Well, hello there

We found this in the garden.

That is a very LARGE tobacco hornworm. This explains why I kept finding half-eaten green tomatoes on the top of my plants. I think this one guy was doing all the damage. As big as he is, he was really hard to see. I only found him because he was ON the tomato I intended to pick.

I scoured the tomatoes, but found no others. We did have one last year, but it was smaller and covered in wasp eggs (yay for companion gardening!) I planted flowers that attract a particular wasp that kills these worms, and with the exception of this guy, it seems to be working.

He's nearly ready to become a moth, so I didn't have the heart to kill him. I just put him on the other end of the yard with a pile of fallen green tomatoes that he could eat for a day or two.

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The danag

So, I'm not even sure how to transliterate "danag" properly, but pronounce it how it sounds. It's an Armenian word (actually, it might be Turkish, or just some random word my grandmother made up. See story about this below.). It means, loosely, washcloth. Specifically, during my childhood, it refers to the reusable washcloths that are usually pink, blue, or yellow, are very thin, but soak up lots of water. Refer to picture. Danag:




Anyway, I love these things. First, they are immensely resuable. They're ideal for soaking up large amounts of liquid or wiping down the table and counters. They're also great for dusting and general cleaning. Unfortunately, they're hard to find. Rite-Aid seems to stock them, and sometimes Giant Eagle has them in strange places.

I do sometimes still grab for a paper towel when I should use these. To help get me in the habit, I've made the paper towels harder to access. I've Put the paper towels a cabinet and put a couple reusable wipes in an easy-to grab place. One on the kitchen sink, and one hanging over the stove bar maybe. I've only once thrown them out because they ripped. Most of the time, they get tossed because I used it to clean up something really dirty. I haven't tried throwing them in the wash yet though, so I might try that sometime and see if I can get more out of them.

Random story about danags

One day in my apartment in SLO, my roomie was cooking dinner, and I was in the kitchen clearing the table. We had been doing projects on it, so it was a little dirty. I decided to wipe it down for dinner. So, I turn to my roommate, who is near the sink, and say "Hey Jen, can you hand me the da-" and it hits me. She's not going to know what a danag is. Danag is Armenian. No problem. English. Jen, hand me the what-the-hell-is-that-thing. Thingy. Cleaning thing. Washing thingy. Wipey-downy-thingy. Meanwhile my mouth is open and my roommate is staring at me and my brain basically just seg faults right there. Nothing except my mouth slowly opening and closing.

Anyway, after my brain rebooted, my ego recovered, and I recovered the item in question, I had to ask my roommate what it was called. She looked at me like I was nuts. "Uh, washcloth? What the hell is wrong with you?"

It occurred to me that for 18 years, my mom had been saying "Ciera, take the danag and wash down the table", "Ciera, hand me the danag", and "Ciera, wipe down the patio chairs; I left the danag outside". My dad even uses the word since it wasn't an item he grew up with, so he adopted my mom's vocabulary.

Worst brain fault ever.

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