The Furious Spinner

Splendid Table had a fascinating discussion about geophagy: eating dirt. Normally Splendid Table is too rich for my taste—lots of wine, dead things, and things that cost lots of moula. But every once in a while, they have some interesting segments, especially if you are interested in food. I'm not a foodie, per se. I'm more interested in the folklore, customs, and history of food. In the segment on geophagy, author Susan Allport talked about people who eat dirt. In some parts of Africa, the dirt (clay) is carefully shaped into spindles or bricks and baked. It reportedly tastes like butter. In the South of the US, geophagy is quite common. Researchers believe slaves brought this African custom to this country. Geophagy has been reported in many other countries, too. Plato wrote that Greek women ate dirt.

Geophagy is well-documented in animals. The Rwanda gorillas regularly travel up the mountain to a certain area and eat the dirt which is high in iron. The gorillas don't get iron in their regular diet and need it because of the high altitude. Allport has an article in the Gastronomica: Spring 2002 Issue called "Women Who Eat Dirt" but it's not accessible online unless you subscribe. I'll get it on interlibrary loan and see what it's all about.

Did you know Mauna Kea in Hawaii is taller than Mount Everest? Marcus Chown of the NewScientist writes in his article "The big blue" that although Mauna Kea is "only 4245 metres above sea level, the mountain's summit is 10 kilometres from the floor of the Pacific Ocean." (Since I am so wholly American, I had to ask my Canadian husband how far 10 kilometres "really" is. It's embarrassing to be so ignorant...Luckily I find my ignorance mildly amusing. So I'm giggling a lot.)

I like the NewScientist (as long as I skip all the scary-diseases-you're-gonna-die-stories). It's out of the UK, so it doesn't have the biases so many US magazines have. However, Mario pointed out they have their own biases. "They're really into their beer," Mario says. "Any time they have to explain some physics concept, they start with something like, 'Consider the bubbles in your glass of beer...'"

In the same issue of NewScientist (November 15-21, 2003) Claire Ainsworth writes about human chimeras in "The stranger within." A woman needing a kidney transplant and her sons got the requisite blood tests. These tests revealed that the woman was not the mother of two of her sons—although her husband was their father. Needless to say, everyone was perplexed (not to mention a bit distressed). Two years later, the doctors solved the mystery. The woman (called Jane) was a chimera, "a mixture of two individuals—non-identical twin sisters—who fused in the womb and grew into a single body. Some parts of her are derived from one twin, others from the other." In Jane's case, "cells from one twin have come to dominate in Jane's blood" while in other areas, including her ovaries, "cells of both types live amicably alongside each other."

Scientists now believe many people could be chimeras and never know it—in fact, we may all be chimeras. Ainsworth writes, "Far from being pure-bred individuals composed of a single genetic cell line, our bodies are cellular mongrels, teeming with cells from our mothers, maybe even from grandparents and siblings." Well, this explains a lot as far as I'm concerned. I believe I must be "teeming with cells" from many, many people—and some of them are people I wouldn't even sit down and have coffee with (if I actually drank coffee). Years ago someone suggested I investigate my "inner child." I said, "Inner child? Honey, I've got a freaking inner day care. I ain't goin' anywhere near that."

Speaking of relatives: India has 35,000 dead people walking. Literally. Relatives of these "living dead" had them declared dead so they could take their property and worldly goods. (India is notorious for their corrupt officials.) Despite protests from these living dead that they are indeed alive, they are unable to get jobs, retrieve their property, or get any assistance: because they are legally dead. Geez, Louise, with relatives like these you gotta wish you were an orphan.

One or twenty of me is hungry. The rest are starving. I think I'll go find some dinner. Care for dirt anyone? 2 comments

2 Comments:

Geez Le-Freaking-Weeze you're comical. Are your books/fiction as funny as your true life writing?
You could sell this stuff you know.

Some may even give up whole afternoons, days, to watching it snow, rain, snow, rain, snow, rain, while reading your book, Women Who Eat Dirt, Rantings of a Convicted Earth Consumer.

(Convicted being of the ardent impassioned type, not criminal)

By  Velutina Q, at 11:51 AM  

I love this comment! I'm so glad you find my work funny. Not everyone gets my sense of humor. Most of my books have some humor in them--the adult books more than the teen books. Coyote Cowgirl is funny, and Mercy, Unbound has some witty bits.

Love your title by the way! Can I steal it?

By  Kim Antieau, at 11:56 AM  

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