In the Night

 I woke up in the middle of the night in something of a panic. For one

thing, it was freezing cold. I live in a no-smoking building but last night, 

someone somewhere had smoked a cigarette and I opened a window a crack 

before falling asleep. It's -17C in the  night these days and it felt cold. 

But more troubling, I remembered that I had posted something patently false

in my Blog yesterday: that the Aztec had chocolate, coffee and alcool at first

contact. This is false; they had chocolate, a variety of teas or infusions, and alcool.

Coffee was brought over by Europeans. Indeed, the coffee bean originated in

Ethiopa. So I corrected for that, this morning.

Thinking about the issue, it finally struck me. This is HUGE. It was not just a matter

of sending tomatoes to Europe and bringing carrots to America. The whole flora

and fauna of the two continents is/was different. There is some link between

varieties of trees, like Elms, but no identities.

I need to investigate this whole matter further. But I would counsel this to America's

weary dieters, European and Native: if you enjoy a sweet soda pop with potatoe or corn 

chips, stop. Have the sweet drink with a carrot, and the chips with water. The mad

bloat you are experiencing might well stop...