The Silver Lining

In the week since the new regime was formally installed in the Oval office – I have vascillted between anger and despair, outrage and hopelessness.

Many of my friends and some of my family have been in much the same state of emotional turbulence for the same reason.

This new regime has proved itself the ‘schoolyard bully’ – and in one week has done more to promote a civil war since, well….. since the Civil War. This regime has trod upon the rights of Indigenous peoples, Muslims, women, the poor, immigrants…. in just ONE week.

Yet – out of this turmoil have come new leaders. Out of this disaster have come people willing to fight wrong – people who love people have come together to support many marginalized people whose marginalization has been made incrementally worse.

This nightmare has brought out the best in so many. It has overturned the apathy that has existed since the VietNam era.

We care.

Americans care.

It shows. The creativity of governmental departments in getting around “gag orders”. The incredible outpouring of men and women who marched in many cities around the globe in support of all that is -or was- good – all that is being lost or will be lost. The impromptu protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone-XL. The strike by taxi drivers. The protests at airports across the nation. Lawyers sitting on the floor of airports createing habeous writs in support of people currently being detained unjustly – pro bono!! We are rising!! We are awakening!!

Right now – they have the power. It is our clear duty as citizens to peacfully change that.

The America I know and love welcomes “tired, the poor, the huddled masses” (thank you Emma Lazarus). The America I know and love wants equality for women, for Muslims, for Indigenous – indeed for all people. The America I know and love is a humanitarian and technological leader!! The America I know defends free speech!

The America I know and love is NOT without fault – its run by a bunch of humans – fallible creatures at best. I know – I am also a fallible human.

But the America I know and love tries to overcome those failings. We try to be better. And we are trying now, still.

At what price my birth?

Is it worth so much that I be born only to die?
Is it worth so much that I be born only to be left on a curb?
Is it worth so much that I be born only to starve?
Is it worth so much to be born that I will be a slave?

What about me?
What will you say when I am so full of despair that I take my own life?
What will you say when I am so full of wanting love that I take my own life because no one cares?
What will you say when I am so full of wanting food to fill my belly and am given none?
What will you say when I am born ……. only to die.
In a garbage dump. Or on a hillside.
To have meant nothing but a number.
To have been nothing but a corpse.
Why does my being born matter when I have no meaning?
Why does my being born matter when my parents care to give nothing?
Why does my being born matter when my parents WILL give nothing?
Why does my being born matter when I am nothing but a statistic on your chart?
Why do you need me to live in pain for all of my miserable life – however short -OR LONG- it might be -when my parent(s) do not want me yet keep me because you say she/they (mostly she) must?
Why do you need me to live in pain for all my life because I want to give back and cannot?
Why do you need me to live in fear all my life because you have not cared for my basic needs? Not my wants – my NEEDS!
Why do you need for me to be born only to be cast away? To be hated? To be unloved?
To assuage your guilty concience?
To make you feel ok?
To make you feel better about what?
Why do I need to live to make YOU feel better?
If I have no chance to have a family
If I have no chance to be a person
If I am and will be a number all my life
If I am hated by my mother
If I am unknown and unwanted by my father
If I am unwanted by my mother
If I am hated for that which I CANNOT CHANGE!!
Why????
Why do you INSIST on my birth?
You will not care for me – you will cast me to the curbside
You will not care for me – you will institutionalize me
You will not give me love – you will expect others to do that
You will not rear me – you believe I am beneath you
You will not give me values – you do not believe I am worthy
You will feed me grudgingly while blaming my biological parents for their selfishness and stupidity and lack of self control.
You will feed me grudgingly while blaming my parents for not being parents.
THESE ARE NOT MY FAULTS!!!
I did NOT decide to be a fetus
That was the decision of the sperm and egg donor.
I did NOT decide to be born!!
This was YOUR decision!!!!!!!

