John Randall is a writer living in Missouri. His interests include camping, running, walking, cutting and burning wood, messing around with magnets, foraging, and listening to podcasts, many of them about baseball.
…17:03. It was a nice smoke. From the glass, that creaminess that I don’t get when smoking joints. But I didn’t taste any garlic. R Greenleaf, the dispensary in Clovis where I got the Garlic Fusion (along with grams of five other strains) is deli-style. The bud isn’t old but those jars get opened however many times a day and the air in New Mexico is almost always so dry. If you are expecting a huge rush of flavor from NM deli-style, you’re going to be disappointed.
What’s the answer? Sorry, I’m not sure, can’t deliver, can only complain and stare at my phone some more. The phone, lifeblood, life-sucker, such a strong drug these devices. First the internet then “the phone” then social media.
We are in a whirlwind of technological evolution! For better or for worse, I’ll not say. But things—time—will slow down, at some point. This is an unusual chapter in human history. What is being thrown at us right now is of an exponential magnitude. It’s too much for me.
Not that I’m checking out. Nothing is that easy. If I had to offer proof of an afterlife—what a wonderful phrase, an oxymoron. There is no afterlife, can’t be. It’s all just “life,” always has been. We see bodies leave but we don’t know what happens to their inhabitants after. How could we? This one place exists—just this one?—and that’s all, there’re no others? That doesn’t make sense.
How did I get there? Forget: who am I. Who cares?! I don’t need to be anyone. I’m more concerned about
The Strawberry Candy aka Straw Candy was grown by a friend of mine. I asked him recently if he ever smoked any of his own product and he said, Yes, he smoked some, but not much.
It’s been years since I tried to grow but having experienced the thrill of planting seeds, getting them to grow, sexing sprouted plants, and trying to get something useful out of that seed, I understand what my friend was saying when he said it wasn’t about smoking what he grew. It was about being able to do it, from seed to bag.
We were out at a conservation area in Missouri, foraging for paw paws. He brought a telescoping handle with a roller brush attachment on the top. That’s what we used to knock down the paw paw. We harvested a bundle.
Back at his car he opened his trunk and I caught a whiff of something familiar and pleasant. But I didn’t even realize my friend smoked. He handed be a grocery bag and said, “Take that.” Which I did. Until I got home I wasn’t sure exactly what was in it. The Straw Candy alone weighted out to 7.7 grams. Whoa! Thank you so much. There were also two eighths of Shiskaberry, numbers 1 and 2. Number 1 was better than 2, but the Straw Candy was the best of the three.
The buds were sticky. They were the real deal. Trimmed and chiseled. As nice as anything you will get over the counter.
The Straw Candy lineage is rich. The seeds were from Bloom Seed Co. Link to the lineage chart here.
It’s Orange Zkittlez x Strawberry Guava.
The Orange Zkittlez side of the tree alone is a trip. Original Z and Agent Orange on one side, then Jack the Ripper on the other side which brings in Jack Herer, C-99, Romulan, Purple Haze, and Lambsbread among others.
The Strawberry Guava brings in Ghost OG, Bubblegum, KC 33, and Afghani.
After burning a .39-gram joint of the Catalina Wine Mixer, I stood outside watering for an hour. The effects were bite-y. Confrontational. True.
This is some strong bud. Psychedelic? That bite, it's another level. We put our dog Hugo down two weeks ago. It's hard not to think about him 24/7, especially when I'm high, especially if the strain bites, which the Wine Mixer certainly does. It's that Sunset Sherb in there. As a parent in a cross, its effects always seem to carry through. The high is almost immediate and it will reach into your closet, into the depths of your mind and grab anything it can to throw at you. This is probably what freaks out less-seasoned smokers. This is what gets called paranoia. Nay. This is part of the process. You cannot run from what is already in your mind, what has already happened. Go in knowing this. Face what you have to face. Get through to the other side.
I have serious second thoughts about putting Hugo down when we did. Why didn't I fight harder to keep him around? Why didn't I realize I would miss him this much? I'm having to look in the mirror. No dog to scapegoat any more. This hurts but it's my reality and I need to handle it. At least I can stand outside and water the plants during what has turned into something of a drought.
As my Dad said recently from his nursing home bed, "It's complicated, but it's not complicated. Crippled by a years-long dementia, he still dishes the odd bit of wisdom and I take in every drop...
