Taste of Cyn

Pulling Dandelions

By Cynthia Sax on May 24, 2021

The Dear Wonderful Hubby and I spent an enjoyable hour or two removing dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) in our front and back yard. We don’t pull them out of the ground in the early spring as dandelions are often the first flowers in our corner of the universe and are an essential source of nectar for the honey bees.

We remove the dandelions manually because herbicides and pesticides aren’t allowed in our city. I LOVE this restriction. It means, in a pinch, we can eat the dandelions.

The entire plant (leaves, stems, flowers, and roots) is edible. When I was a kid, we ate dandelion leaves in salads. They were a bit bitter. Often we’d eat them blanched the same way we’d eat spinach. One of my aunties would make a potent dandelion wine.

I joke with the Dear Wonderful Hubby that, if the apocalypse happens, we’ll be eating dandelions…and I suspect dandelions would survive any disaster. The happy yellow blooms are tenacious, often growing between patches of pavement.

We pull the dandelions so the clover and other ground covering has a chance to grow also. The variety provides better dining options for bunnies and other creatures.

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Under Strain

A damaged cyborg warrior is hunted by a peace-loving human female.

***

Strain is severely malfunctioning. The D Model cyborg was the sole survivor after a horrific decision was made by his cruel manufacturers. He hates all humans, and when he attacks one who is under his cyborg leader’s protection, he is reprimanded, stripped of his weapons, and told to watch and not actively participate in the next mission.

That mission takes place on a small remote planet. Its lush terrain should only be inhabited by the cyborgs they were sent to rescue, but Strain senses another presence on the surface. She is watching him, tracking him, hunting him.

A fully operational cyborg would end her lifespan.

Strain wants to claim her. Forever.

Kamyelle is the only one left of her kind. Warriors have killed the other nonviolent human inhabitants of her planet. She survived…barely…by hiding in the trees, observing her enemies, and covering herself with lifeform scan-concealing mud.

When a handsome, gray-skinned, brilliant-blue-eyed male arrives, surrounded by weapon-carrying warriors, she has to save him. Warriors harm and they kill. That is what they do.

She won’t allow them to hurt Strain.

***

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