Still, teen me and adult me are still thrilled to enter these places.

(Also, of course, rocks & their implacable forces rule us all. Even you, Congress. Even you, pundits. And we lose wildness and wild animals at our peril.)

As an adult I am more aware of the complexity--who was kicked out to create this segregated region, what we lose by separating wildness from our regular human routes.

It was exhilarating and reassuring to teen me that there was such a place

Brainsss!!!

Regular rhubarb on the left; forced on the right. Forced rhubarb is softer and less stringy and tastes less puckery. It is very pink.

Update! No "forcing" happened--the rhubarb sprouted at the same time the rest of the yard's rhubarb did. Also, my choice of forcing vessel was much too small (and my rhubarb is a BEAST). Next: but how does it taste?

Yes! I have to use the dill seed heads, usually (which work fine!)

Yes--as a Colorado gardener, it is a mystery to me how the tomato-cilantro combination ever came about. Those two plants are diametrically opposed in my garden--if it's warm enough for one, the other is long done.

I LOVED Joan Aiken. We would have been best friends (I 100% chose my friends based on their reading habits)