1. And I believe her. In her book The Plant Hunter, Cassandra Leah Quaves presents herself on a quest, through rigorous scientific research and testing, to integrate the medicinal powers of plants into the more common practice of using synthetic drugs as a way of treating infections, especially those superbugs that have developed resilience to synthetic antibiotics.
In telling us her story, Quaves helps us see how the challenges she faces are, yes, in the laboratory, but they extend far beyond the laboratory. She tells us the story of the birth defect she's had to deal with in a multiplicity of ways her entire life. We learn about the interplay between her ambition to save lives by scientific means and the demands of joining her husband in raising a family. And then there's funding: Quaves spends an inordinate amount of time seeking funding for her work.
Some men in her field harass her, condescend to her, and doubt the value of her work. She learns to resist and navigate this, push forward, and as her courage, self-belief, and sense of purpose grows, so does her success.
I experienced this book as combining memoir with travel writing and with science and nature writing to give someone like me who is unfamiliar with the demands of doing botanical, infectiological, and medical research in academic settings a perspective upon this remarkable work I'd never thought to look into before.
Most of all, I admired that Cassandra Leah Quaves is an idealist. A higher purpose shaped by working for the good of the whole world, for the protection of plants and animals as well as the saving of human lives marks her work. She has a keen sense of ethics, love of family, love of others, widespread interconnectedness between all living beings and inanimate things, collaboration, service to her students, and hope.
Now I wonder how our book club will approach this book in our discussions.
2. In a drawing held after the Spokane String Quartet's final concert for the 2025-26 season, I won season tickets for two to the Quartet's four concerts in 2026-27.
The tickets were supposed to arrive in my mailbox in late August or early September, but hadn't arrived and there's a concert this coming Sunday.
I emailed the person who had congratulated me for winning the tickets and heard back from another person in the organization.
It turns out the person whose job it was to send me the tickets is having medical problems and the person who stepped up and answered my email assured me that our two tickets would be available at the Will Call table when Debbie and I arrive at the Fox Theater on Sunday afternoon.
3. Debbie prepared superb Sloppy Joe's for dinner. Somehow, the sweetness of the ketchup and tomato paste complimented the onions and green peppers perfectly and together these ingredients elevated the flavor of the ground beef. I added hot pickled jalapeno peppers and bread and butter pickles to my sandwich and I loved their crunch and the heat and sweetness of the pepper and bread and butters. What a delicious blend of flavors and textures inside the toasted hamburger bun! And, then, somehow, the vinegary cole slaw pulled the whole meal together.
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