tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2938942630150105962024-03-05T23:00:50.820-05:00Where to Eat VeganLaceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.comBlogger457125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-38016354510934265012015-03-16T13:23:00.000-04:002015-03-18T15:18:20.844-04:00The Small Wedding<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One might suppose that a courthouse wedding would be so speedy and so sparsely decorated as to somehow detract from the aura that is a joyous wedding. One might worry that the celebration would be forcibly muted against the stolid backdrop of the court of law. One might worry that the towering walls of the building would crowd and stifle the family gathering for portraits.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I arrived at the courthouse that sunny December day, but it turns out that what one might have expected was completely off the mark.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Kathleen and Steve's wedding was full of laughter, smiles, playfulness and passion.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Light pours into the Montgomery County Circuit Courthouse from all sides. I stood in the lobby as the wedding party proceeded slowly through the security check at the door. Even the groom and bride had to empty pockets and take off coats.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> And that's when I noticed the blue. Crisp, clear, summer day blue.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The men wore blue ties, the mothers wore blue dresses and coats and the bride was bejeweled in vibrant blue pendants and sleek blue slippers. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There was a unity between these two families, two families that would soon be united by law, that was so joyful and vibrant and so darn stylish that heads turned as they assembled.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we gathered around outside the marriage ceremony room and boutonnieres and corsages were handed out everyone joked and laughed and bubbled with excitement. A few well timed jokes and Steve's running gag of being pricked by the boutonniere pin helped dispel the anxious tension and before we knew it we were being ushered into the marriage room. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then we braved the cold in search of some color to enliven our winter wedding portraits and came upon the golden, fiery wall of the courthouse.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The family slipped away to head towards dinner and the bride and groom were left to revel in their new lives together.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you Kathleen and Steve for including me in your day. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your willingness to be playful and your open joy were a pleasure to capture. </span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-11216309091522603462015-01-28T23:35:00.000-05:002015-01-28T23:35:18.851-05:00Somewhere New April: Peaks Island, Maine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDHu2FK9sJke81awHh-GQvsDMY7YoWsj7xxzW7hymTLQoTN7L_IfnhVOZbDZmHNPSa-IrqzVawAmmmayXgGtzmtHU5wZqlG7EcbcVEpO0QCeOFGbDt6m_XiFqeCqFuIfr64TdobACpwI/s1600/IMG_2991.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDHu2FK9sJke81awHh-GQvsDMY7YoWsj7xxzW7hymTLQoTN7L_IfnhVOZbDZmHNPSa-IrqzVawAmmmayXgGtzmtHU5wZqlG7EcbcVEpO0QCeOFGbDt6m_XiFqeCqFuIfr64TdobACpwI/s1600/IMG_2991.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been to Maine before, <a href="http://hibouladybaby.blogspot.com/2014/04/somewhere-new-portland-maine.html">you know</a>, its not really somewhere new. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But sometimes a place is so beautiful, sometimes the community touches you so much, that you just have to go back.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And also sometimes one of your best friends is going to school there and is feeling a little lonely and homesick and well, you just pack your heaviest sweaters and tramps back up there. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I spent a week in Maine revisiting all the places I loved the first time but also venturing out to some new territory - and Peaks Island was definitely on my list. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For just a few dollars you can jump on the <a href="http://www.cascobaylines.com/">Casco Bay Ferry</a> and visit an number of islands. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Peaks Island is where many Portland employees call home- and I learned that a little grocery store, a post office and a cute little restaurant by the docks are all you really need.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We got off the ferry and hugged the coastline, picking along the pebbled beaches looking for beach glass and other treasures. Eventually we found the cairn garden that we had heard about and we stopped to pay our respects to the ocean and play a little zen jenga. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pang wanted to show me Battery Steele, an old military fortification from WWII. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"There's a little boardwalk through the swamp," she said.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJMRO2ZlYGZVqedExSov-CIONoaRi0olZEyQm9yZMSH_Amq2CN8nPd1IAkWNQyucqQIJvzPxNBfgEWM4_dyElNtqSSkx4JhtdhMiczdPoehlDb7p1L5BW-CsijwU7r_XcJUuocJbOTOI/s1600/IMG_2995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJMRO2ZlYGZVqedExSov-CIONoaRi0olZEyQm9yZMSH_Amq2CN8nPd1IAkWNQyucqQIJvzPxNBfgEWM4_dyElNtqSSkx4JhtdhMiczdPoehlDb7p1L5BW-CsijwU7r_XcJUuocJbOTOI/s1600/IMG_2995.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was not what I had imagined. The trek out to Battery Steele, which naggingly reminded me of the Dead Marshes that Frodo and Sam had to pass through, avoiding the haunting candles and white faced ghosts just below the surface, did finally lead us to the fortification. The island has grown up around the cement walls now though, its angular edges quickly being swallowed into the soft earth. It felt so foreign and out of place on an island so quiet and calm. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I took some pictures but I prefer to leave it to your imagination. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Take the rickety boardwalk into the swamp for yourself.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodtHyw-Hvi1GOvLN1WxyRZaZrrUjcHLgTo7ZFdnyLyc44X0uxHZQfy7ROfZPaDuoAzNURw-iRG9jq6buQ53g51EWmNDcugkzlVwSgs8Ch2DNTQmTW77fMmHtqBtXLuXlR7Cjc5aDolXM/s1600/IMG_2930.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodtHyw-Hvi1GOvLN1WxyRZaZrrUjcHLgTo7ZFdnyLyc44X0uxHZQfy7ROfZPaDuoAzNURw-iRG9jq6buQ53g51EWmNDcugkzlVwSgs8Ch2DNTQmTW77fMmHtqBtXLuXlR7Cjc5aDolXM/s1600/IMG_2930.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The rest of the week was a pleasant mix of revisiting friends made on my previous trip and exploring Portland a bit deeper. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">John Eder, former representative for the Portland Green Party and my couch surfing contact for my first trip to Portland invited me to join him for an afternoon of talking politics on the local radio station. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC9Kvym_rbhaKYUCAjBbtbCdK-eYKR4g8GPTMKSsHVGDqtTy1eVWWe1LrSioa1wasGx-MP1w0cTXEziXJddaYMqZMm-fb9akSb2ohbK5A112GLZUp48woam8BY_1kRKto8iG95LQaKiE/s1600/IMG_2951.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC9Kvym_rbhaKYUCAjBbtbCdK-eYKR4g8GPTMKSsHVGDqtTy1eVWWe1LrSioa1wasGx-MP1w0cTXEziXJddaYMqZMm-fb9akSb2ohbK5A112GLZUp48woam8BY_1kRKto8iG95LQaKiE/s1600/IMG_2951.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Doug was gracious enough to pick me up in Portland and take me to the <a href="http://hibouladybaby.blogspot.com/2014/05/things-to-do-in-portland-maine-gilsland.html">Audubon Center</a> for a morning bird walk - this time I was able to capture a bird and not just a bird bottom!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I poked around shops finding all kinds of local goods like these gorgeous cameos and some fancy sauerkraut.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3iGhFWKNx_RpAW_Huvg2K50o_mFkEqcGME2-slqJrxghyphenhyphengBsExMXRaTWGfAEaig1QnSQaSqJWRYOzvertnjEhCS6J86_keKzcc6nACpoVBN52wooJxe03FLpueRmGWaAQmi55X-Uug0/s1600/IMG_2966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3iGhFWKNx_RpAW_Huvg2K50o_mFkEqcGME2-slqJrxghyphenhyphengBsExMXRaTWGfAEaig1QnSQaSqJWRYOzvertnjEhCS6J86_keKzcc6nACpoVBN52wooJxe03FLpueRmGWaAQmi55X-Uug0/s1600/IMG_2966.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of my favorite new places was <a href="http://homegrownherbandtea.com//index.php?main_page=about_us">Homegrown Herb and Tea Apothecary</a>. The honey dipper scroll of teas laid lovingly over worn wooden nook tables and the locally crafted teacups, big enough to warm both hands, were really just icing on the cake. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When I entered Sarah's shop she was already a few steps up on her ladder pulling herbs from different wooden drawers. She gossiped with the woman sitting at the counter as she measured out berries and flowers and roots into a little sachet, tying it off and pouring hot water over it before placing it in front of her chatty patron. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I sifted through her tea options I was amazed with how creative and inspiring they were. Each tea held so many plant allies and had been so well thought out. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For example: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jay's Let-It-Go Tea</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Damiana, kava kava, gingko biloba, rosehips and petals, ginger, chamomile, vanilla bean and dried strawberry was crafted to help you move in a new direction without even looking back. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hair of the Kahn</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Snap out of the “Irish Flu” in no time, this ancient hangover remedy of kudzu flowers, milk thistle, sandalwood, cardamom, ginseng and orange peel were the cure for famous warrior (and infamous boozer) Kubilai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Kahn.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">El Mexicano Por Favor</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A saucy Latino blend of cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, sarsaparilla and cacao, El Mexicano, Por Favor is a spicy and flavorful concoction, rich in detoxifying herbs known for encouraging a faster metabolism and increasing blood circulation.