I am nearly through the jar. What began as an eighth is now down to what will go into three final joints, each about .4 grams.
I opened the jar almost three weeks ago but the remaining flower still smells funky and pleasant. There is a fruity aroma but there's also a sharp dankness that is reminiscent of what you would catch wafting out of a tennis ball container—rubber and gasoline. The grind has been exceptionally even. Sticky. A little dense.
The dispensary menu showed a photo of a green Cresco container for this Pineapple Punch but when I picked it up, the man behind the counter pulled a red-topped container from the bag. Sativa? Yes, I'd call it sativa leaning. 65/35. That is one characteristic of the Pineapple Punch strain that makes it somewhat uncommon: it delivers sativa effects without first taking the smoker through anything too racy or confrontational. I was smoking this flower within a couple weeks of putting the late great Hugo to sleep, and if ever there was something that a strong sativa was going to throw at me, force me to deliberate upon (further) it would be that. Except with Pineapple Punch it was a clear sail. ..
I have been remiss in so far failing to review a vape on this blog. I have not been much of a vape-r in my time as a cannabis user. Never have I had any kind of nicotine vape, either.
But earlier this year a dear friend of mine who works at a dispensary and finds himself possessed of schwag from time to time sent a couple of vapes my way. These were Missouri-marketed vapes, one under the Since brand and another whose affiliation I don't know. Long story short, I began to dabble with vaping.
I liked the Since vape pen very much. Last week I was in a hotel in Iowa City, taking a pull or two from it when the light-up end started to flash: glow, glow, glow. It wasn't hitting. Pull on it again: glow, glow, glow. No more clouds. It was done. My very first vape was out of juice. It still had battery life but the good stuff was gone, I had vaped it dry. Alas.
I have realized that I like to keep a vape or two around; in the rotation. This is a review of the first vape I ever purchased, the 1000 mg Live Resin All-in-One vape from Grow Sciences containing one gram of smokable juice made from the Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy strain.
Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy 1000 mg All-in-One vape from Grow Sciences.
I bought the Grow Sciences vape from Prime Leaf on Park in Tucson in July. I believe it cost $45. I took a look at their current menu and the prices on these have risen to $49. That's not cheap. Is it worth it?
What I liked about the Sinse vape pen was how it looked like an actual pen. I found a pen cap that fit it, and if I threw it in a pouch along with a handful of other pens, no one was the wiser. Keep in mind, however, that any vape device is running on a lithium ion battery. You cannot store these in checked luggage while flying! You could, however, if you were so daring, carry lithium ion battery devices along with you as you boarded a plane. In your carry-on luggage. Perhaps I have done this, and would do so again.
I have treated the Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy vape as an indica. I like to puff on it before sleep or sometimes I will draw on it if I wake up in the middle of the night unable or unwilling to go right back to sleep.
The Grow Sciences All-in-One Live Resin vapes are rechargeable. I have recharged this one once, by way of the USB-C port at its base.
USB-C rechargeable
I have used this vape sporadically, soporifically. It's a calming influence. I am not sure how much is left lo these four months later. It takes a few pulls to get warmed up. I will do a series of small puffs, then start a longer pull. The directions on the package were very clear that a longer, slower, easier pull would result in bigger, better clouds. And that is absolutely true.
The Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy hits smooth. I have since acquired another Sinse vape from my friend, a newer generation, not shaped like a pen. That vape hits hard, a bit harsh and sometimes it sends me into a sneezing fit. The Grow Sciences vape delivers a very clean drag.
My interest in vapes has widened. I'd try any of the other Grow Sciences vapes of the same make. Any strain. It's also possible I need to invest in a reusable battery so I can buy vape cartridges instead of throwing a bunch of lithium batteries into the garbage. I'm getting there.
In terms of taste, this vape reminds me of what the kitchen used to smell like when I cooked up a bunch of brick in vegetable oil to make a batch of brownies. I get a lift from the vape that I can used to transition back to sleep, eventually, the more clouds the sooner.
The Mimosa hits hard. There's nothing left of the eighth now, this was the last joint. When I was floating we had stopped on a gravel bar when I took out a joint of Mimosa and promptly dropped it right into the river. I didn't panic but instead I quickly plucked it out of the Current and set it aside to let it dry. When we got back to camp I put the soggy joint in the back of my car and forgot about it for a few days while it dried.