You will hate my father but you will not bring him to justice.
You will abhor my father but you will not discern who my father is.
You will abhor my father – but you will NOT hold him responsible for me – because you will not find him.
You will hate my mother because she did not know how to protect herself.
You will hate my mother because she wanted love.
You will blame my mother for being a loving person because she wanted what my father had no intention of giving.
You will blame my mother for being a whore.
You resent me for all that I am.
You resent me for all that I am not.
You will hate me for every dollar you must spend on my care.
When I grow up – you will turn me loose on society with nothing and expect me to make my way in this world.
You will turn on me because I only know hate and return in kind.
But your conscience says that I must be born.
I DO NOT WANT TO BE BORN!!!!!!!!!!!
I DO NOT WANT TO BE HATED!!!!!!!!!!
I DO NOT WANT TO BE RESENTED!!!!
LET ME DIE with DIGNITY
PLEASE!!!!

Words

Humans – we are tied to words. They are our best friends. They are our worst enemies.

Concrete proof things that are see-able, knowable, touchable.
Concepts like love and hate can only be understood by each other and the degree of difference in each.

White is the absence of all colour.

Black is the presence of all colour.

Colour – the specific measurement of a specific space between the absence and presence of all colour.

For humans to understand peace – conflict, its antithesis, MUST exist.

For humans to understand love – hate, its antithesis, MUST exist.

We create words to define all the various measured spaces in between black and white.

We create words to define all the various measured spaces between love and hate.

Yet – these spaces……….. are simply man-made constructs.

Time is nothing more than a unit of measurement. It does NOT exist in the physical sense. It cannot be touched, felt, smelled, or heard.
Man created time to mark that which is in between a sunrise and a sunset, between each equinox, between each solstice.
Why do we yet allow ourselves to be slaves to these constructs? Why must we interact ONLY upon the basis of these man-created constructs?

In all of the animal kingdom, only homo sapiens do this. Only homo sapiens have had the need to create lines around everything, to put every idea or thought in a box with definitive borders. Every time I see a video of or read about non-homo sapiens species interacting peacefully and lovingly – I wonder what good all these lines and constructs really are. Is there violence in the animal kingdom? Most definitely. But –  the violence, with rare exception, is confined to the need for survival of the self and species.

Only homo sapiens create and perpetrate violence for NO reason.
Only homo sapiens create and perpetrate violence for borders.

How much could we accomplish WITHOUT borders? Without time. Without words? Perhaps we could not build buildings. Perhaps we could not reach the moon or Mars. Probably not computers either….. Are these so necessary? At what price?

If borders were unnecessary,  if time were unnecessary, if it were unnecessary to define every single small portion of our days, our lives, our living spaces, our minds, into small, precisely defined constructs.. what could we accomplish then?

What about not having borders?

Without the borders of race – how could racism exist?

Without the borders of country – how could wars of territory happen? How could immigration be a problem?

Without the borders of religion – there could be no religious wars. No terrorism.

No walls. No borders. No lines.

Some call this chaos.

I call it limitless possibilities for understanding and harmony.

Pissing People Off

Yeah 🙂
I realized that I have a lot to say. I’ve also realized that no one is reading what I say. Therefore, I am now free to say all the things I’ve held back.

So – lets start with Black Lives Matter.

They do.

But – I can’t get behind the movement for ONE reason – and  its because I am too literal. That statement says to me that ONLY Black lives matter. I know that is NOT the intent – but, that IS what is being said.

Now – if ya’all want to add ONE MORE WORD – I’m good and I will happily jump on the bandwagon with ya. I DO see “white” privilege. I DO get that blacks are assumed to be guilty until proven innocent. I’m not sayin ya’all are NOT discriminated against… I just HAVE to argue the verbiage. You need one more word……….. just one.

That word is “Too”.

Make it Black Lives Matter Too. or All Lives Matter – I’m REALLY REALLY Good with that one!  Here is why.

