Wild Things

You make my heart sing

Dear Readers,

Coming up my driveway a few weeks ago, I stopped to drink it all in. The Little Hill, as I’ve named her, had transitioned into the color of one of my favorite Crayola crayons - Goldenrod Yellow. 💛

There are several species of this magnificent native wild plant growing on the land here, and they all bloom at different times. So, I will live atop a golden hill well into the fall.

We’ve had a mild summer - no hot drought like last year - knock on wood, because the forecast for this week is hot and sweaty. It is August, after all. Can you believe it?

I was giddy with joy to see that Queen Yarrow had returned with abundant new growth. She was practically non-existent last summer.

And Queen Anne’s Lace has joined the wild party.

She’s everywhere on The Little Hill, waving her delicate lacy flowers alongside Goldenrod. If you’ve never caught a whiff of her, you don’t know what you’re missing. I like to sink my face into her dewy scent in the morning.

Wild aromatherapy.

Here she is helping Yarrow and Daisy Fleabane guard the Turtle nest.

I swear, if I am witness to even one baby Turtle making his or her way out of the underground nest, I won’t know what to do with myself. Stay tuned. I’ve been singing to them daily and, with the protection of two Queens, I feel like things might be moving along. Knock on wood, there has been no sign of a predator.

I counted. The nest is a mere eight feet from my patio door. Pinch me.

Note: Yesterday, I took a break from writing to go to the Post Office. I had an unexpected package, and you will never in your wildest dreams guess what it was.

A dear subscriber here at The Quaking Poplar named Sheila, who has supported this newsletter in so many ways, sent me a Turtle bracelet that comes with a tracking code for a Sea Turtle.

Her name is Sage. :) According to the map, she’s been traveling for 93 days off the coast of Florida. I don’t know how I feel about any wildlife being disturbed with a tracking device, but since Sage already has been, I’ll be checking in with her and sending so much love on her journey.

Looks like, on land (right outside my door) and at sea, I’ll be busy Turtle-watching.

Thank you, Sheila!! 🐢🩷

Wild Things.

You make my heart sing.

Heading back one morning from Gone-Away Pond, I stepped through the doorway that leads back into the woods:

Each time I enter the Magic of this forest - whether it’s green or white with snow - it feels like I’m passing through a portal into another dimension. Shamans call this the Middle World.

Quaking Poplar Grove along the path in the woods is spreading like crazy.

One day I walked past them on my way back from gathering some Elderflowers and stopped to say hello. I was silently wondering where the larger Poplars in the forest were when I almost stepped on this broken branch lying on the path. I brought her home with me, and she sits on my kitchen windowsill.

Earlier in the summer I noticed a Mullein plant growing between the house and the granite step:

There was no way I was going to yank her out.

I would say “Pardon me” as I stepped around her going in and out.

She soon shot up, and one day the lemon yellow flowers began to appear.

I got a “yes” from her when I asked to pluck some of her flowers to make Mullein oil, which is fantastic for earaches and wonky sinuses. I’ll dry some of her leaves, which you can tell are healing to our lungs just by looking at her:

I wonder if that little bug had a cough or was maybe grieving…

To be honest, mostly these days I just like being with the Wild Things.

They make my heart sing.

I don’t feel the need to make medicine with them as much anymore. When I first moved here, I went a little crazy making tinctures and oils. These days, it seems that just being with them is often healing enough.

This is Plant Spirit Medicine.

People so often confuse plant spirit medicine with the term plant medicine - often associated with the ceremonial ingesting of hallucinogens - whether in faraway places like Peru or in your own backyard. That has never been part of my path, but it is for many others.

Plant spirit medicine is the shamans way with plants. It recognizes that plants have spirit and that spirit is the strongest medicine. Spirit can heal the deepest reaches of the heart and soul.