Once it was dry it fired up just fine, despite having been dropped into a brisk river. So that is a lesson I will take with me down the road. Even if your joint gets wet you can simply let it dry and fire it up once it's had time to dry out. No problem.
My final conclusion from smoking Mimosa is that I really like Vibe's sativas. The first winner was their Chem Reserve, which I never wrote much about because I was too busy enjoying the zany high it imparted. I did, however, include a short review of Chem Reserve as part of my Top Strains of 2024 (link here).
I liked the Chem Reserve high better than Mimosa but that was a high bar to clear. Considering my experience with Chem Reserve, Mimosa, and, more recently Blue Cheese x OG Skunk and also Peanut Butter Parfait, there is no other brand/grower that I would turn to for a trusty sativa experience than Missouri's Vibe. I'll try any sativa they offer. Their Gelato was pretty good, too.
The lineage on Mimosa is Clementine x Purple Punch (link)...
I am opening a jar of the Blue Face strain of cannabis grown by Fig Farms. I bought this eighth from Beyond Hello in Sauget, IL, back in October of last year. I have smoked one or two jars of Rythm's Animal Face along the way so I felt like I was "covered" when it comes to Animal Face, which is what Blue Face is: it's the blue phenotype of the Animal Face strain. Source: Fig Farms site.
This strain was bred by Seed Junky Genetics. The lineage is Face Off OG x Animal Mints. Fig Farms says that of all the strains they grow, Blue Face is the most difficult one to grow. They call it an indica.
The package date is 8.30.2024. The nugs look good. There are five of them. The inner wafer seal on the glass jar was intact when I twisted off the cap. A stanky aroma rose up out of the jar smelling like skunky piney funk. The flower weighed out to 3.43 grams. Shorted by Aeriz again.
The nugs are fluffy, lighter than they look. There's some stickiness. It was a good cure. The grind is pleasant to look at. It's a very even grind. There is a blue tint, if you squint.
Flower of the Blue Face strain, from Fig Farms. An "eighth" weighing in at 3.43 grams.
F-ed up on Blue Face: the effects
This flower did F me up, made me emotional, gave me the high-deas. The smoke was strong, potent. It dropped me down rabbit holes. I wrote, "Rabbit holes but yes, that's why we smoke this shit."
I kept looking over my shoulder wondering when I was going to get found out, have someone discover how high I was.
The strength of the effects begged the comparison: of three Animal Face strains I've smoked, which one would I rank as being the best? There's Rythm's Animal Face (link here to my short review), Fig Farm's Animal Face, and then this blue pheno of Animal Face from Fig Farms aka Blue Face.
I'd say Rythm's Animal Face is at least tied for first. The Blue Face might be as good. I never wrote much about the jar of Fig Farms Animal Face I smoked. There wasn't anything wrong with it but if I saw all three on a menu and I could only get two, I'd get Rythm's Animal Face and the Fig Farms Blue Face. There is currently some Blue Face on the menu in Sauget and I have added it to my cart. Next time I am over in Illinois, I will pick up a jar and perhaps I will take better notes allowing me to add more details, effects, experience to this review.
Walking stick hanging out on an August day in St. Louis County, MO.
(**Note: cover photo is of a juvenile five-lined skink, link here for more info)
14:06. It's been an hour and a quarter since I smoked and I'm feeling the effects. Pleasant. Even keeled. There was at first a rush, a stimulation. Then I faced a stage of second-guessing, something was nagging at me, some risk that was hanging out there, what was it? The moment passed. I thought better of it. Now I will get back to typing. I have not had a drink yet. There's a current to this. I see RS-11 labeled as an indica but I consider this effect to be straight up hybrid.
15:39. I still feel it, almost three hours later. There's a body buzz but I'm alert. I have been typing. Adding an entry to this blog, Weeds of Grass. I'm happy with RS-11. After avoiding it, not wanting to try it. There has been plenty of RS-11 on offer, regardless of what state or what menu I've been considering.
I'm always intrigued by the so-called 'unknown strains'. And The Original Z is all about the unknowns. Based on the taste of this, based on the effects...I am guessing that there is some Triangle Kush in that unknown lineage, or Chem Dawg, or both. It tasted like the Cresco TK-91 I had earlier this summer. Or the Proper Chem 91.
