As I WasSaying Yesterday

We found Betony (Pedicularis Centranthera) and Verbena (gooddingii?) in bloom. Interesting, don't you think? that the very first medicinals in bloom are ones that calm us, help us sleep, give us a gentle attitude adjustment. Notice the frilly little leaves on the Betony that keep it from being confused with other non-medicinal plants that bloom early, too.

If You Go Out In the Woods Today

You might see an attack rabbit like this. We came around a bend in the trail and there it was -- crouched to spring. We barely escaped in time.

The wily wabbit tried to hide under a rock, thinking to surprise us on our way back -- but we saw it in time. Gotta be careful out there in the woods...

We also saw the first Betony -- an excellent sedative herb -- and soon after that we saw our first Verbena of the season in bloom -- yet another excellent sedative. So here on the first day of Spring we hear nature telling us to chill, relax, slow down. Okay!

I Love My New Painting!

I"ve known Jesse Wood since he was a fetus. Now he's an established Santa Fe artist and I'm blessed to have one of his paintings. He and Whitney brought "Alfredo" down to Abq on the RailRunner where I met them all for lunch and a stroll around the town.

Alfredo is the sheep on the left with the black spot -- a real sheep who was abandoned at birth but lived to tell about it -- or at least be painted. He was named for a man in a European hospital whose wife arrived daily to wring her hands at his bedside and cry "Oh Alfredo, you're not going to make it!" I'd like to tell you both Alfredos made it but I don't know the fate of the man with the doomsayer wife.

I love everything Jesse has ever painted from one of his very first -- a pointillistic Tabasco bottle. He shows at the Meyers East Gallery at 225 Canyon Road. Next time you're in Santa Fe, stop in and check out his work. Hey, wait! You can do that online by Googling Jesse Wood, Santa Fe artist! Meyer East has posted pics of a dozen or more of his paintings. I love his titles, too!

Meanwhile, Out in the Hills

Spring's a-poppin'... Well, sort of... The Bladderpod that was looking rather tentative last week, looks more assertive now. Sweet little clusters of it lining the trail -- along with Easter Daisy, Townsendia Exapa which wasn't in evidence at all last week.

G and I hiked up to Huck's Lookout where we -- well -- looked out... Great unpopulated vista to the north that makes me feel a little better about my shrinking habitat. Maybe it hasn't shrunk all that much.

Probably everyone but me has always known that if you click on a photo you can enlarge it hugely... I only recently discovered this and was blown away by the apricot blossom -- the one against the green ball. I get chills every time I look at it -- all that life beckoning in what looks like waxy waving tentacles. And then consider: a whole tree covered with that energy.

Here Comes Another One...

Just like the other one... Remember the Monty Python song? Okay so it is not just like the other one -- this glass ball in the background (hand blown by my brother back in the day when he was a glassblower) is green rather than blue and several of them adorn my apricot tree year-round. Apricots would be nice but these please me in their stead.

Chilly winds doth blow, snow showers persist and the apricot blossoms are getting decidedly ratty looking. I'm glad to have these
pictures.

Just When I'd Given Up Hope

I was beginning to think I'd never be able to post another photo again -- my internet service has been jacked for a week. Maybe whining helps. I like the way the sun is coming through the petals.

Missed photo op: The huge Mormon Tea plants in the hills outside Tucson glowing in the late afternoon amber light. Donna and I gathered some -- feeling the presence of Michael. I've always heard his voice talking about whatever plant I'm gathering -- now there's a presence, too. Thank you, Michael.

Kerfuffle

Two different news stories, one after the other on NPR a few days ago, used the word kerfuffle -- and now it's stuck in my mind, a persistent kerfuffling undercurrent. A somewhat larger kerfuffle right now is caused by my internet service, Higher Speed Internet, which I've come to understand means only slightly higher speed than dial-up. Right now it's s o o o o o slow I can't download the photo I want to post -- the always-too-early apricot blossoms in my backyard. Every year the tree is seduced into bloom by a short period of unseasonably warm temperatures in Feb. -- then is kerfuffled when winter resumes, treats the blossoms harshly and that's that -- no apricots.

Ahhhh -- kerfuffle kerfuffle kerfuffle. Perhaps this little post has exorcised that kerfuffle.

More not so unseasonable bloom observations: Bladderpod (the little mustard family yellow flower) and Perky Sue (a DYC) both seen along the trail to Valley of the Horses a few days ago when I hiked to the spot I believe will have a bloom of Pasque Flower sometime in April. I trust I'll be home from Spain in time to see it. I only have one day between that trip and the Michael Moore and American Herbalism Conference -- I've got to pack alot into that day!