Pareidolia

Welp, it has been forever since I posted; can you tell I am building a house?  Lots of the things I used to do, and plan to get back to, have fallen to the wayside in order to focus on this massive project.  It's an interesting phase in life, a all-encompassing hiatus, sorta like getting a degree or having a newborn.

Nonetheless, I just had a much-needed vacation and went to Georgia for the American Herbalist Guild Symposium and also got to explore some of the surrounding mountains of the Chattahochee National Forest.  It's gorgeous down there!  The vibrant, yet gentle, light and color of the changing leaves soothed my soul.  I want to share a few of the highlights here; may they soothe you too.

First, a minute-long video for you to pause and take a deep breath and center yourself.
This was taken near a large waterfall which you will hear.  Just breathe as you watch; that is all you need to do.  Let the water wash away your tensions, your cares fall away with the leaves.

"Tension is who you think you should be.  

Relaxation is who you are." 

- Chinese Proverb

“You drown not by falling into a river, 

but by staying submerged in it.”

- Paulo Coelho

"I planted my self in the middle of a great many Glasses full of Dew, tied fast about me, upon which the Sun so violently darted his Rays, that the Heat, which attracted them, as it does the thickest Clouds, carried me up so high, that at length I found my self above the middle Region of the Air."
 - Cyrano de Bergerac

Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding 

that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. 

The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.” 

- Terry Tempest Williams

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

but in having new eyes."

 - Marcel Proust  

“A Woman in harmony with her spirit

is like a river flowing.

She goes where she will without pretense 

and arrives at her destination

prepared to be herself

and only herself ” - Maya Angelou

“The most common form of despair is not being who you are.” 

― Søren Kierkegaard

“Omnia mutantur, nihil interit”
(Everything changes, nothing perishes)
― Ovid, Metamorphoses  

“Trees are sanctuaries. 

Whoever knows how to speak to them, 

whoever knows how to listen to them, 

can learn the truth. 

They do not preach learning and precepts, 

they preach, 

undeterred by particulars, 

the ancient law of life.”
-Hermann Hesse, 'Wandering'

“Poetry is what happens when nothing else can.” 
― Charles Bukowski

“Whether you try too hard to fit in 

or you try too hard to stand out, 

it is of equal consequence: 

you exhaust your significance.” 

― Criss Jami

“your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.” 

― Charles Bukowski, "The Laughing Heart."  from 'Betting on the Muse'

Breathe, the path awaits your presence...

Black Cats, Super Novas, and Flux

The Road before me
tree-lined, meadow-flanked
and upheld by blue mountains
that shift and fade
to blue sky.

My Mind before me
expansive as sky
clouds roll by
I watch
Truth beheld intermingling,

twinkling like pinpoints
of starlight exposed.
Sky goes dark
then one can see 
what could not be seen in daylight.

It alludes, best seen
when not looking directly
simply being
shows it all,
gives it all.

Like the mountain I sit, though moving.

The Universe casts her spell 
upon me
Knows Herself through me
holds opposites at one time.

The convoluted truth touches our skin
but briefly 
and is gone.
Transfigured.
A black cat in the night
eyes twinkling.

Ikigai

Ikigai is a Japanese word that translates roughly to "that which makes life worth living."
What is your Ikigai?  Creating is one of mine.  Collage is one of the ways I create.  I like that it uses waste materials - images from magazines that would get recycled - art from found materials.

Collage from the Archives, ATCs
Artist Trading Card Size:  2  1/2" x 3 1/2"

"Your life is your life, know it while you have it." - Charles Bukowski

Serviceberry and Wildflower Cake Bars - June's Delight

 I made these in honor of the Irises I smelled last week that smelled just like pound cake!  They were growing in a landscape client's garden, so I couldn't harvest them for cooking.  But I've come up with another option that I think will suit just fine - a blend of fresh wildflowers that are blooming at the moment:  

Honeysuckle, Elder, and Rose.  

Eating flowers serves to soothe the soul three times:  first, when you harvest in the sun with the pollinators flitting about, harvesting along with you, then when you are enchanted with the exquisite taste, and last once you digest and incorporate these fleeting floral gems of medicine into your body make-up.

...and native Serviceberries (Juneberries) are also ripening. 

I only have a little bit of Wild Rose to use, the native Rosa virginiana, because I don't want to take all or even a quarter of the flowers from my two small patches.  So, I have substituted a Rose I have trellised on the art studio.  The invasive Multiflora Rose would also be a great one to use, but it just finished blooming here.  You can use any fragrant Rose.

Notice the large spider bottom middle left of rock.  :)

The mixed batter before folding in the wild goodness.

Preheat oven 350.
Mix:
2 c. flour (I used sprouted Red Fife, a type of heirloom wheat, but use whatever you want).
1/2 tspn. salt
1 tspn. baking powder

Then add to the above:
1/2 c. hemp seeds
1 c. finely chopped cashews (measure before chopping, practically make a powder)

A *local* Super food! - and that really makes it Super!

I wish you could scratch and sniff this.  Sweet, heady, powerful, yet gentle.

In a separate bowl mix:
1 c. sugar (organic raw cane is ideal, I try to use organic everything all the time - not only is it healthy, but it supports farming that supports life:  the bees, the water, the air, us...).
3 Tbspn. butter/ghee/or a mild oil like avocado or walnut
2 eggs (please get yours from happy chickens, not from a factory)
1/2 c. hemp milk

Be sure to chop or cut the flowers into smaller pieces.

Then mix the dry ingredients into the wet.  Once mixed well, fold into it the flowers and berries.  You can substitute any other edible flowers or berries you wish.  This is what I used:
2 c. Elder flowers, Honeysuckle flowers, and Rose petals (about equal parts each)
1 c. Serviceberries

Looks like Magic?  It is.

Do not over mix, pour into greased baking dish (about 9" x 13"), spread evenly to sides.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool - if you can wait - and cut into squares.   Makes about 24 cake bars.

Then Bliss Out.  These flowers are cooling and relaxing - perfect for June's heat and activity.  Enjoy one, or two, while watching the clouds roll by...

Nom nom.  Late Spring in edible form.

“In every grain of wheat there lies hidden the soul of a star.” - Arthur Machen 'The Great God Pan.'

A catbird was harvesting those just out of my reach; I'm happy to share - they need to eat too.  You have to get to these coveted berries quick; like many of the wild delectables, they don't linger long.