In any event, I'm glad I tried something different. I have often been looking for certain parents in the lineage of what I might be smoking: The White, Trainwreck, Sunset Sherbet. Or Animal Mints or Face Off descendants.
I have enjoyed several of the Alien/Connected offering in Arizona, Biskante being the best. BK Satellite and Space Face, too. I picked this up at the Trulieve at Swan and 22nd. It had been on their shelf a while, package date of December 2024. It was a bit old, it was a bit dry. That's why I have the moisture packs...
Next Recorded Duct Tape Smoke Session, 6.21.2025, 18:38
First smoke of the day. I'm baked on the Duct Tape. A chill, workable effect. I revised a poem—took a few words out, changed one bird (Chuck-will's-widow instead of Whip-poor-will). I never hear Whip-poor-wills in June but I did hear Chuck-will's-widow this week at the place I call Farm in Miller County, MO.
The parents of the Duct Tape strain (lineage link) are GG #4 (aka Glue or Gorilla Glue) and Dosidos. I have smoked Glue before but I have never smoked straight up Dosidos (sometimes Do-Si-Dos) (lineage link). I'm not going to try to assign whatever effect I'm feeling to whichever parent. I'm not sure I believe in that sort of attribution anyway. It could be pseudoscience, some sort of genetics fallacy.
I haven't had much to drink. This Duct tape and several drinks would probably KO me after a good hour. Anyway. There's a raccoon around so I'm gonna go check that out.
I will try the Melonade again. It's not tasty. Earth, chem, exhaust. A burnt sort of taste. There's Watermelon Zum Zum and Lemon Skunk in the lineage? Can't taste watermelon or lemon, that's for sure.
We'll wait and see what the effects are, though. Indigo Bunting at the feeder. Earlier, the bird sound app identified a Blackburnian Warbler, singing in the backyard, a thin, high-pitched whistle. I did not identify the bird visually. Northern Parula around. The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have been here for a week.
Dreary day. May first. The 91 Bacio was nice earlier, gave me the lift I needed. Smoking not drinking. Red-eyed vireos have popped up on the sound app, too.
The Wood Thrushes are still around. I didn't realize they also make a thrasher-like check of a call, short of a whippy sound, a little harsh. Their song is fluted, musical, lilting. It provided consolation during breaks of April rain or sometimes persisted despite a light rain. And there is a cuckoo around, knocking its dull chime-box. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo, the rain bird.
Three pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are here. The females are slightly larger than the males but they have a totally different color scheme. Whereas the males sport the eponymous rose breast with patches of white splashed on their black wings and back, black heads, and a belly of white under the bright pink/rose breast, the females are myriad shades of brown with a little cream around their eyes and carrying a large white beak shaped like a cardinal's.
The Melonade is doing the job. The sun is trying to, or— The sun is now finding a way through the clouds. I need some of that vitamin D. I'm not getting much done today but pen-to-paper feels good.
There's a steady "pilot light" behind the Melonade. A current, a buzz. It feels like an inner flame, or a motor. I don't think it's a caffeine buzz; I've only recently had half a cup. I will roll a few more joints. Or go outside into this newfound sun, while it's out. I had turned off the Cubs game a little while back to listen to the birds. Forgot about it until just now.
Smoking without drinking. Something I used to do as a matter of regular habit. Something I've thought for a while I need to get back to doing, more often. But the louder voice in my head says I need to have a few drinks before smoking because... because... I'm really not sure why. Because the smoke will make me anxious? Paranoid? A bad bite, something like a bad trip? Drinking some before smoking does smooth a sharp bite, and yes, I do want that.
Anyway. This is some of the longest, tidies, most composed prose penmanship I've jotted down the entire time here so far at Cougar Trails. This feels more like my Shrine writing from last year. Chipmunk. The plants and the animals are out for the sunlight, as am I.
Melonade, for the win. It is a prime example of bud that has very low jar appeal (dried out; no aroma) and unappealing smoke flavor on top of that while nonetheless delivering the psychoactive effects I am looking for when smoking. I am centered-enough to write. I'm actually writing words I have been thinking, saying to myself, getting them down onto paper so I can remember them and, one day, type up as part of a strain review for the cannabis flower known as Melonade as grown by Twenty Twenty, sold from the storefront Trinity dispensary in St. James, Missouri, USA.com.