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I chose a Peace tea with a blend of kava kava, gotu kola, lavender, lemongrass, chamomile, roses, licorice root and vanilla bean. She brought my tea out to me with a few slices of pear floating in my brew and left me to sunbathe and sip by the window. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another new spot in town was <a href="http://www.salt.edu/">SALT</a>. My visit to see Pang was necessitated by her acceptance and enrollment to the documentary studies institute SALT, so of course I had to poke around a little and check out the digs. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the time Angelo Merendin's work "The Battle We Didn't Choose, My Wife's Fight With Breast Cancer," was hanging in the SALT gallery, so it was a great honor to be able to see it in person.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjFRSCDt9BreHne5MNuxEnrAhu9GeY1FRSknR_fzV06seJ0Cc8SjnAPjVuDw2KgXWGypbNKrka_8uGxBbl-UlgxG9V8jkzjff9Mk79mf9hgWcDgnFrTGCd2_8RtP4-IZzCBe6bOc8zlg/s1600/IMG_3002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjFRSCDt9BreHne5MNuxEnrAhu9GeY1FRSknR_fzV06seJ0Cc8SjnAPjVuDw2KgXWGypbNKrka_8uGxBbl-UlgxG9V8jkzjff9Mk79mf9hgWcDgnFrTGCd2_8RtP4-IZzCBe6bOc8zlg/s1600/IMG_3002.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Never one to be left out of adventure, Pang suggested we try another new place, the recently opened <a href="http://www.portlandempire.com/">Empire</a>, for some noodles, dumplings and slippery bok choys. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I left Portland with some treasures - a book about extinct animals, a Maine Vacationland vintage t-shirt, a strip of birch bark, some beach glass and some tea.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Maine hasn't seen the last of me! I still aspire to sail around those islands one summer and travel up to the very tip top of the East Coast! </span></div>
<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-67095697402532601872014-12-05T14:25:00.001-05:002014-12-05T14:25:38.535-05:00Farm Day: Little Red Bird Botanicals - Roots and Seeds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbBeGZStfjQezU_O2fZGG2XlvTiyY9blR3c5q8cC5pG-Yn9Pzi8jk6wclFadJb-a3fuOBhX6sIZ36IVHsEjNAIShQFBIb5S0lqhjSQZNyex9bKlEkyxlGRObk9fa_18mMVRypaqTa2t4/s1600/clagettnov-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitbBeGZStfjQezU_O2fZGG2XlvTiyY9blR3c5q8cC5pG-Yn9Pzi8jk6wclFadJb-a3fuOBhX6sIZ36IVHsEjNAIShQFBIb5S0lqhjSQZNyex9bKlEkyxlGRObk9fa_18mMVRypaqTa2t4/s1600/clagettnov-2.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where did the year slip off to? It seems just last month I was photographing budding cohosh and baptista in the garden. But the blossoms have all withered, the vibrant reds, yellows, purples and greens have mostly all faded to browns, and the time of the root is thick upon us.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the backyard ornamental and vegetable gardeners may already be knitting their winter sorrows, the herbal gardener knows better. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Late fall is the time to harvest root medicine and save seeds for next year's garden.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On a surprisingly warm day at the end of November I joined Holly of </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.littleredbirdbotanicals.com/">Little Red Bird Botanicals</a> to harvest and close up shop for the winter. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were many surprises hiding around the garden. The rue was still in full swing, as if it hadn't noticed the cold, several Praying Mantis egg sacs were found, holding the almost microscopic bodies of hundreds of next generation predators, and some shockingly vibrant colors were unearthed in our root digging process as we harvested echinacea and ginger.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We dug the marshmallow root that has been growing for three years and foraged for yellow dock and dandelion roots. We even harvested a whole bucket of sunchokes that we layered between levels of dirt for storage for the winter. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Praying Mantis egg sac</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mullein </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Echinacea root buds in neon pink</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ginger roots</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Echinacea </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Tiny sprouts on the Marshmallow Root </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pinwheel seeds of the Marshmallow - a trademark of the whole family</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the sunchoke harvest</td></tr>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-11768587612284791272014-12-03T15:01:00.000-05:002014-12-03T15:01:52.651-05:00Somewhere New March: Cedar Hill - The Frederick Douglass House<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Somehow it happened. Blandly and dejectedly I sat on my couch on March 31st realizing that I had lost the chance to travel somewhere new for the month. </div>
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The sun had already started it's slow decent down to the horizon as I sat and pondered. </div>
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I looked over at my long list of ambitions for the spring, a painted chalkboard on the wall with To Do items like:</div>
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- cultive a garden and compassion</div>
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- hike a mountain and tell no one</div>
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- make it to one bird walk a month in Dyke Marsh</div>
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- bake bread, eat less of it</div>
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None of these helped inspire me in the moment but taped next to the chalkboard, on a thin strip of card stock I had written another list. </div>
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It read: Explore Home</div>
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- Frederick Douglass House</div>
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Sometimes you don't have to go far. A few miles down the road may be all you need to travel to see something new. </div>
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I checked the time. If I hurried I could make it to the last tour of the house!</div>
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So I jumped in the car, windows down on this already warm day, hint of swampy summer already laced in the air, and sped over to Cedar Hill.</div>
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The house sits on a rounded bulge of Anacostia. From the top floor you can see across the river to the capital. But you have a sense at the house of being forgotten, of seeing but being unseen.</div>
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For the almost 30 years of my life I had lived an hour or so from this house and had never seen it until this day, on the 31st of March, in a mad dash to uphold my self-proclaimed promise to travel somewhere new every month. </div>
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Breathlessly I sprinted into the visitor center to buy my ticket.</div>
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"Well actually the tour would have started a few minutes ago but because no one showed up we've started wrapping up," the ranger said. He spoke to the screen in front of him. </div>
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When he didn't hear a response he poked his head around. Perhaps it was the look of disappointment on my face or perhaps he was just feeling passionate about sharing the history of Frederick but as if he had simply paused between thoughts he blurted out </div>
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"but that doesn't matter, we'll get you a quick tour!"</div>
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He radioed up to the other ranger who had been closing up the house, </div>
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"Yeah we got one more actually, she'd really love a quick tour."</div>
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So I shimmied up the side of the hill and came to land on Frederick's sprawling porch just as the ranger was coming out to meet me. </div>
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The tour was quick, we whisked through each room and I snapped photos and ooed and ahhed. In a way it was hard to believe that house was built in 1855. Growing up in a family that covets antique walnut furniture and maturing into a instant ancestor collecting adult that I now am, a lot of the decorative aspects of his house seemed rather commonplace to me. </div>
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Sure, they had that special halo of being Frederick Douglass' desk or Frederick Douglass' velvet rocker, but walking through his house I felt like we might walk around a corner and bump into him. </div>
