{"id":5651,"date":"2020-09-06T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-06T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5651"},"modified":"2020-09-06T14:09:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-06T18:09:06","slug":"episode-110-fatallii-pepper-our-brans-surged-alert-alert-and-we-ran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5651","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 110 “FATALLII PEPPER”…OUR BRANS SURGED…ALERT! ALERT! …AND WE RAN.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

From: <\/b><\/span>ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Subject: <\/b><\/span>HOT PEPPERS GARDEN 2020<\/b>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Date: <\/b><\/span>September 6, 2020 at 4:58:07 AM EDT
<\/span><\/div>\n
To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

EPISODE  110    \u201cFATALLII PEPPER\u201d \u2026 OUR BRAINS SURGED…ALERT! ALERT!\u2026AND WE RAN.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The scene may look pastoral\u2026relaxed.  But that was  not the case\u2026even Woody<\/div>\n
the dog looked for relief and  he did not eat any peppers.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Now what in tarnation is this?  Shrivelled up pepper due to the month long drought.<\/div>\n
NOT SO!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cHere Andrew,  we  grew these odd looking peppers\u2026do you know them?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHot peppers, Mom.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI thought they were different\u2026small, shrivelled  looking, wrinkled.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHere taste  one.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And  Andrew, pinched off a piece about size of a  radish seed\u2026tiny.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cHere, Dad, you have a taste too.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Both Marjorie and I immediately had flashes from our brains.  \u201c<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Alert!  Alert! Do  not eat. Regurgitate now. You are in danger!\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Andrew gave a lopsided grin.  \u201cHot, eh!\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
By then we were both racing to the farm house for water\u2026for anything that would reduce the burning sensation on our<\/div>\n
lips\u2026tongue,..throat.  We had  immediately spit out the tiny piece of  green or yellow wrinkled  pepper fruit.  Spitting out<\/div>\n
did no good.  We needed water.  Marjorie got to the house first.  I tried to soldier out the exploding burning sensation.<\/div>\n
But I needed water\u2026anything.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Marjorie was arched over the kitchen sink.  \u201cI think I\u2019m going to vomit.  Maybe faint.  Need water..water.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Since she had the sink, there was no room for me.  I yanked  open the refrigerator where a half consumed<\/div>\n
bottle of beer was cooling.   I drank some right away.   Seemed to reduce the burning.  \u201cHere Marjorie, try this.\u201d<\/div>\n
She does not normally like beer but gave it a shot.  She was returning to normal  by that time anyway.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
What in hell\u2019s half acre had we eaten?   A pepper.  I knew that but what kind  of pepper?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Later, about 3 a.m. while we combed the internet for pictures of  peppers we agreed that one variety<\/div>\n
\u2026the Fatalii pepper\u2026was  closest.  Fatalii peppers are the hottest pepper on earth according to internet<\/div>\n
sources.  Like all peppers they originated in South America but were \u2018improved\u2019 in Africa which is the<\/div>\n
main source.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
NORMAL GREEN PEPPER FRUIT BESIDE FATALII HOT PEPPERS.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
One source was dead on.  Dead  on?  Wrong term since we did  not die.   But the source said that as soon as<\/div>\n
piece of the Falalii pepper touches the lips then the tongue, our brains immediately go into overdrive with<\/div>\n
the Alerts.  And that is  what happened.   As soon as that little piece of  pepper flesh hit our tongues<\/div>\n
there was word from our brain.  \u201cSpit the damn  thing out right now\u2026get water right now\u2026beer will do if no<\/div>\n
water.\u201d   As  it turns out relief from the burning is best relieved  by  milk or other dairy products.  We did<\/div>\n
not know that.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
How did  Fatalii peppers get into our garden?  That is  our fault.  We try to look for unusual  plants<\/div>\n
at garden centres and I dimly remember a hand drawn  sigh saying something about a  hot pepper plant<\/div>\n
at a nursery near Erin.  Could have also  been the nursery on Trafalgar Road north of Oakville.  Due <\/div>\n
to the Covid 19 scare we wore masks and were encouraged to make our purchases and  leave<\/div>\n
quickly.  Marjorie must have grabbed  the Fatalii\u2026not me\u2026I am too smart for that.  (Ahem!)<\/div>\n
Thankfully the pepper is  not really Fatal.  Just seems  so.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The plant is still alive.  Now here is an  idea. We will keep growing these peppers  and  will put them in a special place<\/div>\n
in hopes  that any future thieves will sample them.   So, be  warned,  if you look in our refrigerator<\/div>\n
and  see a  hand written sign saying \u201cTastes good\u2026take a bite.\u201d..please do not be fooled unless<\/div>\n
you are a thief.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan  skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept. 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P>S>   Fatalii is  the closest we could come to identifying these peppers.  We could be <\/div>\n
wrong.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P.P.S   In the course of our night long research we discovered that some craft beers<\/div>\n
used tiny bits  of Fatalli peppers to sharpen the taste.  Imagine that.  Much more can be<\/div>\n
said but I think this is enough.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P.P.S.  What about Andrew?   What did we do to get even?  What \u2018should\u2019 we do?<\/div>\n
Laughter is inappropriate somehow.  We are  debating the problem.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

Marjorie took this picture of part of  our crop.  A good  warning sign.  Note the hole in one of the Fatalii peppers where<\/div>\n
some kind of slug, worm, bug\u2026crawled inside and died I think.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Marjorie does not usually like beer\u2026but this day, the day of the hot pepper, she changed her mind.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Begin forwarded message: From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Subject: HOT PEPPERS GARDEN 2020 Date: September 6, 2020 at 4:58:07 AM EDT To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> EPISODE  110    \u201cFATALLII PEPPER\u201d \u2026 OUR BRAINS SURGED…ALERT! ALERT!\u2026AND WE RAN.\u201d alan skeoch Sept 2020 The scene may look pastoral\u2026relaxed.  But that was  not the case\u2026even Woody the dog looked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}