The Free Radical

(Life Is a Long Song by Jethro Tull from their 1972 album Living in the Past… but this was taken from 20 Years of Tull five album set)

As my country (Canada) celebrates its birthday, we rejoice for reasons all our own, public and personal, as we stare into the scaffolding of the sun… Oh the light!

Remember Temperance… as Mercury stations direct again, unclogging our thought processes as we reach for the newest revelatory magic… and whatever Rodney may have done. The rewards for our patience are numerous and fun.

The petals of these lilies are some of my favourite flowers to nibble on. Not only are they pretty, but they’re crisp and mildly sweet. Now is the time when they surround the immediate environs of the swamp– rather abundantly.

The dogs too have their indulgences… I’m not too sure though what well-past-its-best-before-date critter Sitka has unearthed here.

The other two are more content to just contend for sticks in the wading (waiting) pool.

In the meantime, sharing these walks with proper herbalists yields valuable new knowledge. Pictured above are wild peas. The flowers are tastier than the finished pods… and both are rather abundant.

I’ve only been seriously foraging for about a year now and I’ve learned so much… yet I know for certain that I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of all that’s available. And maybe the best part is knowing that so many new discoveries still lie ahead!

It also seems that the more I interact with the living land around me, the more it responds to my appreciation and desire. The Earth ever bends her ear to compassionate service; whatever did we do to deserve such steadfast loyalty?

Life is indeed a long song… if we accept the many verses and refrains peeking out from even the unlikeliest places… The next weeks shall prove to be glorious! And then it really starts to get better!