The Free Radical

The Forest accommodates the play of light and shadow with equanimity and complex beauty…

(Shadow Shaping by Happy The Man from their 3rd album “Better Late” recorded at the band house in 1979 and released in 1989 on CD)

It’s been quite a season!

Whoever heard of raspberries in the middle of September? It’s been that kind of year– incredible abundance, paying no heed to linear time. The dandelions never went out of bloom; same goes for salsify. There’s still a few wild alfalfa blossoming right into autumn. Foraging has never been so easy!

I collect my breakfast and lunch out in the forest every day. Everything which I typically gather has responded to my appreciation by doubling or tripling its previous output!

The bearberries, now coming ripe, are countless little red sugar-bombs dispersed everywhere along my route. They combine well with the slightly bitter blossoms of sweet clover which lend a distinctly vanilla flavour or alternately with fifth-dimensional juniper berries which approach a flavour resembling cinnamon and assorted spices.

After the recent rains, hundreds of puffballs have come up along Sasquatch Alley. They make it too easy to fill my belly with unsweetened marshmallows having a slightly spiced mushroom flavour. Again, one couldn’t possibly eat them all!

Even the dogs are finding something of value in the very soil in the designated ‘power spots’ along the way. There are certain places where the dogs go literally nuts, expressing exuberant joy and unbounded energy. It happens every day. Now that the ground is moist again, all three of them have taken to digging in the ground at such ‘power spots’ in order to take a few mouthfuls of dirt. They’re after minerals and probiotics. “Eat dirt and live!” is their motto. Perhaps they’re ingesting a bit of the energetic magick therein contained too.

The Lookout (pictured above) and the Mesa are two such places. The ground in these places is pock-marked with numerous doggy diggings.

There has also recently been a significant inundation of bullshit along parts of our route. As we check the date on the calendar, there’s really no surprise. The thirteenth anniversary of 9/11 is nearly upon us. It’s the annual time for extra servings of bullshit served up by the minions of officialdom. As this is the thirteenth anniversary, I will have more to say on this matter later this afternoon; thirteen is a highly significant number; this is the one I’ve been waiting for!

Even the shadow-world is shaping up nicely… unless you’re still playing the duality game of “I’m right; you’re wrong.” And then the shadows are still shaping you into a feeble expression of timid light, relying solely upon a herd mentality requiring consensus.

Reality is a personal intimate relationship… in case you hadn’t noticed.