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While all the rooms are lovely I would wager it is his study that is the most anticipated room for visitors to his house. Being a writer of course he must have spent a good deal of his time there. The gorgeous secretary desk neatly stacked with manuscripts and papers and Douglass' spectacles is indeed a fantastic little nook of the house, although one has to wonder what it would be like to sit at your desk and stare into a portrait of yourself. </div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com01411 W Street Southeast, Washington, D.C., DC 20020, USA38.862801 -76.98506199999997138.8612555 -76.987583499999971 38.864346499999996 -76.982540499999971tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-58922046822939150822014-11-12T23:16:00.001-05:002014-11-12T23:16:11.767-05:00Somewhere New February: Seneca Rocks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm constantly amazed with how much beauty lays just a few hours away when you dare to crest over the West Virginia mountains and venture into the forests. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For the month of February I decided to take a quick weekend jaunt. Something convenient, something inexpensive, somewhere new. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Somehow Seneca Rocks had evaded my hit-list until this third year of Somewhere New, lost among jet setting and wave chasing vacations, patiently waiting for me to notice it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I found us a tidy little room on Airbnb. The reviews were good and while our hostess would actually still be in India when we arrived, her dog Bubba Lou was poised to welcome us.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Seneca House, as the designer and builder Shelly likes to call it, was constructed out of the barn wood from the barn that previously stood on the site. With the help of a few friends she built the house over the course of two years. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's one of the most unique and inspiring houses's I've ever had the fortune to be a guest in. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And best of all. Each room comes with a personal Bubba Lou. Or well, she invites herself into your room and makes herself at home on the bed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Apparently Bubba has become such an icon of the house and so beloved that they even have shirts printed with her likeness now. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For $50 a night (now $60 when I last checked) it was a pretty sweet deal to be literally moments from the craggy peaks of Seneca and a quick drive over to skiing and adventuring.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite the draw to stay inside and snuggle into a blanket by the fire for the weekend we decided to get out into the snow and try out our cross country legs. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We drove over to <a href="http://www.whitegrass.com/">Whitegrass</a> and made our way up to the sloping red lodge. A potbellied stove pumps out heat waves just inside the door, weary skiiers already melted into chairs from an early morning of coordinated effort towards forward momentum. Clutching my thrift store skis in my hand I looked around at all the other skis stacked in racks, left behind like puppies so their owners could grab a hot cup of coffee while they watch pathetically from outside. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our skis seemed rather short. Perhaps it was a new style? For being thrift store finds they were practically brand new.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Luckily for the uninitiated there are handy little tracks laid out, about hip width distance apart, within much the only real work to be done is just to slide your feet forward while pushing yourself with your poles. Turning and steering are not an option and thankfully so because even within the tracks I had tiny booted muchkins trying to pass me, giving me looks of disgust as they stepped out of the track to make an agile hop in front of me. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll be honest. I was a mess. The tiniest of hills sent me into a panic and when we did reach a more substantial slope I had to slide down on my butt and pat my poor bruised ego on the back for holding back the embarrassed tears. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Turns out, we had bought children's skis. And, amazingly, its rather impossible to balance on skis made for a toddler who only reaches two feet off the ground. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite the frustration and embarrassment I couldn't deny that the surroundings were beautiful, the snow throwing an immaculately white blanket over winter's harsher lines and dry, flaking face. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I dare say I even wanted to try it again. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back at the Seneca House we said our goodbyes to Bubba and headed back for home. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our trip was brief but rewarding.</span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0Seneca Rocks, WV 26884, USA38.8348342 -79.376156613.312799700000003 -120.6847506 64.3568687 -38.0675626tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-2017210786694839542014-11-11T00:29:00.000-05:002014-11-11T00:29:09.414-05:00Wedding: Christina and John Nielson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the day of John and Christina's wedding a light drizzle fell in the morning as the wedding party slowly trickled into Sacred Heart to start setting up and slipping into their dresses and suits. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The mother of the bride echoed my groan as we surveyed the clouds, hoping for a streak of luck, a welcome surprise.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The life of a second shooter is replete with surprises. Often I don't meet the bride and groom until the day of their marriage. Often only hours before. On this particular day the surprises were teals and pinks, flowing fountains, a rooftop soiree and the most gorgeous afternoon light the bathed the happy couple in its much appreciated rays. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The rain dried up, the venue was everything I could have hoped for, and the smiles kept coming. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I like it what the cards turn out in our favor. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to <a href="http://rachelmolenda.wordpress.com/">Rachel</a> for having me as a second shooter!</span></div>
Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-75034021854829479492014-11-03T16:55:00.001-05:002014-11-03T16:55:19.052-05:00Exploring Home: Instagrams of Fall and Winter <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As the days get shorter and the nights get colder I will find myself wrapped up in blankets more often, syphoning the warmth of my somnolent cat and purring laptop, finally editing and posting photos from the year. </div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-56932737038953144712014-11-02T17:55:00.000-05:002014-11-02T17:55:17.867-05:00Beginning the Herbal Medicine Path: Part 2 <span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll admit I was a bit miffed when I started hearing herbalists referring to their use of Plantain Leaf as a great locally foraged medicine. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Where on Earth are they locally sourcing this banana leaf," I thought, my mind going to the only plantain I have ever heard of, the long green variety that is fried up in Central America to make a delicious starchy chip. </span></div>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;">Plantago Lanceolata and Plantago Major are exotic sounding names for the different varieties of the first inconspicuous looking medicine we set out to study.<br />
<br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This plantain happens to be long and green too. Or, well, round and green if you find Plantago Major instead of Plantago Lanceolata. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;"><div style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But as it turns out, we're all familiar with plantain leaf. Yes, even the couch dwellers of us. If you've walked across a grassy patch between your car and a store you've probably unintentionally trampled on plantain leaf. Plantago actually means "sole of the foot" in Latin, so these little guys are used to being trampled I suppose. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plantago Lanceolata</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 27px;">On our first day of class we had spent the morning learning words like 'cholagogue' and 'demulcent' and herbal energetic words like 'cooling' and 'toning' and were itching to find these magical plants that corresponded to these new words.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 27px;">So we ventured out of the classroom and into the garden.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 27px;">Plantain is a panacea, according to any herbalist you ask. It has so many uses and energetics attributed to it but it is probably best well known for it's healing properties for skin. Plantain is a vulnerary that is renowned for it's cooling and drawing energetics, which explain why it's history is awash with bee stings, mosquitos bites, eczema and even snake bites. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 27px;">On this unseasonably warm April day we learned first hand how to ease the discomfort of mosquito bites. As the flying beasties stretched their wings and tested their proboscises for the first time that year, we budding herbalists reached for leaf after leaf from the ever giving plantain plant. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 27px;">The method we learned is simple: pick a leaf from an unsprayed plant (don't pick a leaf from the side of a road that has been choked with car exhaust or a leaf from an herbicide doused yard), put the leaf in your mouth and chew, now spit (or if you are a lady, remove said chewed herb and gently place it) on the offending bite, and that's it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 27px;">I'll say I was skeptical of this chew and spit process.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">My personal saga with mosquitos is as follows - as long as I have taken in breath and expelled carbon dioxide the mosquitos have sought me out. Whether it's because I eat too many sweet bananas or my skin is just thin enough for them to easily pierce it I couldn't say, but what I can say is that each tiny pinprick I receive quickly swells and blossoms to a deep red, rounded raspberry. The itch is intense. The mark indelible and inconsolable. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;">I've grown accustomed to applying plasters of inefficient antihistamine creams.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even after the poison disperses and the itch retreats a pimple-imposter lingers for many more days.<br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;">That is until I met Plantago.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My first bite of the day received a timid but hopeful spit poultice. As did the second and third. And as I traveled home that day with close to 10 bites, I had forgotten about them before I had even eaten dinner. No red lumps, no clawing itch. Just a tiny pinprick that seemed to shrink to nothing within a day or so.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;"> Magic?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">No, Medicine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">While plantain grows all around us, availability of unadulterated plantain is not always as easy to find. So after experimenting with fresh plantain we set out to make a salve, something we could carry with us in the city, through the desert and into our homes to ease cuts, bruises, burns and bites. