Blog
Slow Spring
Spring has crept into these mountains like slow rain. Soft and almost imperceptible, if not for the bright flashes of forsythia and cherry trees, the early Lonicera and pussy willows, the red maples with their tufted rings of tiny crimson blooms. If you look, there are crocuses and speedwells flattened to the ground and…
How to Make Herbal Love Potions: Infused Honeys, Elixirs & Aphrodisiac Recipes
I thought I’d share some of the more delicious material from my Love Potions class last night at Villagers. It was an intimate group of old comrades and new friends, gathered together to smell and taste a whole chest of aphrodisiacs… as well as chocolates, elixirs, flower essences and the ambiance of a most…
January Stillness
The older I get, the deeper my love for winter grows. Bemoaned for its long nights, dull days and monotonous cold, January is often everyone’s least favorite month. There are barely any dates of note on the calendar (with the exception of today, Martin Luther King day). Compared to the pomp and celebratory splendor…
The Holidays & Why I Believe in Magic
These days I’m part of a community that largely does not celebrate the holidays or, more generally, questions the season as a cause for celebration at all. I often find myself defending my fierce love of Christmas (which was the holiday my family chose to celebrate growing up). Fumbling over words, I try to…
Introducing: One Willow Apothecaries
Today is one of those days that will stick out, alive and vibrant, in my mind forever. After over a year of writing, developing, photographing, and exploring I have pushed my small boat out into the harbor– One Willow Apothecaries has launched! Over a year ago, the idea first appeared in the high meadows…
Thanks Giving: A Precious Cycle
Giving and Gratitude is a precious cycle of exchange that keeps us vital and alive. Every day, in a million ways, we are given incredible gifts. Sunlight, air, vision, purpose, family, and amazing opportunities for growth. These gifts are rained down upon us, softening the hard landscapes of our existence, encouraging us to…
Fall Harvest & Deep Colors
Autumn has passed swiftly. In one momentous sweep the mountains around my home turned from yellow, to gold, to amber, to ruby and then finally– with a last groan– to earth and brown. Here in the Blue Ridge we watch steadily for that first bit of color. It seeps down from the top…
Exotic LA
It was the beginning of August and I was home for a hurried weekend before I rushed off once again to foreign lands. This time, I was traveling to LA. My family had rented a house up on the high bluff of Pacific Palasaides so we could spend time with my sister in…
