...Oh hell! Why did I open my big mouth I will never hear the last of this from Catwoman and Femme...!!!!

No! I am not on "narcotics" and I have not spent a week with a handsome gardener.....

Well my dear Aenigma, I'm sure there are many things we agree on. I too grow much of my own food. Things like tomatoes, chard, beans, peas and many native species that are edible(all organic). Once you actually plant a seed and watch it grow, you eat with much more reverence. There is nothing like a tomato ripe andwarm from the sun, or a green bean only a second of two off the vine. Close your eyes and feel the taste as it goes through your whole body. There seems to be much more life force in food treated in this way as well.

A botanist....amazing...you have gained a new level of respect from me. In my little garden I use insects to control insects. Lady bugs, praying mantis, earthworms and such. Marigolds to control nematodes. Earthworm casings...and so forth.

Quoting AEnigma III: Quoting alameda: Actually, that is quite true. Have you ever read "The Secret Life of Plants" by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird? Truly amazing. It shows us that we should have respect and reverence for whatever is sacrifised to sustain us. Finally a subject we can agree on Alameda I work in botany and I never cease to be amazed at how clever and adaptable plants are! From plants which mimic a piece of rotting meat (in looks and smell!) to attract flies for pollination through to plants which actually stab and kill animals so that they will die at their base and fertilise the soil! I try not to think about it too much, but when we "farm" vegetables we are preventing them from fulfilling their "life destiny"!!! The real devotees of plants become "fruitarians" who only eat vegetables which have fulfilled their seeding cycle and fruit which has fallen to the ground naturally I could not take things THIS far, but do try to eat only organic vegetables, and ones that I grow in my garden are never stripped of all their fruit or seed ! Even the most cynical of the gardeners I work with have been known to cry when chopping down a tree. There is something very spiritual about trees... All forms of life deserve respect....

Well, feel free to lose your new found respect for me Alameda because I am not a Botanist!!! I work with very clever Botanists and it's a subject close to my heart, but I am not one myself!

Oh well, that's close enough.

i dont know if this is related to this thread but i would like to talk about it...

in Turkey if there is a much older person (like father,uncle, aunties or grandparents) in the room , it would be very rude and disrespect of you to lie down.

and i dont know why but we generally dont smoke when daddy is in the same place:-S it is not be afraid..just a kind of respect

and ermmmm henna night!! the night before the wedding..all female friends and female relatives of the bride come together in her house and they all wear henna and sing some traditional songs and dance..and cry and again sing

and and ouh i could write too many thing about Turks

drivers honk to thank eachother in traffic , for example you should honk if someone gives way to you..

Ciko,your description here is very similar to that of traditional Chinese custom. The bride wears red from head to toe, even the bed sheets and quilt are preferrably red. Red colour indicates happiness and luck. White is always used in funerals. However with the cultural shift from straightly traditional to more international, we have both red and white wedding now. Brides wear white gowns when going to church or the banguet and wear red when going home to pay respect to the inlaws. The act of which is serving tea to the parents and elder generations while kneelign down.

By the way, glad to see the real "East" talking now. It has been quite a long time that the west keep talking.