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">As a class we gathered plantain leaf and dandelion flower to make our salve, learning that dandelion has antibacterial properties that can assist in wound healing and cleaning up acne and other blemishes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">The process of making a salve seemed so intimidating. What if we did it wrong? Was this flower good enough? What if there were bugs on the flowers?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Molly has a way of making medicine so approachable though. We gathered our ingredients together in a carved gourd basket and then plopped them on a baking sheet and threw them in the oven on a super low temperature to wilt (to expel excess moisture content). If we had wanted to take the leisurely route we could have laid them out in the sun for a bit and sipped our tea until they wilted, or just set them out overnight, but we were all in such high energy spirits that we wanted to see this salve made as quickly as possible. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">After the flowers were wilted we chopped our plantain leaves and flowers, allowing the cell walls of the marc (the herb) to open so that the medicine could be better absorbed into the menstreum</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;"> (the oil).</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Then we had a choice. Use a little heat and meld the herbs with the oil, or use no heat and let the herbs meld slowly over the period of a few weeks.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">The thought of waiting a few weeks to see our finished product seemed terrible so we made haste to the stove and over very low heat we swirled the oil and herbs together, taking shifts the rest of the class to stir the pot for several hours. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Once the oil had absorbed the plantain and dandelion we strained the marc out and were ready to add our solidifying agent, beeswax (as a side note, vegans can opt for shea butter or coconut oil), and within seconds of adding the beeswax our salve was taking shape and we quickly poured it into little tins to cool and take home. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">But that wasn't all we were making on our first weekend of herbalists. An herbalist would be amiss to not learn the helpful skill of tincture making.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">A tincture is an extract of herbs in alcohol. Think of vanilla extract. If you've ever made vanilla extract at home then you've already mastered the skills of tincture making. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">For our first tincture we looked to the garden again, or more correctly, we looked to the grass. Hidden among the tall blades of grass, the clover and plantain, lay everyone's old friend, dandelion, freshly robbed of her yellow ringed hat.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">As we had learned over our morning tea, dandelion root is a strong medicine for the kidneys, promoting liver health and encouraging waste evacuation through the bladder due to it's diuretic action. So we set about digging the tender roots of the dandelion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Now remember when we use root medicine we are taking all of the plant, we are taking it's life completely to make our medicine," Molly said, as she stroked the root she had just dug as a demonstration. "Dandelion root is a beautiful medicine, but your intention as you gather medicine is just as important as the medicine itself. Consider thanking the plants that are giving their lives for your medicine." </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;">After collecting and washing our dandelion roots we set them out in the sun to dry. Then we chopped the roots, opening the cell walls, and threw them, while giving proper thanks, into a large mason jar and filled the jar almost to the top with brandy. Molly prefers to use brandy in her tinctures, because that's the alcohol she learned to use in tincture making, but any alcohol over 80 proof will work. Then we sealed up the jar and set it in a cool, dark spot to meld. Every day or two the tincture should be shaken to move the plant material around and after 4 to 6 weeks it can be pressed out and used. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we prepared our tincture Molly passed around berries and roots and leaves of different plants to try. We smelled rose petals and chewed on hawthorn berries and sucked on sweet licorice. And then quite out of the blue, under the sway of all the bountiful tastes and smells around us, Molly declared, "Let's make a love potion!"</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">The faint of heart, those afraid of voodoo and becoming a potion brewing witch, may have balked at this idea. But after spending the morning harvesting plants and roots, after making a salve and a tincture, a love potion suddenly didn't feel so silly. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Sure, it wouldn't pierce the heart like a cupids arrow. We didn't expect any Hollywood fireworks to shoot off after taking the tincture. But slowly the idea that medicine doesn't always have to be this forceful, strict, and expedient word, that medicine can be something that coaxes your mood, that softens your affections, that supports your natural state, or simply be something that takes your mind to another place, that idea had begun to sink in. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">A word has the power to loosen itself of it's societal fetters if you give it the chance. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Medicine is defined as a substance used to treat an illness or a disease. A remedy. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Health, in many medical circles, is defined as the absence of disease. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">But in herbal medicine, as well as many other types of natural medicine, health and medicine are much broader terms. Health is a state of balance, a positive state of well-being that encompasses all the aspects of your mental and physical life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Medicine supports that. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px;">Music is medicine. Gardening is medicine. And yes, even love potions are medicine. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"><br /></span></span>Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-57587709022338756462014-10-27T23:37:00.000-04:002014-10-27T23:37:19.963-04:00Somewhere New January: South Royalton, Vermont <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For a while you can get away with being behind on your blog. For a few months no one notices. Sure it's getting cool out and you're still posting pictures of suntanned, short-bare legs and golden sunlight on the beach, but you were living life to the fullest that summer and no one begrudged you a little delay. </div>
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I'm almost a year behind on my blog. </div>
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This morning as I arrived on the farm and a cool jacket of frost lay on the crops, like the thin layer of icing my grandmother spreads on Christmas cookies, I thought about these photos. The photos of that white icing sitting deep, smothering the trees, hailing from the heavens in fat, buttery globs. </div>
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I thought about how almost a year ago I went to Vermont for the first time. </div>
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Vermont is one of those storybook states for me. </div>
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It's darkly green. It's dense. It's shaded and shrouded.</div>
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But at the same time it's blindingly white. </div>
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Our friend Greg Berry moved to South Royalton to go to law school. </div>
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Law school can be a dark, lonely place, especially when you live in South Royalton surrounded by mountains of tantalizing pistes, but all of your peers are too buried in a law book to hit the slopes.</div>
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So when we suggested a visit, a visit to experience the fabled whoosh of the Vermont mountain slopes, Greg was more than happy to accommodate our wishes. </div>
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So we drove to Greg's tiny apartment, greeted by Bow's gruff welcome and Baxter's curious meow to stay for a quick weekend of hash brown breakfasts, jokes contests, an unevenly matched game of scrabble and good ole fashion skiing.</div>
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South Royalton is a tiny little town. One little street of commerce with a Co-op, a thrift store, a coffee shop and a restaurant or two are the offerings a few minutes walk away. </div>
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We poked around the co-op, looking for treats amid beeswax candles in the shape of howling wolves. We went to the local burger joint, the joint that people travel from all around the state to go to, and had a vegan burger fail.</div>
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But mostly we hung out in Greg's apartment, strumming on guitars and enjoying the warmth of heavy quilts. </div>
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One day we hit the slopes at Suicide Six. The next day Killington. And then our trip was almost over. A weekend goes awfully quick when you are hopping from warm restaurant to warm car in between embracing the cold in a downhill free fall. </div>
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So on our last morning there was something Greg wanted to show us.</div>
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He took us through town, over the train tracks, through a tunnel and then we headed up. Slipping and sliding and stopping to admire the unbelievable white and the shrouded dark greens, we huffed to the top.</div>
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We climbed until we got to the place where the valley was laid bare. The rocks made a perfect little ledge to tiptoe out onto and spy down on the sleepy little towns below. </div>