Black Lives Matter singles out ONE group of people that matters and forgets or obliterates all others. Because the FIRST word is “BLACK”. I am not buying that, sorry.  Blacks are just NOT the only folks that are being discriminated against. How many years have the Jews been discriminated against? Hint – that discrimination goes back to BEFORE the birth of Jesus. And what about all Indigenous Peoples (pick a country – “white folk” kinda took most of them over and pushed the original inhabitants around probably more than Blacks were – just based on the length of time that type of discrimination has been around), Hindi, Palestinian, Latino, LGBT and Syrian?

Singling out ONE group of people that do matter puts one race above others. The last 100 years should have told us that this is destined for failure.

Lets take ERISA. Remember that? Back in the 70s – we worried about equality by the numbers. So if an area was 70% black – a company had to employ something close to that number of African Americans – or risk significant fines. Sounds good, right?

Nope.

ERISA caused reverse discrimination. We white folk watched African Americans that SHOULD not have gotten jobs get them…. based solely on the fact that they were NOT white. Same thing with schools – magnet schools – proportions mattered, ability – not so much. Filling quotas is wrong. Filling the job with the best candidate with regard ONLY to whom can best perform the tasks necessary for the job – that’s good.

When you put one group of people over another to avoid a fine – you have NOT fixed the problem – you have actually CAUSED another problem. You can’t end racism by singling out ONE race (or 2 or 3) that “matters” more than others. That’s STILL “racism”. Racism does not specifically refer to African Americans. Racism is about supremacy based on race – period. There are MANY races on this planet we call home – and there are MANY that are discriminated against.

I know we can argue semantics all day. At the end of the day – I’m still going to agree with what the movement is about – but NOT with the words.

Oh yeah – I DO agree with the movement. Cuz ya – African Americans ARE still discriminated against here in the land of the not-so-free-but-definitely-brave. They ARE still (percentages people, not numbers) the majority of the occupants of jail cells and many are stopped for the awful crime (? ) of ‘driving while Black’.  I DO get the point. And I get that most African Americans are NOT “thugs” (although – sporting the “jailing” style does NOT help the image – aside from looking hideous (my personal opinion) remember where that comes from!!)

I just know that Muslims, Syrians, LGBT, Trans, oh – yeah – and Indigenous People of EVERY nation – suffer the same fate – denigration due to ancestry…..  I know that the primary message of this movement is that ALL humans are EQUAL – not ‘just’ Black Americans.
The thing we forgot here is that the crime is racism. Racism is jealousy or hatred based strictly on race. And that affects FAR more than JUST Black lives.

So – just work with me here? Make me (the literal “Grammar Nazi” ) happy?  Change your wording. Please? Cuz its not JUST one people. K?

 

 

 

 

Water is LIFE

 

Business’s  and  Corporations

In our capitalist society, business’s and corporations have one, and ONLY one purpose in life. That purpose is to make money. If a business does that – it is successful. If it does not, it is not. If it makes money – it does not matter HOW it does that. As long as it does – it has satisfied its purpose – and the even “higher” purpose (where applicable as not every company has shares which are “traded”) of satisfying its “fiduciary duty” to its shareholders.

“Fiduciary duty” – is why stockholders generally are against any unionization. With a union, a strike can be declared if a majority of workers feel they are not being treated fairly. Read some of the stock message boards of companies whose unions are in the process of renegotiating its workers contracts and you will quickly find that most shareholders have nothing nice to say to union folks when a strike is imminent.

Fiduciary duty is why corporations are lauded for laying off their workers – cost savings for companies equates to happy stock analysts and happy shareholders. (Are you asking yet why laying off workers is lauded and so are large bonus’s for upper management yet? If you are – GOOD – you are obviously thinking!) Fiduciary duty is a good reason to remove 1/2 the light bulbs from overhead lights in an office. Does that seem ridiculous? It happened.

Yes – business’s and corporations (two different things with the same purpose) DO have to abide by laws and regulations set forth at a local, state, and federal level. These laws and regulations are, in fact, VOLUMINOUS and costly. However – HOW these businesses and corporations make their money is immaterial to its ultimate purpose. This can, and does, include things like “payoffs” and “PAC”s, and shortcuts to approvals. To NOT make money in any way legally possible would go against one (and in some cases BOTH ) purposes of the business/corporation.

