Price of Sugar, the scent of a flower.

Johnny just got back from the grocery store. He got 2lbs of brown sugar for 80 cents. That's the going rate, but Rebecca just mentioned to me, that works out to 20 cents US for a pound of brown sugar. White sugar is 45 Belize cents. I purchased a bottle of pressed coconut oil the other day for $4Bz. Products like honey and pressed oils come in recycled beer bottles with little white plastic caps.

Coconut oil is good. On a cold day it is solid. We picked a bunch of sour orange leaves and when they are dry I intend to infuse the coconut oil with the scent from the sour orange leaves. I don't know why, just to see if I can I guess.

There were things going on this week and so I have been unable to get anything posted. Ideas floating around that needed to be explored. I have learned that a plant Nelumbo nucifera or Sacred Lotus may grow here. I have been spending time learning how to identify the plant, and plotting, er planning my journey to a location to find the Sacred Lotus. There is another genus called Nymphaea that probably also grows here. Both are of interest to me.

A friend of mine is interested in an additional small source of income. If Nelumbo grows here, I suspect he might be able to make some money harvesting it and selling it in town. If he is able to find a market and if that market is deep enough, I may look into ways to scale up the amount of Nelumbo that can be harvested. There may be many possibilities here, but I think they all take time to find, evaluate and act on. For now it is good enough if I can help a friend make a few extra dollars. Besides, until I actually get my feet wet and hands dirty and go over a botanical checklist, I don't really know that Nelumbo grows here. So this week has been spent in preparation for a Journey to the Valley of the Sacred Lotus. I am being a bit over dramatic of course. It's four miles away.

For now I see the possibility of a water plant that could be cultivated, a fish called tilapia that can be farmed, and the waste from the fish is the nutrient for the plant. In that place between awake and asleep, I dream of a flower that is calling to me saying, "Find me, look at me, I am the loto, and I can help you bring fire, water, earth and air together and make ... fish, tasty plentiful fresh fish. Good for you to eat, my precious."