Showing posts with label San Bernardino Mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Bernardino Mountains. Show all posts

February 18, 2018

Intoxicating the World Over


Intoxicating The World Over

If I were a tree in another life, I think I would be a Western Juniper. Known for their ability to survive nature's most extreme conditions, these endurance junkies produce a berry used by distillers to make one of my least favorite alcoholic beverages - Gin.

I just think there is something pretty awesome about a species that can survive with little to no water, freezing temperatures, high altitudes, incessant wind, all the while producing a little berry that flavors a beverage that has intoxicated the world over.

Usually thriving in the presence of more grandiose competitors like the Jeffery and Ponderosa Pines, the Western Juniper sometimes grows into a gnarled shrub with the aesthetic beauty of a rouge weed on steroids, and other times into a majestic evergreen that stands toe to toe with its biggest rivals. Predictable? Hell no. Bad ass? Well, you get the point.

California Juniper