Business is under NO obligation to have morals. Business is under NO obligation to care about the people they affect in any way. In fact – this philosophy has been cultivated more in the last 30 years than at any other time before. At one time – it was thought that good customer service and a good product were all that was needed to make a business successful. Sam Walton proved that. (Sam – NOT his decendants). At one time, it was thought that spending on the workers and research and development was extremely helpful in making a business successful.

Today – business has turned to the overall philosophy of “cost-cutting”. This is the resounding philosophy today in the corporate world. Because every penny saved is a penny earned. But is it?

Governments

Wondering yet what Business and Governments have to do with Water is Life? Patience please. Bear with me- I promise I will get there.

Theoretically, governments are BY the people and FOR the people. Each state has the right to tighten (but not loosen) any federal law or regulation. Each city has the right to tighten (but not loosen) any state law or regulation.

All laws and regulations, being BY the people and FOR the people – must therefore be good for the MAJORITY of the people. This includes short term as well as the long term. Governments have a “fiduciary duty” to their “shareholders” too. Let me translate that – governments have the duty to the taxpayers (“shareholders”) to spend their tax dollars wisely (“fiduciary duty”) thus ensuring that taxpayers are not unduly burdened by their financial obligations to the greater good.

How THEY do that DOES matter. They DO have a moral obligation to their “shareholders” (us), -or taxpayers(us again)- as well as a fiduciary duty to them (us still).

The phrase “BY the people” is generally understood to mean that our elected officials are “everyday citizens” who are elected fairly AND they do their level best “FOR the people”. These people are no better AND NO WORSE than anyone in the general populace. In theory, any person who has reached the age of 35, has been a US citizen for more than 14 years (according to our Constitution: link here ) can become president. There is nothing saying one must be independently wealthy or have a college degree.

The phrase “FOR the people” is generally understood to be ALL people – or every current AND FUTURE tax-paying citizen. That is the theory. (please do note the use of the word “theory”. ) .

One more thing before I get to my point………

In a letter to the Danbury (CT) Baptist Church,  Thomas Jefferson (yes, I know he was a slave owner and not a particularly nice one – nevertheless – he IS one of our country’s “Founding Fathers” – and it is in this capacity that I mention him) stated,  “legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. ”

Please find here the transcript of that letter for your reference.

Therefore, the intention of the Founding Fathers was to keep specific religion OUT of the running of the country. This, NOT religious involvement, would KEEP the religious freedoms which was a HUGE concern of most of our British ancestors. This does NOT mean that morality must ALSO go out the window – far from it. This means that morality is morality without regard to religious rules. So – murder is murder – in ANY religion. And I think we can all agree that murder is wrong.
For edification – my use of the word ‘murder’ means pre-meditated taking of another’s life for ones own gain. To further refine – ‘murder’ also does NOT include categories like abortion, medically-assisted termination of ones life, unintentional death (accident), or defense of ones own (or loved one’s) life. These are separate, and contentious issues which I will NOT address herein – nor will I respond in comments to same. They can be addressed – but not here.

One More Side Trip

The Chairman of Nestle Corp did NOT state that water is not a basic human right. What he DID state was a sad attestation to the inhumanity of capitalism. To paraphrase – he said that all people have a right to clean water for the necessities such as drinking and agriculture. He also said that we do NOT have the right to water for such things as washing cars and watering lawns. He said that the best way we can guarantee the investment in getting clean water to people is to put a value on it. Translation: give it a dollar value, give each person a “free” allotment, they can pay for the rest.

For Peter Brabeck-Letmathe’s (Nestle Chairman) actual statement, please go here.

 

We the People

We the people have a right to a safe water supply.  For edification – when I say ‘We the People’ – I am, indeed, referring to ALL humanity WITHOUT exception.

While Article 25 from the Declaration of Human rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly does not EXPLICITLY state that all people have the right to a safe water supply, one can reasonably assume, based on the fact that ALL life requires some form of water to survive, that it does indeed IMPLICITLY state that water is a basic human right.

