Leeking Information...

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For the past week I have caused several people to be in a perplexed state.

While looking for wild leeks, I came upon an unfamiliar wildflower and of course photographed it. As soon as the pictures were downloaded and viewable, I set about trying to connect a name to the mysterious greenish-purple critter.

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That turned out to be not so easy, and in fact by the time a local naturalist saw and recognized it, there were at least four knowledgeable people thumbing through field guides and botany books and scratching their heads.
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It was finally identified as blue cohosh, an herb known as "a powerful women's ally, who's main action is on the uterus." Reportedly (on the all-knowing, ever-truthful Internet), it can be used for everything from contraception to menstrual cramps, and although one writer reported that it didn't work for her, blue cohosh might be used in combination with pennyroyal and black cohosh to induce abortion. As you might expect, you are warned against overuse...

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Just imagine: there is something growing in my lovely woods that those opposed to CHOICE might find unholy. How nice!.

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Fortunately, the search committee is not tainted by any such concerns, and all agreed that this is a lovely and interesting denizen of our spring surroundings. It's not as pretty as trillium, perhaps...

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but the greatest blessing Mother Nature gives to us is the diversity of her children. If I want to excite my uterus, I will gather some blue cohosh, but if I want to dazzle my eyes, I will gaze upon its three-leafed cousin.

And did I mention how delicious the wild leeks are?

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Bogart & Bacall, Lucy & Desi, Homer & Jethro, Macaroni & Cheese, Green Eggs & Ham, Shaman & Wizard...
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poem © 2007 by Becky Harblin, photo © 2007 by WizenedEye.com
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If I listen
closely
to the place
I came from,
and eventually will return to,
I can hear
the green children
playing
their sweet fiddle tunes.
And sometimes
when I am out walking
in early, early spring
I catch them
just as they pull
back into the earth,
nothing showing
but the soft
curly green of their fiddle's
head.
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The Agway Studio
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. ............................phalenopsis (orchid)
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In the bank yesterday, a teller asked me if I had any photos of calla lilies. I do not, or rather, did not. In fact, it seems to me that it's been years since I saw one in bloom.

After leaving the bank, I went to Agway to pick up some grain for the horses. There is a large and wonderful greenhouse there, and this time of year it is teeming with plants. Next to several beautiful orchids, I spotted two calla lilies. For the next twenty minutes or so, I photographed some of these beauties. It was a good excuse to stay longer, breathing in the heavy scent of so many flowers.
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. ................................calla lily
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surprised by sunshine
silly gardener shopping
greenhouse flowers bloom
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And now I must get to work in the garden!
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Wood to stack today, burgemot to thin, grain and supplies to fetch... but this came in from Shaman and inspired an early morning photo. Enjoy ~
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I can’t look in without looking out


I am searching
for the root, the heart,
the very essence,
a center,
some of us call God,
some say Creator,
or Allah, or the One.

I keep looking small, and talking big,
then when I still can’t find
this nano-essence,
I talk of smallness
and look to big,
because maybe,
the essence
is not a boiled down thing.

This core of life, has no core,
it is the biggest
all encompassing
universal lumpy thing.
It is the all without and all the within.
This is exhausting,
I think I will have a cup of tea,
and drink it in.

................... ~ Becky Harblin..... April 29, 2007
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........................photo by wizenedeye.com