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Kent's Ledge was a perfect way to end our whirlwind trip to Vermont. </div>
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As summer slips into fall and then so quickly into winter, I can only hope this winter's adventures will be as successful as last winter. </div>
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Thanks Greg! </div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0South Royalton, Royalton, VT, USA43.8205295 -72.52134189999998243.774696 -72.60202289999998 43.866363 -72.440660899999983tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-64971232036276333052014-09-29T23:41:00.001-04:002014-09-29T23:57:02.993-04:00Beginning the Herbal Medicine Path - Part 1 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sleepily we gathered for our first weekend of Grassroots Herbal Medicine, letting piping streams of maple colored tea flow from the samovar into our outstretched mugs before sinking down into a chair to wait for the magic to begin.</div>
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All ages of women had assembled into our circle of eager herb wielders, from the salt tinged hair of one women to the budding, rounded belly of another. We introduced ourselves somewhat timidly, each secretly wondering what the other person already knew about herbal medicine.</div>
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As each of us found our seats Molly welcomed us, radiating the warmth teachers seem to so easily exude when they are blessed with a classroom of intention-filled students. Molly holds a presence in the space that is undeniable, swathed in chocolate dreadlocks and a knit sweater she beamed at us over her own cup of steaming tea.</div>
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She asked us to pick up our cups. </div>
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"What do you smell?"</div>
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We brought the wisps of steam to our noses and inhaled. I was reminded of my first attempts at wine tasting. The swirling red liquid sending only heady whiffs of alcohol to my nostrils. Only with months of practice did I start picking notes of leather, chocolate, honeysuckle and plum. </div>
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"It smells kinda sweet," a young girl to my right said.</div>
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"Hmmm sweet, interesting," Molly mused, letting silence fall again to open the floor to more guesses.</div>
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"Yeah, kinda like a sweet earthiness is what I get," another woman said, her nosed still pressed to the rim of her mug.</div>
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"What part of your body does this tea go to?" Molly asked.</div>
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"How can I feel that?" I wondered. I took another sip, willing my body to tell me where the plant was drawn to. I felt the warmth of the liquid flowing down my throat, emanating out through the skin of my neck. And I felt the warmth enter my stomach, sending that little thrill up to my brain, the first buzz of the morning alarm to rouse the sleeping senses. </div>
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"I feel it in my kidneys," someone said, letting her hand graze her side for emphasis. </div>
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Molly nodded with a smile and I sipped again, stretching my nerve ending out to feel my kidneys. </div>
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"What part of the plant do you think this comes from?"</div>
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We looked a little confused perhaps because she quickly offered, "Is it a bark? Is it a berry? Does this taste like the leaves, or maybe the root?"</div>
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"Leaves?" someone guessed? </div>
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Every part was thrown out in hushed whispers, no one quite sure.</div>
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"Are there any guesses for what plant this is?" Molly asked.</div>
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No one offered up a guess.</div>
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"This is dandelion root tea," Molly smiled, "Taxicum officinal," she said in latin.</div>
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There were whispers of "I knew it!" from a few and looks of "really, dandelion?" from a few others.</div>
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With one simple exercise we had been thrown into the world or herbalism. Herbalism is not a study so much as it is a way of life. It is an intention of joining yourself with the plant world in a way that seems foreign and at times silly and so far removed from our current sphere of life. </div>
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I had come to this class wondering what possible connection I could find. I worried a little about the ideas of appropriation, exoticism and novelty seeking. Would I be hoodwinked into potion making? Would I foolishly delve into traditions that had no bearing on my personal history?</div>
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As if sensing this discomfort, these open questions and uncertainties, Molly began that morning by sharing her own story. Her exploration of Costa Rican medicine, her experiences at Sacred Plant Traditions in Charlottesville, her decision to come back to her home of Maryland and start a school. </div>
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But more importantly she shared this thought with us: </div>
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"Every single one of us come from a lineage of plant people."</div>
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Perhaps I can't claim any bloodline to inform my use of astragalus, and maybe I don't belong to a people who used tobacco medicinally, but somewhere in my history, my personal lineage, I come from a people who used plants as healers. We all do. </div>
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The room filled with excited buzz as I imagine we all thought about our own families and what traditions might be buried in our pasts. What plants, perhaps even plants in this very garden, might have played a role in our histories.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRXP8yy3T5YwqxEXuT7aNtpZsnRGQO2GcAdwbOSvuWflyzWgYz991_DLSutskikEfUnXa24rq5dK8ibUZToU_aBMaBHKiVgwqxBW2E7Apn2aOBqpirZE-I-bJMISaSNc3oVeImJXAk7I/s1600/IMG_3288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRXP8yy3T5YwqxEXuT7aNtpZsnRGQO2GcAdwbOSvuWflyzWgYz991_DLSutskikEfUnXa24rq5dK8ibUZToU_aBMaBHKiVgwqxBW2E7Apn2aOBqpirZE-I-bJMISaSNc3oVeImJXAk7I/s1600/IMG_3288.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a><br />
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The Grassroots program, Molly explained, is meant to make herbal medicine approachable, after all, herbal medicine is for the people and is made by the people. </div>
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There is no certification out there really that is accredited. You don't have to know every plant under the sun. Your depth is completely up to you. If you are called to make teas from your garden and to use herbs in your stews, you're an herbalist. If you make salves and tinctures and poultices, you're an herbalist. </div>
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If you form a relationship with even just one plant, you're an herbalist.</div>
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"Congratulations," she smiled, "You're all herbalists now."</div>
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Becoming an herbalist was as simple as deciding. </div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: 'Gentium Basic'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; text-align: center;"></span><br />
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And with that knowledge, that confidence that we hadn't even dreamed of gaining on the first day, we dove into our exploration.</div>
Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-20737492077414429412014-09-23T22:59:00.002-04:002014-09-23T22:59:19.262-04:00Exploring Home: The George Washington Masonic Temple National Memorial <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dYs0-52JM8tjz6mCEcE9CI9wyFruERW9sLqO4XjG4Ml_rvKTvuriy9IOS79RQPqEHwCVdY32bLxGFBCg_PCPpbemYHyW5Z2rKVz35DszDZCniFkrtqbC1P6G27a6VXKUt8gu00hpFic/s1600/IMG_3674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dYs0-52JM8tjz6mCEcE9CI9wyFruERW9sLqO4XjG4Ml_rvKTvuriy9IOS79RQPqEHwCVdY32bLxGFBCg_PCPpbemYHyW5Z2rKVz35DszDZCniFkrtqbC1P6G27a6VXKUt8gu00hpFic/s1600/IMG_3674.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I've had a couple years of practice now in playing tourist in other people's homes. Sleeping on stranger's couches, sipping tea in other people's coffee spot, lazily walking someone else's route to work. But when I get home from my trip it's right back to the grind and I can easily grind myself into a rut when I'm not careful. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">And so sometimes I have to dust off my Exploring Home cap and spend a day poking around my own town. Luckily I'm not the only one who has never played tourist at home so my friend Anthony joined me on a particularly blown out, sultry day to a visit to the <a href="http://www.gwmemorial.org/">George Washington Masonic Temple</a> in Alexandria. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The monument can be seen from all over the area. As you fly into Reagan, dusting the Potomac with jetfuel and wanderlust you sail over it's pointed balcony. How many times I had hoped the metro in front of it I couldn't tell you, but I had never been inside. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">For a couple of dollars you can meet a docent in the main hall, under the imposing bronze statue of Washington himself, and get shuttled up and down on the gondolaeque elevator to see some of Washington's treasures and to poke into some of the displayed secrets of the masons. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">You'll see things like Washington's leather chair, where he would hold majesty over the masons in meeting, the clock that shows the exact time of his death, a strip of his hair and even the strangely cryptic apron he wore as a practicing mason. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">As a special treat we got to go into the Chapel of the Nights Templar, a very formal affair in black marble and heavy iron shields. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">If nothing else, the view from the top is wonderful on a sunny day.</span> </div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Thanks for exploring with me Anthony!</span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0101 Callahan Drive, Alexandria, VA 22301, USA38.807562999999988 -77.065982099999985-10.886952500000014 -159.68316959999999 88.502078499999982 5.5512054000000148tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-53712754670195617822014-09-23T22:22:00.000-04:002014-09-23T22:22:17.218-04:00Where to Eat Vegan: Present Moment Cafe - St. Augustine, FL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We drove right by <a href="http://thepresentmomentcafe.com/">Present Moment Cafe</a> the first time and had to pull around and approach it again. The squat barrel shaped building hugged close to the road had blended into the tightly packed urban blip of King Street in Old Town St. Augustine. </div>