Excerpt – Article 25
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”

The entire Declaration can be found here.

Why I Stand with Standing Rock

Pipelines of all sorts wander across this country from one end to the next. Spills from these pipelines ALSO wander across this country from one end to the next. Spills surround us. Everyone was outraged over the BP spill in the Gulf a few years back. Does anyone know about the current one? Does anyone have any idea how many there have been in just the last 16 years?

Did you know about the faulty pipeline that can’t be found?

Energy Transfer Partners – the company constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline has said that this pipeline will create many new jobs. That is true – during the construction phase only.

Full  statement to ETP employees by Kelcie Warren

This pipeline good for the economy. That is also true. Again – mostly during the construction phase. After construction, which is due to be completed this year (2016), there will be state and federal tax revenue.

A pipeline is the safest way to transport crude oil. This is VERY true.

It is equally true that solar energy and wind energy are real, useable, manageable, renewable, and as CLEAN as we can make them at this point.

We have known for decades that we have an unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels. So why are we allowing ourselves to CONTINUE the dependence on it?

Instead of asking why gasoline is not cheaper – it is time to ask why the electric and hybrid cars have not become commonplace. Electric cars have been around since 1859. Why are they still cost-prohibitive? Why are they still “ugly”. Why are there not more charging stations available?

Ask why solar energy is not commonplace?

Ask why wind energy is not commonplace?

And while you are at it – ask the government why rainwater collection is illegal in most places.

I digress…………

 

CHANGE

We cannot force business’s to become moral. This goes against their sole purpose – which is to make money. Business, by its very nature, cannot have a conscience – nor should it be required to do so as that would imperil the capitalistic theory they were built upon. (Or maybe they should? Again – another discussion.)

However, together, we CAN force our government – our “FOR THE PEOPLE” government to do its job. This job includes overseeing thoroughly what companies can and can’t do. This means protecting the people – ALL the people. This means stopping what happened in Flint MI from ever happening again. This means stopping the Yellowstone spill, the BP Gulf of Mexico Spill, the Exxon Valdez spill and hundreds (possibly thousands) of other “spills” from EVER occurring again.

It is past time for a change. Far past time. This change will not have much of an impact in our lifetimes. Further, if we keep moving to rely on fossil fuels – this will not have much of an impact in our lifetimes. At least not on our individual lives. Likely it will not have a great impact either way on our children.

What about our children’s children?

Will we keep destroying THEIR world for our greed?

Change is hard.

No change will mean our extinction as a species.

Climate change is real. It always has been. Humans did NOT start climate change. Nor can they END it. Humans have EXACERBATED and ACCELERATED climate change by 110%.

We CAN change now. We CAN slow down the inevitable. One pipeline at a time.

WE THE PEOPLE

Or we can wait until after the last tree has been chopped

Or perhaps after the last fish has been eaten

Or perhaps after the last drop of clean water is gone…………………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rant 2 – for the Ladies

Ladies – for those of you planning to vote for Mr. Trump, what the HELL are you thinking???? The only uses Mr. Trump has for women are in the bedroom and kitchen. If he has NOT yet made that disturbingly clear, please, I IMPLORE you – READ THE NEWS!!!!!!!!!
We have FOUGHT for the right to vote! We have FOUGHT to get OUT of the bedroom and INTO the boardroom!
We have FOUGHT for the right to ALL healthcare!
What makes you think that these rights we have FOUGHT for will be intact at the end of a Trump presidency?

Good grief – please look at the legislation his running mate has signed into law – bringing the same punishment for a miscarriage as for an abortion????? ARE YA KIDDING ME????? C’mon – all you Good Christian Women – how many women do YOU know who would deliberately induce a miscarriage? Aileen Sournos maybe ………. but gee whiz. A miscarriage is one of the most TRAUMATIC things a woman can GO thru!!!

