The Invincible Calm

This Spring, my mom and I attended a Wildflower Symposium at Bear Creek Lake State Park. We got to go on a rainy wildflower walk, learn about various edible wildflowers in our area, and hear some great speakers talk about how we can use plants growing around us. We also got some great book and app recommendations, and soon after I downloaded PictureId and went to snapping pics of my yard.  This post is going to include some helpful wildflower info, so read on! The first pic I have here is the yard plantain. There are a couple of different species around here- blackseed and broadleaf are two. Some folks use the broadleaf in a salad, when its young, and the leaves are small and tender. Mostly it's been used as an antihistamine. Crush some up (chew it, grind it between your fingers) and put it on bug bites and bee stings.  Here's my own little testimonial: Karl Wayne got stung by a bee over his eye, a few months ago. Some chewed-up yard plantain took the swelling down within the ...

In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that… In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back. -Albert Camus (maybe...) The title of this blog has kept me from starting it for a little over a month now (I'm smiling at my own self-consciousness while I'm writing this, btw). Titles are a bitch. Most writers save titles for the end, or some profound moment in the writing process, in which the title comes to them, as if it were there all along, invisible, floating around alongside Ideas and Epiphanies. Titles are a bitch, and I'm a little self-conscious, with this weird dose of ...