me – lived up to its name …yet. But you go on the chance that maybe (just maybe), perhaps, one day, it will be a lazy boy lay, for case- EH!

I see great potential for the use of cannabis as medicine, so I am sharing what I know with you today. I post this in the hopes of hearing new perspectives on the matter, not because I have an agenda. I want to express myself and also know what other people think. In communicating our unique viewpoints, I find I learn more. Each person’s input is an important source of experiential information! We are our own caretakers: every one responsible for our own well-being. We have the right to choose freely, the medicines we employ.

Before I delve too deeply into cannabis, let me state that my platform’s foundation is firm on food! I am a believer that it’s all about what we eat. Whole food, plant-based nutrition empowers the physical body to apply its innate (and immense!) healing potential. When supported in this way, we rarely need anything else to fuel recovery and stay balanced. Real food is the best medicine we can consume – efficiently boosting our immune system into action as the body’s own insurance plan against disease. (For more on whole food based nutrition, visit my Juice Plus website!)

Now then: let’s focus on the medical efficacy of marijuana in the pursuit of compassionate care. I guess I\’m wondering, why, if hemp oil is demonstrating that it works for people, doesn\’t it get more attention? To answer my own question, I think cannabis is misrepresented to the public. We have failed to make the important distinction that separates this plant from a real drug.

The problem is complex. Since pharmaceutical companies cannot patent & profit from plants,  they are not motivated to explore this avenue. And since cannabis is a schedule I \’drug\’ (meaning it has NO medicinal value – a fate worse than cocaine and meth, which are considered schedule II) our ability to show a higher standard for cannabis has been suppressed. It has taken a long time for the medical community to acknowledge a therapeutic effect, but finally, the AMA admits that cannabis has value – read the article (scroll past video at top of page)!

Cannabis deserves a fresh look. Our primary interest should be to find what works for people.  Unfortunately, the capital motivated marketplace doesn’t always do what is socially responsible.  It is hard to see past the stigma that cannabis now carries.  But too many people are asking for change in thirteen states all across the country! Every one of us knows someone who could benefit.

\’Law-abiding\’ citizens will have no first hand knowledge of cannabis, so I will share some of it utility. In meeting marijuana for the first time (without stigma) someone might find the bud to be a potent ally for healing a host of disease; they might find hemp seed oil is a nutritional supplement that contains the perfect ratio of Essential Fatty Acids; or they could see innumerable industrial applications for hemp (uses that eager American farmers want the right to utilize i.e. food, textiles, soap, paper, and even auto body panels). There are too many practical uses to name, but hemp\’s reputation remains discredited by a political system that can\’t hear it\’s people.

The very best we can do is educate. Be proactive in your own heath and healing! As we  are allowed to do more research, doctors will become more familiar with marijuana\’s \”medical use\”. Here is an opportunity! Watch Rick Simpson\’s movie: RUN FROM THE CURE, viewed in 7 easy segments; it advocates a new approach to the treatment of cancer and other disease via hemp oil. His website is full of useful information about hemp oil as medicine. Rick provides testimonials that clearly illustrate outcomes [There are four videos posted on the front page. The last two are the best, especially, \”Hey Michael J Fox a parkinsons cure\”!]. It is wonderful to see the healing effects of this magical plant from people who have experienced healing first hand! Also, watch Sam\’s Story to learn about autism and cannabis.

Basics from Rick Simpson\’s \”Make the Medicine\” page:

Will I get high?
Following the dosage previously described, many people can take the full treatment and never get high. In regards to hemp, getting \”high\” is a joke, even if a person does take too much oil the effect wears off quickly and no harm is done. No one has ever died from the use of hemp medicine. (Watch  the parkinsons video to hear what happens when he took too much oil!)

Is this the same as hemp seed oil?
No! This is hemp oil, made from the bud and small leaves of the hemp plant. It is the essential oil of the hemp plant. Health food store sells oil made from hemp seed that is often mislabeled as hemp oil. Although seed oil is very beneficial, it does not contain enough THC to have any effect on cancer and other serious illnesses.

Are hemp and marijuana the same?
The word marijuana is one of over four hundred slang terms used worldwide to describe the cannabis and/or hemp plant.

How do I use it?
High quality hemp oil can be vaporized, ingested or used topically. Add the oil to creams and salves for external use. …Hemp oil will lower blood pressure and if you are on blood pressure medication, you may find that this medication is no longer needed. The same is true for diabetics. I have seen hemp oil control blood sugar to the extent that insulin was no longer needed.

I am not a doctor and I do not have the right to tell people what they should do. Personally, I would not consider taking any cancer treatments currently in use by our medical system, I do not recommend that hemp oil be taken along with chemotherapy. What would be the sense of making your own cure and then allowing the medical system to give you massive doses of poison?

I know in the past I have made a point to recognize Safety First. The times they are a\’ changing. Thanks to Mike Rowe, host of a dirty show, I have learned, that certain jobs are inherently UN-safe. Some tasks can only be accomplished by sacrificing complete safety. And so, we must relegate safety to third place, but look on the bright side: it still takes the bronze!

In honor of the new rule, I took an adventurous backpacking trip to the Lost Coast …then spent three weeks recovering. Needless to say, the trip was SIIICK (in more ways than one), and the photos accompanying this post are from the journey (seahorse bear arms). While I may get more descriptive on the physicality later, for now I want to share a special highlight:

\”Buck on the Beach! Stag in the Surf!\”
While walking up the coast, we meet a deer dashing in our direction! He is thrashing about wildly and using his body to carve through breaking waves! At first – to me – he seems distressed. But after a moment of watching, we realize that we are *lucky* (very) to bear witness to this deer, having fun! On a run! Completely undone! Chasing down the sun! He is out of breath, exerting all his energy crashing in our ocean\’s churning wake!

Running, in a final burst of power, the stag swings his back end into a breaking wave.  It crashes down around him, dramatically washing up on the land. He stands completely still in this moment and the surf foams before him onto hard-packed sand. What majesty! It is a shocking image. We had stopped abruptly at first sight and just stood there – dumbfounded – starring in awe now.

The awesome animal catches sight of us at last. After a moment\’s searching-questioning-vibe-rant-animal-human-telepathic-communication, the deer starts straight up the beach in front of him and steadily climbs the grassy cliffs that lift and welcome him back into the loving bosom of the woods. He is disappearing into the hillside, breathless all the while. The moment is indescribable and unforgettable: a great thrill. Can you imagine?!

This is the shape of a sea horse
of course, ORANGE you glad?

(Safety always.)