African American women – this goes DOUBLE for you!!!
Islamic women – you can’t be citizens anyway so take your kid and leave…..
And Mexican women – how do you like that wall thang…….
Oh you non-white women want a better life for your children???
WELL DON”T DO IT HERE IN DONALD TRUMP’S AMERICA CUZ YOU ALL TRASH….murderers, thieves, prostitutes, drug dealers and terrorists………..
Ladies – Have you women NOT heard ANY OF THIS???????
Is it all news to you?????

I’m NOT saying Mrs. Clinton is the “right” choice.
For women – she is merely the BETTER choice OF THE TWO evils.

LETS STAND UP FOR OURSELVES
LETS FIND a candidate that will NOT be the LESSER of the evils!!!!!

Blogging

I decided to start actually blogging again. This presidential election has me more worried, upset and fearful for the future than the 2008 election.
so – Rant Part 1
‘splain me something. Why are we just giving up? Why are we just voting for the lesser of the evils?
Again.
Still
Why are we accepting the status quo? Why does it HAVE to be EITHER Trump or Clinton?
Why?
Because the Republican party said so?
Because the Democratic party said so?
Because we MUST have either a Republican or a Democrat?
Because we have to keep Ms. Benghazi and her missing emails out of the White House?
Because we have to keep a narcissistic demagogue out of the White House?

Where did the THINKERS go?
Where did the DOERS go?
Where is the United States that was NOT ACCEPTING of the status quo?
Where is the United States that fought against taxation without representation?
Where is the United States that people came to in droves to practice their religions, -or NO religion- in peace?
Where is this freedom of which people speak?

I am no intellectual giant by any means – but I DO know this:
EVERY vote FOR Mrs. Clinton in order to PREVENT Mr. Trump from getting into the White House is a vote WASTED.
EVERY vote FOR Mr. Trump in order to PREVENT Mrs. Clinton from getting into the White House is a vote WASTED.
There is NO REASON these nominations cannot be overturned! Yeah yeah – I get that we have 3 months till November – SO WHAT? I get that its never been done before. SO WHAT???
WE BUILT A COUNTRY on doing what had never been done before!!!!!!!!!
So – what happened United States? When did we get so bloody apathetic???????

So, about last year

Yeah – it was a bust.
Got all my seeds and plotted out the garden but never had the time to actually PLANT the darn thing. sigh…… I’m DETERMINED to do so this year. Which means by end of this month, I will need to at least get the plot re-prepped.

Blogging was also a bust last year – so much of the best laid plans from last year were a bust. But – that is ok – cuz there was a lot good about last year. A REAL lot. So much discovery! Learning. Growing.

My sister and I got in touch again a few years back – this year, though – we REALLY spent a lot of time together. I got to know her husband fairly well – they are well matched and I’m so very happy for her.  She and I needed the space that we had while we had it – to grow in the directions we were growing. The time came to reconnect – and here we are!

They helped me out a lot in the summer and fall with the house – but, my favorite parts of last year were our wanderings earlier on ….  They are free spirits – like me – who love to wander…. and wander we did. We share a love of Mother and all her creations and a total respect for the same. So our wanderings together were comfortable and fun. For so long, I’ve been photographing and wandering this state, finding places that were lost, re-discovering places once loved – and wondering why there weren’t people in my life that could and/or would do the things I love with me  – and then ‘poof’ – there they were!

Well – there she was. Husband is not so much a woodsman as a cave cat – give him a cave with a few geeky toys to play with and a little a/c power – and he is a happy camper.

My sister’s name is Diana. I think of her as the Roman Goddess of the Hunt. I do not know if she was named for same – but, the name suits her – she is a huntress – but not of critters – unless necessary. A skill I do not posess. She posesses many skills I do not. As I posess many skills she does not. And so we achieve balance together by sharing those skills and knowledge. Her hunt is much the same as mine – this drift through space and time to become as in tune with the earth and all of nature as possible. To leave no footprint. To take only what is needed. To leave a better world behind us when we finally sleep.

Onward – to gardens of herbs and vegetables!