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But this is no urban desert of a restaurant. Within the doors lush blues and greens stream through the jewel toned windows, wood so lustrous it seems to still breathe, coats the walls and a gentle pink emanates from each table set with a Himalayan Salt grinder. </div>
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In a town more equipped to serve novelty fried alligator tail and slippery sweet ice cream cones to tourists, Present Moment Cafe gives one pause. </div>
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This is a restaurant designed to nourish all the senses.</div>
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I had convinced my grandmother to bring us into town to sample Yvette Schindler's raw fare not really knowing what to expect. Would there be anything she would dare to eat? </div>
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Salads don't hold much of a place on this imaginative menu. Mango samosas, Viva Burrito, Nachos, White Truffle Pesto Pasta and the Sunlight Burger stuffed with mushrooms and nuts. </div>
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Where to begin? </div>
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Sometimes when I don't know where to start I go back to the start.</div>
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Where did I start this weird food journey? What foods brought me out of the boxed mashed potatoes and microwave mac and cheese dark ages? </div>
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Miso was one of those first foods.</div>
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At the Japanese Steakhouse, where charred bits of shrimp were thrown into the grinning gapes of openmouthed spectators, I tasted my first bowl of salty miso.</div>
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As a new vegan years later I was heartbroken to find so many restaurants served fish laced broths, so when an opportunity to try a miso made without my swimming friends comes along I take it.</div>
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Present Moment Cafe could have gotten away with being mediocre. With few vegan options and no real competition in the way of raw vegan fare, they probably could have gotten by being the only joint in town and could prepare whatever they wanted. But they turned out an amazing meal, a New York quality meal really. </div>
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I was tempted to buy their <a href="https://www.createspace.com/3827886">cookbook</a> before I left but opted to just hold the flavors and textures in my mind until I could make another pilgrimage to the fountain of youth that is Present Moment Cafe. </div>
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22 West King Street</div>
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St. Augustine, FL 32084</div>
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Monday - Thursday 10am - 9pm</div>
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Friday - Saturday 10am - 9:30 pm</div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com022 West King Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084, USA29.8911157 -81.3233807000000329.8910617 -81.323459700000029 29.8911697 -81.32330170000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-61457697162711897022014-07-21T12:41:00.000-04:002014-07-21T12:41:09.677-04:00Where to Eat Vegan: Ballyhoo's - Key Largo, FL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORxJd0n6ZyO2EFGxduS4FzB9wC76I-s6lPstcAmr6EUrq4RTTBlC4AFfTwuzGIkKgYsX74skEsVFpTR8Sfm0HCOZgVY7_kfHlV1mBe5khafkSz4ZH0GJT41HlSwP70mlYKv1e76q9rR4/s1600/ballyhoo-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORxJd0n6ZyO2EFGxduS4FzB9wC76I-s6lPstcAmr6EUrq4RTTBlC4AFfTwuzGIkKgYsX74skEsVFpTR8Sfm0HCOZgVY7_kfHlV1mBe5khafkSz4ZH0GJT41HlSwP70mlYKv1e76q9rR4/s1600/ballyhoo-4.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMryNmtkEK-oV7G5VWEvioKXxelW4LvVgxjJBZpIA-rK09oI_-8zUuCMczlo_Pp5v2Zwsrx9Ab9xvJasCQpRYPlnaJohzzHrqdgCYVa4slzhVCM_nb6H7uD6b7RBlaB9-NSpNhhWcZt0/s1600/ballyhoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGMryNmtkEK-oV7G5VWEvioKXxelW4LvVgxjJBZpIA-rK09oI_-8zUuCMczlo_Pp5v2Zwsrx9Ab9xvJasCQpRYPlnaJohzzHrqdgCYVa4slzhVCM_nb6H7uD6b7RBlaB9-NSpNhhWcZt0/s1600/ballyhoo.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.ballyhoosrestaurant.com/">Ballyhoo's</a> doesn't seem like an obvious choice for vegan food. The warm patio flanked with bananas is inviting, sure, but the ghastly crab legs that hang as a welcoming banner to their website seems, somewhat less than welcoming. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Push past the obligatory seafood section though and you'll find a whole separate menu of vegan and vegetarian delights like Fried Pink Tomatoes, Vegan Grilled Cheese and Black Bean Soup, Grilled Avocado and a selection of salads that breaches the iceberg and watery tomato protocol. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06JAvjrFXuLxCclF20ojrFnftL7POiVyo0D9GJxzClf-6ztwmj251ew5QLNNuD2c2Ilum09wcMRlUxgifbl6LkItL1W_cRCIIQJwiEy_MMlFzirIR07EZMysx1ZB-fGHDih7S9o_KQqk/s1600/ballyhoo-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06JAvjrFXuLxCclF20ojrFnftL7POiVyo0D9GJxzClf-6ztwmj251ew5QLNNuD2c2Ilum09wcMRlUxgifbl6LkItL1W_cRCIIQJwiEy_MMlFzirIR07EZMysx1ZB-fGHDih7S9o_KQqk/s1600/ballyhoo-3.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we sipped on our Mason jar tumblers of water and pursued the menu we realized those tasty options from the website were nowhere to be found.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Excuse me, but we thought we saw online that you have vegan options?" I asked the waitress.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Oh, you're vegan, we have a whole menu for you honey," she beamed, rushing inside to grab a few of the reserved copies for us. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"There aren't a lot of vegan options here in Key Largo but it turns out that our chef here is vegan so that's why we have this whole separate menu," she explained. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We decided to get a few dishes to sample the menu: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Grilled Cheese with Black Bean Soup</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Joe Vs The Volcano Salad </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and a Sweet Potato Burger with Jalapeño Jelly </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8lRKL9GtqB9naiOJihFgFdTCiCZNM2RLAlr5qhhWuOuBSKAp-zqFSkxHxde0i4bDl-W6fIvNJOxS3u1kdXe83gWw9j4JG0vnlhwXnzOt3VfOc7yrhCcozXia7ckFrKsG_O2mJZfb0nA/s1600/ballyhoo-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq8lRKL9GtqB9naiOJihFgFdTCiCZNM2RLAlr5qhhWuOuBSKAp-zqFSkxHxde0i4bDl-W6fIvNJOxS3u1kdXe83gWw9j4JG0vnlhwXnzOt3VfOc7yrhCcozXia7ckFrKsG_O2mJZfb0nA/s1600/ballyhoo-5.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Grilled Mango, Sliced Tomato, Avocado and Noodles are tossed with a Chili Lime Dressing, Fresh Cilantro and Mint and served atop Spinach with a handful of Peanuts and a side of crispy toast. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX71hkIwzkv-BYCkC_xKem-AMAzVvdITTNkp4gN3KqnRXhHJNFMURZEn-Ozamj86y9950JatIRAeFFmC1U0Y1X5-BnyrX3kBizFbKm4Et7ceVgIXcctuq-RLhiatuMjG0mB4wvIYDNYcw/s1600/ballyhoo-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX71hkIwzkv-BYCkC_xKem-AMAzVvdITTNkp4gN3KqnRXhHJNFMURZEn-Ozamj86y9950JatIRAeFFmC1U0Y1X5-BnyrX3kBizFbKm4Et7ceVgIXcctuq-RLhiatuMjG0mB4wvIYDNYcw/s1600/ballyhoo-6.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Sweet Potato Burger, which is mixed with white beans and tahini was served crispy and warm on a kaiser roll with a spicy Jalapeño Jelly side and a choice of Green Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Mushrooms, Spinach or Fries. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Grilled Cheese was the most unique vegan grilled cheese I've yet to experience. Instead of the stringy glue that Daiya can produce or the itchiness that cashew cheese can produce for me, this "cheese" was made of reduced coconut milk and what I assumed was nutritional yeast. Lightly flavored but satisfying in a gooey way that reminded me of childhood Velveta days. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Open Daily 11am - 10pm</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">97860 Overseas Highway</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Key Largo, FL 33037</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">305 852 0822</span></div>
