Like the mullein, I was seeded in difficult soils (womb). I was a post war lover’s Whoops! In other words, my parents married incognito in Yuma, Az, conveniently three months after my conception. Until I found my parents marriage license on the internet, in my adulthood, I thought I was a preemie. At least that’s what all the grown-ups told me, ignoring the fact that I weighed 8.5 pounds at birth, with a full head of dark brown hair. I was one heck of a preemie!
Category: Nature
October’s Return
“I’m back,” shouts October’s return,urging summer’s dancing hummers,to kiss goodbye the sugar-water feeders,and sweet pollen-laced floral beakers.“Move on to warmer places,”October’s chilled words command. It saddens me… Read more “October’s Return”
Magic, Surprise, & Healing
Besides mullein’s unique look, soft leaves and medicinal value, in truth, what really attracts me to mullein is its history and hints of its ability to ward off evil. Blame it on my Catholic upbringing. If holy water could defer the wicked from my soul, why not a plant?
A Prayer for Healing
When I understood the challenge ahead in my personal battle with a cancer still to find a cure, and a projected two year longevity prediction, it was time to dig in for answers—all while avoiding the world of quackery and misinformation.
There’s often news of such patients overcoming the incurable and substantially extending projected survival times. Admittedly, those patients hold infinite amounts of discipline that I’ve yet to achieve.
A New Mexican Holy Week
On a Good Friday I drove to Albuquerque. Thousands of the faithful walked north along Interstate 25. They sought the healing miracles of the sacred sands within the Santuario de Chimayo in the village of Chimayo, nestled in a valley, lined in cottonwoods and pastures within the Sangre de Cristo Mountains 24 miles (38.4 km) north of Santa Fe. From Albuquerque, the distance nears 80 miles, but the distance is unimportant to those who make this annual trek.
More Awe, Less Uh
…researchers discovered that awe brought on “a reduced sense of self-importance relative to something larger and more powerful that they felt connected to,” and that “a naturalistic induction of awe in which participants stood in a grove of towering trees enhanced prosocial helping behavior and decreased entitlement compared to participants in a control condition.”
A One-Leg Bird & Me
But one of the fledglings had a problem. There was something wrong with his leg. So he clung upside down with one foot and tried to feed on the suet
Our Interconnectedness Revealed
The first inkling I had on this interconnected business was in 2004 when I was in treated for breast cancer. I told my oncologist that I was slipping out from Santa Fe, NM for a bit, and going to go hang out at the beach. The oncologist, who reminded me of a Norman Rockwell character of a doctor, said, “Excellent idea. The ocean is our primordial connection. But don’t get a sunburn!”
Planetary Reply to Virus Lockdown
So how is it that a wily novel coronavirus plays havoc with modern standards of living, further pushes impoverished people into a hell hole of hunger, sickness and premature death, all while showing us what it is like to see mountains without a cloud of particulate pollutants?
Childhood Wonder Resurrected–Temporarily
Yesterday the first real snowfall blanketed my outside view in sparkling white. Everything beneath the water-laden sky transformed into pure crystalline snowflake-covered other-worldly scenes. That seasonal transformation… Read more “Childhood Wonder Resurrected–Temporarily”
The Muse Pallet 