Herb Garden Article 1

I believe starting an herb garden might be on my agenda for this year. Some of what I wish to plant are healing herbs. Some can be used as a poultice and some as teas, others can be distilled into oils, all can be used in the culinary arts.

First up – basil. I’ve used it many times in sauce (or gravy as my Italian friends call it). Ocimum basilicum is its Latin name. It contains beta-caryophyllene (BCP), which can be used to alleviate the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. This plant prefer’s lots of sunlight and heat. Basil is also very toxic to mosquitos – a pleasant side-effect, in my opinion.

Next on the list – German chamomille or Matricaria chamomilla. Frequently used as a sleep aid or to calm irritable bowel syndrome – it is also a mild laxative with anti-inflammatory and bactericidal characteristics. This plant also like full sun. 

Lemon Balm or Melissa officinalis is part of the mint family. And like mint, it can and does grow ‘like a weed’. While this may inhibit the absorption of thyroid medications, it has been found to be useful in lowering stress and improving cognitive ability. Crushed leaves are an effective mosquito repellent, and has been shown to have high antioxidant properties. 

Parsley is another wonderful cooking herb and is often used as a garnish. Petroselinum crispum requires well-drained soil and full sun. This herb has very high antioxidant properties….. and Ms. Honey Rabbit has specifically requested this (along with broccoli).

Sage – Salvia officinalis – leaves are crushed in boiling water and the fumes inhaled as a treatment for respiratory ailments like asthma. Some scientific studies have been done showing the potential for sage to be useful in management of Alzheimers disease. Sage has also long been recognized for its anti-sweating, antibiotic, anti-fungal, antispasmodic, and astringent uses. As with most herbs, sage would like to have lots of sun and well-drained soil.

Thyme – yep – requires lots of sun and well-drained soil. (are we sensing a familiar theme here?). Excellent for toenail fungus, and before modern antibiotics – a distillation called thymol was frequently used as an antiseptic in some familiar household products such as Listerine.  

Rosmarinus officinalis or Rosemary (are you singing along to Scarborough Fair yet? ) is another lovely antioxidant, antiseptic – and good for the memory.

Finally – we have Lavandula angustifolia or Lavendar – can be used either as a tea or essential oil. Aside from looking pretty (which, by the way – ALL of these plants do, in my opinion (might have something to do with their pink and purple hues), the oil is an excellent burn salve and sleep aid.

Now, I know I can grow most of these as I have good soil and sun. My next challenge will be to learn to distill the oils!

First Order Of Business

Iris – the model for the French Fleur-de-Lis, and the representation of faith, wisdom, cherished friendship, hope and valor. It comes in many sizes, and colors.  This lovely flower blooms in early to mid-spring in the Northeast US. Some have a most beautiful scent – others have no scent at all! 

Iris are incredibly hardy plants – if given the room, over time they will spread happily. They need very little in the way of actual care – which is good for those of us who have green thumbs but no time to be the gardener we’d like to be! They seem to do very well in partial sun.  

The juice of the root has been utilized in the treatment of edema – swelling of extremities – which can often be tied to heart disease. 

As a homeowner, I had scented and bearded blue iris’s and unscented yellow growing in my garden. Left from a previous owner who had once been a phenomenal gardener, the three plants we started with spread around our ‘bog of doom’ garden. Since they had such a healthy start, it was very easy to coax them into encircling the ‘E’ shaped fish pond; or “bog of doom”. 

The Bog Of Doom as we called it, was once a goldfish pond. There was a water pipe from the house to the pond which was built and bordered with small round stones. The “top” and “middle” of the E was only perhaps a foot deep. The “bottom” – well – that is why it got the name “bog of doom” – this section was a good 5 feet deep and collected more fallen leaves than our city picks up bags of them! Periodically, we’d clean this out with the intent of someday restoring the fish pond to its former glory. We never did quite get around to it due to my fear that one of the neighborhood children might consider taking a swim in it……….  

The Iris’ are probably the biggest reason I miss that house. I found their beauty and scent intoxicating…. 

This particular photo was taken in Milford at the Audubon Society in the spring of 2012.