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Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com097860 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, FL 33037, USA25.07692 -80.459811-0.44511449999999897 -121.768405 50.598954500000005 -39.151217tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-53981958988026651392014-07-19T19:34:00.000-04:002014-07-19T19:34:07.611-04:00Somewhere New December: Everglades and Keys and Alligators, Oh My!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxIMNGbMBeKdGvOuavfMeUK64GbUyIic7_uNhSn-XqA-qvi3xtIDFR5IuqL3mxc6lWjfrOsgSEYbm_B2LI1MctFnzF0ixof-vRDo4zRgg1cLXl3r8Nh99ZhpYZfGVodfCLpa83tmWt_8/s1600/IMG_2426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibxIMNGbMBeKdGvOuavfMeUK64GbUyIic7_uNhSn-XqA-qvi3xtIDFR5IuqL3mxc6lWjfrOsgSEYbm_B2LI1MctFnzF0ixof-vRDo4zRgg1cLXl3r8Nh99ZhpYZfGVodfCLpa83tmWt_8/s1600/IMG_2426.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Florida is nowhere new for me really but in every place there are nooks and crannies left unexplored and waiting for discovery. It turns out that I had left about 1,500,00+ acres unexplored. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Everglades are a wild and winding beast, shifting with the tides and aptly referred to as "a river of grass flowing imperceptibly from the hinterland into the sea."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The name Everglades is said to have come from the explorers to the area but the indigenous cultures would have called it Pa-hay-Okee, meaning grassy water. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whatever you call it, it's immense.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe0jdXa0oegcc6H0KAToKk4JcTD6YWiRT1e2yXiRVLu7t82sqXoNG91LqY9Cze_5HEuxyb4PJ9JN8agFH0Ezhp_rA2mshGPiQ_HOtqHO-zhTMsPjCwADrX-AP4OMSQJA2tyYNZgYPa10/s1600/IMG_2455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNe0jdXa0oegcc6H0KAToKk4JcTD6YWiRT1e2yXiRVLu7t82sqXoNG91LqY9Cze_5HEuxyb4PJ9JN8agFH0Ezhp_rA2mshGPiQ_HOtqHO-zhTMsPjCwADrX-AP4OMSQJA2tyYNZgYPa10/s1600/IMG_2455.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just outside the boundaries of the National Park are little locally run airboat companies that give tours of the grasslands. We hemmed and hawed and read a lot of reviews giving opposing opinions about taking a tour, but at the recommendation of our host Justin we decided to do it after all. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Airboats have been around since the early 1900's when Alexander Graham Bell got tired of inventing telephones and moved to hydrofoils and aeronautics. The first airboat to be registered in the US was right here in Florida in 1920. So if you're going to ride an airboat anywhere, here is where you should ride it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> "Now I'm from this area," our barrelchested boat captain growled into his headset mic,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> "lived not twenty miles from here my whole life."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He passed out cotton balls for us to gingerly manuever into our ear canals as he fired up the 15 foot fan behind him. The blades swooshed to life and we slowly eased forward into the dense canals that lead out to the grasses. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Now keep your hands and feet in the boat and hopefully you'll still have them when we get back," he cackled as he pushed the throttle, excellerating us towards a wall of tall grass. I panicked, he turned sharply and the underside of the boat floated out from underneath us, tilting us towards the soupy water as we slid around the bend. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Phil laughed and unpried my fingers from his leg. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You were in the bathroom when he warned us that there would be some sliding involved."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Oh good because I thought we were just dying already," I replied with a little angry nudge at Phil for not passing said warning along. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Boattailed Grackle joining the tour </span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After some more acrobatics and some high speed touring, little islands of densely matted ferns and trees appearing and disappearing as we wound deeper into the maze, we slowed down to a purr and entered a thin channel. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Here Nubs. Where you at Nubby?" </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The captain cut the engine and we floated in silence. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"We've got a couple a males that live round here," he explained as he slapped the boat hull with a stick and called out to Nubby. "Now males are real territorial. Sometimes they'll take up acres and acres of land and all the females in that area are his and he'll drive out the other males, even his sons. Our little Nubby here was stubborn and got in a tangle with Bubba, the dominant male here. And that's how he got his name, because he's missing the end of his tail." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just as we were getting ready to push off in search of another alligator to ogle, Nubby swam out of the grasses towards us, swinging his petit tail in slow arcs. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"You would think these guys are indestructible and I guess if you aren't another gator they kinda are. This here is called a scoot, its what's under those plates that run down the gators back," he said, passing us a little square piece of bone that could more easily been mistaken for a piece of coral. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After visiting Bubba, who hissed at us from his grassy sunbathing mat we ended the tour by visiting some of the babies in captivity and the alligators who had become so hurt or mangled that they were kept in enclosed pools. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As a rule I don't really like zoos and aquariums and even ecotours, which often proclaim their respect for the natural scenes and animals on display, can set my morality meter swaying.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can't say if it was in the best interest of these animals to be in captivity or even to be accustomed to humans the way Nubby obviously was, but I chose to engage in the tour and just remain mindful of how I was feeling and let that guide my future interactions with nature. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">According to our tour guides alligators live anywhere from 30 to 50 years. As babies for the first few years of their lives they are susceptible to poaching by large birds and other alligators and spend most of their time hiding in the grasses, or in this case pools, until they are large enough to find their own territories to dominate.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The little guy that we held was over two years old, and still so tiny! Having held one baby alligator, who really I was tempted to cradle but had to follow instructions on how to hold it "properly," I don't see much need to do it again. It was an interesting experience though to come skin to skin with one of those predators that men fear. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Humbling, even as a vulnerable infant. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng88oCfgQZHl7JF8PSJSYcjKyOJkBQussH_wkUq7-LYTQ-MFeCEg-kPvLTSKIf-5xFvBCpjux90IjtZk9jCg1iKpANLQ4h_UlODi5iJZ5Afs7CIU_G2deoL_GNIP2AfsDInx0FLV3F9g/s1600/IMG_2437.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng88oCfgQZHl7JF8PSJSYcjKyOJkBQussH_wkUq7-LYTQ-MFeCEg-kPvLTSKIf-5xFvBCpjux90IjtZk9jCg1iKpANLQ4h_UlODi5iJZ5Afs7CIU_G2deoL_GNIP2AfsDInx0FLV3F9g/s1600/IMG_2437.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day we headed down past Key Largo with Justin to snorkel and live the good life by the ocean. The water in December is definitely brisk and a wetsuit was welcome as we spent the afternoon floating past waving purple sea fans and brightly tinged sea whips and star coral and little clusters of pufferfish and clownfish. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the way back Justin insisted we had to stop in Islamorada to feed the tarpons and check out the artist shacks of painted driftwood, cheesy tourist postcards and straw hats. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.robbies.com/">Robbie's</a> is where you belly up to the bar, order your bucket of french fries and then a bucket of tiny fish so you can walk down to the end of the dock and hold them out for the sport of feeding the bigger fish. The tarpon don't have teeth but they DO jump almost completely out of the water and wrap their gummy lips around your hand in an attempt to swallow the minnows you offer. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On another day we visited Niki at work at the <a href="http://www.fairchildgarden.org/">Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And pretty much died and went to heaven. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was so absorbed in the Rainbow Eucalyptus, and Beobab, the Sausage Tree and all the amazing flowers and plants that I actually didn't even take pictures, I just soaked it in. I've been learning trees for over a year now but this expansive living museum taught me I have a long way to go as Fairchild is the host to one of the world's largest collection of palms and cycads</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We took the tram tour around the grounds with the most amazing tour guide. Well actually to anyone else on the tram he might have been the very worst tour guide but we found his monotone humor and creaky old man jokes so endearing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thanks to Niki, Justin and his mother for sharing their lovely house and pool so we could come to Florida for a warm weekend in December!</span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com2Florida, USA27.6648274 -81.51575350000001720.4843744 -91.842902000000009 34.8452804 -71.188605000000024tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-84391038115311488992014-07-18T15:32:00.000-04:002014-07-18T15:34:53.745-04:00Where to Drink Like a Local: Portland, Maine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA3w7t70PnqeUxUCcC-A7HpFaOQAPOh-c3ItaowJ2r0yqs877PTcm8IMMxy_Or1RCVaEAlmTKA_TnmS_G1Y6kekxRrAzVftWSudY37lbz7w173qiJcfqSlcz9w6MFtJDxyKlckVEkN80/s1600/IMG_2280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA3w7t70PnqeUxUCcC-A7HpFaOQAPOh-c3ItaowJ2r0yqs877PTcm8IMMxy_Or1RCVaEAlmTKA_TnmS_G1Y6kekxRrAzVftWSudY37lbz7w173qiJcfqSlcz9w6MFtJDxyKlckVEkN80/s1600/IMG_2280.JPG" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm not a drinker really. The occasional glass of wine after work has even disappeared to be replaced with herbal teas I brew and then put by the bed to cool, always left half-forgotten until the morning finds me parched and ready. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But Mainers are proud of their local products and a tourist is obliged to sample the wares of the state.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So John directed me down to Anderson Street in East Bayside. The houses and shops become blips on this side of town giving way to long factories and abandoned buildings. