"Mom. Don't you love this song? I do. I didn't know it was on this cassette. Did you know that this is The Cure?"

"Yes, I did."

"What's he saying? Boys don't cry? This song is very old. Like back from when people thought boys shouldn't cry, I guess? Mom. You know that boys are tougher than girls, right?"

I laughed, and not a "HA!" laugh, a real legitimate laugh. "No, they're not. I mean, seriously, just for an example, can you name me any man tougher than Harriet Tubman?"

He was quiet. "No," he finally said, "I can't. But for women, Flo Jo might have been faster than Harriet Tubman."

Happy November, everyone. In case you couldn't guess, Wyatt and I just finished Rad Women A-Z and we are currently reading Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters. We'll be getting back to The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, soon. Meanwhile, I'm really enjoying Wyatt's unlikely comparisons between heroic, strong women.

And in recognition of cold and flu season, as well as everything else that's wearing us down, keeping us up, and demanding our action (I mean, WHERE TO START?), I thought I'd post about what most people used to call Fire Cider, until a company trademarked that name. Now a lot of people call it Master Tonic. A lot of people except, I guess, Kitchn, whose recipe I use. And except for us, at home, in conversation. "Master Tonic" is basically a folk remedy that we drink the moment we feel a throat tickle, have a couple of sneezes, or get that vague run-down-before-a-cold feeling. Marc and Wyatt used to joke that they couldn't sneeze or cough around me or I'd chase them with a shot of it. But now, they come after me with it, too. And as of today, we were into our last bottle, so it was time for another batch.

Some people say it tastes good. We are not liars, and we would never say such a thing. But we do take it. All three of us. It requires a lot of chopping and cutting, and it keeps indefinitely, so I make a triple batch at a time. Fortunately, Wyatt was happy to be my garlic peeler today, and that helped a lot.

We'll shake the jug everyday for the next 4-6 weeks (the time we will wait will depend on whether we run out of our last batch), strain out the solids, and then funnel the liquid into bottles for storing.