Cacoethes and 'Roads Less Traveled'

A Bid of Welcome.

Water finds her path to the great body, the ocean, just as we are finding our path back to the Earth.

Many paths, many branches, in the lungs of the Earth.  We share the same breath.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
(I had to memorize this poem with the whole class in 8th grade; it changed me,
guided me, and patted me on the back...)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

A BitterSweet Tangle.

 ~

Seeing into the distance...a far-away vista of color and sun through the murky wood, then closer...

...it comes into view:  a centered spiral of hay for winter, stored sunshine.

~

For some the way is known.

~

Paths known. - a revisit.

Paths unknown - possibility for the 'morrow...

And in honor of a great author who died yesterday:

"It is good to have an end to journey toward, 

but it is the journey that matters in the end."

 - Ursula Le Guin

Woman

'And She Calls' (from the archives, 2007)

Woman.
You are so powerful.

Lesser men will try to smother that radiance,
squash it by a multitude of means.

Be ever vigilant
and take necessary actions to shine on.

It's been long enough.
The time is now. 

Spring Splendor - A Photo Journal of Beltane's Delight

Helleborus

Wild and feral edibles picked for an omelette, clockwise spiral to center starting from white flower:  Garlic Mustard,  Dandelion, Plantain, Arugula, Sarsaparilla, Violets, Cleavers, Japanese Knotweed, Mustard flowers, Monarda, Trout Lily, Quince flower, Purple Dead Nettle, Clover.

 

True Superfoods - local and fresh!

  

Corvid with a new batch of bees in orientation flight.

 Coming in for a landing:

Pollen-laden

The bees have been loving this Arugula that over-winterd in a cold frame and burst into bloom some weeks ago.  In the background is L'Atelier, the art studio, and where Mathieu makes guitars, overseen by two of my hives:  Stella and Ariadne.  To the right is a Fig in a pot that gets brought in over winter, and a Grape on trellis.  THIS has my Heart.  <3

 

The Mason bees have been very active; I love watching them, so docile and yet judicious.

At work:  Mathieu and I with the fragrant native Woodland Phlox at a landscape client's.

And Luck of Luck!  Found some tasty dinner when I wasn't even purposefully hunting!  My friend Abby and I were just taking a jaunt in the woods...and lo and behold.

Then we lay in the grass in the sun for a different type of nourishment.

 Make a wish!

 

 

 Yesterday's and Today's on the forest floor

 Can you say Dazzle?

Take and Eat of this Body: a collection of words and images

"If one doubts the walking of the mountains, 

one doesn't even yet know one's own walking."

- Dogen

'Primordial Herald'

"The further a society drifts from the truth, 

the more it will hate those that speak it."

 - George Orwell

The talkative Wren

"Everyone has talent.  What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads."

 - Erica Jong

'The Birth of Death' 

“For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant. I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” - Isaiah 42:14-16

Firewood Rainbow

"I feel and think much as you do, 

care about many of the things you care about, 

although most people do not care about them. 

You are not alone."
- Kurt Vonnegut

'The Future's Provenance'

"It is ironic that, while concentrating 

on the defense of our country from enemies 

who would destroy it from without, 

we should be so heedless of those 

who would destroy it from within."

- Rachel Carson

 

​

Rippling Out Through Eons:  A Rock Found at Work

"Those who don't feel this Love pulling them like a river, 

those who don't drink dawn like a cup of spring water 

or take in sunset like supper, those who don't want to change, 

let them sleep." 

- Rumi

Cars that used to be - on their way to being something else...

“I’d rather be whole than good.”

 - Carl Jung

Gravitas

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, 

but in having new eyes."

 - Marcel Proust

'Cataclysm Radiance' 2015

"Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter."
  - African proverb

'Passages of Listening' 2015

"Semen is Latin for a dormant, fertilized plant ovum-a seed. Mens ejaculate is chemically more akin to plant pollen.

See, it is really more accurate to call it mammal pollen. To call it semen is to thrust an insanity deep inside our culture: that men plow women and plant their seed when in fact, what they are doing a pollinating flowers. 

Now, doesn't that change everything between us?"

 -Stephan Harrod Buhner 'Secret Teachings of Plants'

'Prolific' 2015

"Though men possess the power to dominate and exploit every corner of the natural world, nothing in that fact implies that they have the right or the need to do so."

 - Edward Abbey 'A Voice Crying in the Wilderness' 


~

Fecund Exposure

Last night's rain
on the Oak and Hickory leaves underfoot

becoming Earth once again

Tannin-soaked air reaches my nose

Like a sweet cigar, or a waft of perfume from a steaming cup of tea,
or the smell of rich woodland soil under shovel

in my hands, in my nose, in my heart.

One moment in time

a poignant mystery

to explore.

The depths are reached

in this slanted, decaying light.

The trees bare their bones.

Birds flit, exposed once again in their plenty

no longer their song giving them away, but their feather.

If we are of luck,
we too become exposed

in our journeys back home.

Where the deep, rich Earth will consume us

once more.

Lay it open

raw

rare

and beating.

For how can life grace us

if we aren't fertile ground.

Tomorrow's acorn sprouts

in the rot of yesterday's leaf.

Release the leaf.

Foraged Fruit Blondies: Persimmon, Autumn-Olive, and Dogwood (Cornelian Cherry) this time.

Autumn Olives

These spectacularly delicious, moist and chewy bars can be made with whatever foraged fruit you can get... or if foraging is not an option at the moment, maybe your local farmer's market will provide.  Utilizing foraged fruit will give you a seasonal taste delight that cannot be had at the grocery store.  Delight your taste buds!  Delight your guests!

Persimmons are just beginning to ripen here in Virginia mid-October.  I expect more and sweeter ones after the first frost this weekend.  I only remove the seeds and the hard calyx at the top of each fruit.  I do not concern myself with the sometimes tough skin, I eat it.  Good for you!

The recipe has many options that you can customize depending on what's at hand.  Maybe you have access to some foraged nuts or seeds at the moment, or just made some acorn flour? 
Experiment, let this be a guide...

I removed the seeds from the Persimmon and Cornelian Cherry.  Then I pureed these with the first set of ingredients.

Preheat 350 degrees.

1 c. coconut oil, melted
1-2 c. sugar - The amount will depend on how much you want this like a dessert and how tart the fruit is that you are using.  For the current recipe I used the full 2 cups because the Cornelian Cherry is very tart and I am aiming for a dessert.
2 tspn. vanilla
2 eggs
approximately 3 cups of fruit - This can be most any type of fresh or dried fruit in any combination.  You want to blend in any soft fruit with the above ingredients, saving any whole fruit you don't want crushed to fold in at the end with the seeds/nuts.  In this batch I blended the Persimmon and Cornelian Cherry and folded in the Autumn-Olives.  If using only dried fruit, use less quantity.  If using a very wet fruit, you may need to cut quantity and add flour.

After blending together above ingredients, add:
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour (or other flour of your choice)
1/2 tspn. salt
After mixing this, fold in any reserved fruit from above and
1 1/2 c. of nuts and/or seeds - For this batch I used 1c. crushed Pecans and 1/2c. Hemp seeds.

As you can see, I do not bother to remove the Autumn Olive stems, they are soft enough to chew.

Spread into an oiled baking dish about 9" x 12", bake for about an hour, until well browned all over.
These bars are moist and chewy with all the fruity goodness included.
Rich and satisfying.  Enjoy!

These bars are high in fiber, don't let that scare you.  Just chew what you can and swallow it - good for your digestive system and microbiome.

Your local, abundant, and free SuperFood!

 Enjoy your seasonal taste treat!