There is nothing exotic about all this. Don't be misled by talk about the Amazon. If you want to meet the most powerful healing plants in the world, just open your door and step outside. They are growing all around you. If you don't believe me, or if you have a taste for romantic locations, you can try going elsewhere. But if you stay there long enough, it comes down to the same thing: dealing with the local weeds.

—Eliot Cowan: “Plant Spirit Medicine: A Journey into the Healing Wisdom of Plants”

Eliot was one of my teachers, and when our little group spent time with him, we would sit alone with a plant, talk with the plant, draw the plant, maybe nibble a bit if it was edible, and then we would journey to meet the spirit of the plant.

The longer I live here where the wild things grow in abundance, the more I simply sit with them. And not just when I have an ache or a pain.

One of the few plants I actually put into the ground here is a Japanese Dappled Willow. She’s not native to New Hampshire (obviously), and I feel a little guilty about planting her because of all the scolding that happens on the internet about non-native plants. But I wasn’t thinking of that when I saw her at the nursery that day. I was seduced by her dappled Pink fronds, and Willow was one of my first tree loves.

I planted her next to my patio, thinking she was just a small shrub. Guess again! I think all the wild ones growing around Willow adopted her and whispered their secrets for reaching monumental heights. I just went outside and measured her, in case you think I’m exaggerating. She’s roughly 11’x11’!

It’s Willow and Yarrow who grow alongside each other, whom I often sit with for their wisdom, or just to be in their energy. I’ve come to realize that there is nothing that helps me shift into a more balanced state than being around our Nature brothers and sisters - the plants and the animals.

Especially the Wild Ones.

They make my heart sing.

Please do not despair if you live in the city and you think you need a Forest or an Ocean, or wild animals showing up in your backyard, to experience a oneness with Nature.

I lived for over a decade in New York City, and that is where all of this began for me. Where I had access to teachers and healers. Where the unseen world became part of my dreams, and I learned how to journey to other realms.

Right in the middle of a concrete jungle.

I remember always looking up at the clouds.

Walking in the rain.

Searching for the moon between all of the high-rises.

Sitting by the river.

Making friends with local Trees.

The cities need open-hearted souls like those of you reading this who live there.

Your beautiful energy is critical to the health of the city and the planet - you better believe it. Now more than ever. Make friends with the Wild Ones in your own neighborhood.

I know that I’ve written all of this before - so please excuse me for being repetitive. I feel like July always brings this conversation to mind as I observe the wild growth that happens when you just let things be.

Here where I am now:

Mugwort is spreading profusely all around The Little Barn. She is pure Magic.

Every inch of land except for an area around the house that gets a haircut every few weeks is bursting with Wild Things. It’s comical that these plants…these survivors…these healers are called “weeds” with disdain.

There are Bears roaming.

Turtles getting ready to be born.

I have this note in my car and by my back door because when all the Turtle babes claw their way out of their nest in the ground, they will have to make their journey down the hill, across the road, to the wildlife sanctuary where there is water.

It would be a sad day indeed if Willow (my car) and I ran over a baby Turtle. :(

This is exactly how you become one with our Nature brothers and sisters.

By watching over a nest.

Leaving a plant to grow in a crack where we’re usually inclined to yank it out.

Saying hello.

Letting go of feeling superior to the plants and animals.

Paying attention.

Lest you think I’m a Nature saint - I am not. Just ask the bugs and the mice. :(

Much Love,
Barbara

P.S. And just for fun, because this song was in my head when my title muse came up with Wild Things (I added an s) - You make my heart sing - This is a super oldie - circa 1966 when I was 13 years old. Yes, we actually said “groovy” back in the day.

“Wild Thing” was written by Chip Taylor in 1965. It was made famous by The Troggs in 1966.

P.P.S. Want to know more about Goldenrod? Here’s Leah Larabell from High Garden Tea:

Or, if subscriptions aren’t for you but my writing has inspired or informed you in a significant way, here’s a link to make a one-time gift. 🩷

Happy August from The Little House, the Wild Ones, and Me!