Speaking Mountains

“Every part of creation is indebted for its life to the other parts of creation that have died and decayed so that it might live.” ~ Jessica Prentice   these old mountains, they tell stories in languages i don’t speak and yet i still press my ear to the ground and listen as if eves-dropping … Continue reading →

Elderberry Syrup Goodness

We just passed elderberry picking season. You can find them in their favorite place, a moist and vegetation-rich area, often-times near a stream or creek. There could be a species or two you could confuse with elderberry, but once you learn her serrated leaf shape and tell-tale white flowers in the early summer, you won’t … Continue reading →

The Buzz

A few months ago I went to a beekeeping workshop at the Laughing Waters Retreat Center in Gerton, NC (just east of Asheville). I started searching for a workshop to educate me on bees after I had had a conversation with a friend of mine from SF on bee colony collapse — it’s impact on … Continue reading →

Go to Yoga

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings have a human experience.” ~ Teilhard de Chardin go to yoga but don’t get lost in the fancy clothes or the accuracy of the pose or where you can put your nose you don’t even need a mat they’re rolled up in … Continue reading →

As the Fall draws near

in the whispering tree forest where wind sways branches where sun barely reaches core there — on the forest floor leaves are piling thick as the Fall nears feathers, stones, dust and dirt, the bones of the dead are scattered and matted until the floor becomes dense with the memories of what was before. in … Continue reading →

Car Insurance Policy

Karen refugees in Thailand today i called to see if i could get a different rate on my car insurance policy in the folds of this thin paper conversation, i began to hear you and your tales of the struggles of a people far away and i forgot all my bargaining i hadn’t owned a … Continue reading →

Might as well

is it the fear of living or the fear of dying that scares you most? or, maybe you dance lightly between these places saying your graces appeasing the growing sound of your own name? might as well make friends with both, and tone your heart for the journey you have to make from birth, inhale … Continue reading →

Chai Banana Sorghum Muffins (GF)

I was inspired to create this recipe while working at a silent, contemplate (vegetarian) retreat center.  I was the breakfast cook.  Well, actually I was the Retreat Manager but breakfast was part of my tasks on our 4-person staff. Since, I was in Appalachia, I explored local ingredients.  So, of course, I began to consider … Continue reading →

Womanhood, Sketch #1

“The major challenge for women is that we have knotted ourselves so firmly into the awkward, rhythmless, dissonant, societal system that we can barely breathe — much less think of breaking free from it.” ~ Maya Tiwari in “Women’s Power to Heal” When was it that I learned to be a woman? Was it when … Continue reading →