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.tandemcoffee.com/">Tandem Coffee Roasters</a> is crisp and white with the only major adornments seeming to be the polished steel of the old Probat roaster and the sleek La Marzocco espresso machine - shining totems to the coffee deities allowed to shine amid the sterile absence of clutter so prevalent to small, local coffee shops. There is very much a feeling of ritual and worship that attaches itself to the roasting and brewing of coffee and while I don't seem to have the palate or appreciation for coffee that many do, I can still lap up the zen rolling off these carefully poured cups of (yucky) bean water. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next door is <a href="http://www.mainecraftdistilling.com/">Maine Craft Distillery</a> doing what they call "farm to flask" whiskey production that displays the unique terroir of Maine. If you drop by in the evening for a tasting you can get a tiny shot of each of their brews and ask questions like:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> "so there are carrots in this spirit?!"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In addition to sourcing local flavors MCD also sources locally inspired names like their botanical spirit named Chesuncook - the Abenaki word for "where the waters meet," or their spiced rum named QueeQueg named for the famous harpooner of Moby Dick lore. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I dutifully tasted each one searching for "the taste of Maine" before passing the rest of my shot to John who was enjoying his free high.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next jump another building down and visit the <a href="http://www.urbanfarmfermentory.com/">Urban Farm Fermentory</a> or UFF as it's known around town and sidle up to the bar for a locally fermented kombucha. After the <a href="http://www.bevnet.com/news/2011/the-kombucha-crisis-one-year-later">kombucha crackdown scare</a> of 2010, many feared their precious bubbles would be lost to the government's foam but UFF is doing just fine for itself years later. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">12 taps of kombucha and hard "cidah," as they call it, grace the tasting room swathed in boozy browns and tans and a long wooden bar.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With flavors like Blueberry and Ginger to Chaga Chai and Cascade Hopped, Basil Mead and every variation of cider, it was easy to knock back a half and hour tasting and talking. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Many thanks to my drinking companion for not only finishing all my shots but also introducing me to the little seen side of Portland!</span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0East Bayside, Portland, ME 04101, USA43.6653623 -70.254957843.642390299999995 -70.2952983 43.6883343 -70.2146173tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-59831390257806149662014-07-17T15:19:00.000-04:002014-07-17T15:19:18.547-04:00Farm Day: Little Red Bird Botanicals - Late Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Visiting the garden for the first time with Holly had been so magical and inspiring that I was sure I would be zipping around the beltway once a week to sit and chat and pull a few weeds. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weeks passed and time spent at <a href="http://www.centroashe.org/">Centro Ashe</a> and <a href="http://arcadiafood.org/">Arcadia</a> along with day to day life found me pulling into a spot in the gravel lot at Clagett almost a month after my first visit. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What had changed? What progress had I missed?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember the chamomile seedlings from the <a href="http://hibouladybaby.blogspot.com/2014/04/farm-day-little-red-bird-at-clagett-farm.html">last visit</a>?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well into May spring was quickly slipping into summer and the plants had shot up in my absence, as they do. We rummaged around in the greenhouse together, Holly fretting over plants that had languished a bit, making a mental list of the "must plant today" and the "sorry maybe later"specimens. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bitter melon fell to the "must plant today" list so we found some seats on the ground near the bed and started digging shallow holes for the seedlings. Bitter melon, like all bitter foods, can be used to stimulate bile production and treat things like constipation and sluggish digestion. It also has uses for lowering blood sugar for diabetics as well as treating skin diseases and even cancer and HIV/AIDS. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we planted I asked questions about the plants like "What will the next phase of this plant look like?" Holly answered me in her slow, measured way, never really breaking focus from her planting but occasionally demonstrating shapes with her hands and throwing quick glances my way to gauge me comprehension. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The passionflower (above) had wound its way out of the ground since my last visit and was preparing to flower while the baptista (below) was only days away from sending out her little purple flags.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) is one of those plants that warms the herbalist's heart when it's seen growing in a garden. Long over harvested and over wildcrafted, the yellow thready rhizome of this palmate beauty is used to treat a myriad of illnesses and infections but it's popularity has put it on the list of rare and at risk plants. Even our own neighboring wildernesses like Monogahela National Forest in West Virgina no longer sells permits for collection because the herb has become even scarcer than American Ginseng. In the summer goldernseal sends up a fruit very similar to a raspberry with a cluster of thirty some seeds. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"What else is particularly lovely this time of year?" I asked. Holly thought for a minute. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Horseradish!" she shouted over to me. "Soon it will be all chewed up and bug ridden and since I only harvest the root there is no sense in trying to combat them so it starts to look much less photogenic the further in the to season you get." </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Horseradish with its easily identifiable long, rippling leaves. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The peonies that had been little alien stumps rising from the earth on my first visit had produced bulbous head and sweet nectar dripped from the lining of the bulb that the ants greedily collected. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For our last little task for the day we harvested Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) which grows all along a fence line down the gravel path from Holly's plot. We grabbed paper bags and leather palmed gloves and some shears and walked down to the patch, scaring a mole back into his hole as we approached.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I never mind the sting much. If you do get stung you may notice a tingling later, like your hand fell asleep, and I always have to remind myself it's because I got stung earlier. It fades pretty fast after the initial sting. I used to cook them to get the sting out but I've found even just tossing them in a blender does the trick," Holly explained as she snipped away and I tentatively took my first go at it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We hewed our way down the line.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "I always feel a little bad, I basically come in and decapitate all the male plants here. So I like to come back later in the season and just kinda say hey and give them some attention to let them know I don't just come to cut them down."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"How do you know they are males?"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Well that's kinda complicated really and I didn't know it at first but suffice it to say that now I know that those over there," she pointed to the stand growing along the fence running perpendicular to the fence we stood bent over, "are the females and these are the males. So I usually take from the males and leave the females to reproduce." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All these things I never had considered….</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we walked back towards the cars she pointed out the Wild Choke Cherry </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Prunus virginiana).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> "Those blossoms won't be around for much longer but then we'll get the berries. Most people don't like them because they're so sour but I eat them."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"You can eat any fruit it it's made into a jam,"I thought to myself, making special note of the other characteristics of the tree for future identification.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wonder what summer will bring? </span></div>
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Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0Chesapeake Bay Foundation Center, 11904 Old Marlboro Pike, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772, USA38.816267 -76.79844989999998-8.5354849999999942 -159.41563739999998 86.168019 5.81873760000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-52272384560850181792014-06-27T15:50:00.000-04:002014-06-27T15:52:42.338-04:00Exploring Home: Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.centroashe.org/">Centro Ashe</a> has been opening up a whole new pathway in life for me to joyfully skip down. My head whips back and forth at stoplights marveling at the stands of roadside echinacea, I'm cultivating new acquaintances in my garden like motherwort and hyssop, I'm kneeling in stranger's front yards and on sidewalk cracks trying to identify new plants and now a whole new genera of museums has come to my attention.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> And luckily I have one in my own backyard.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The <span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.alexandriava.gov/Apothecary">Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary </a></span> has been here the whole time. In fact it's been here almost as long as Alexandria itself - starting in 1792 and running till 1933. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we toured the apothecary with it's glass bottles full of magically colored powders, tiny crystal vials and heavy wooden drawers full of herbs I couldn't help but daydream about a modern apothecary. A renascence of people using whole plants to support their lives. Beautiful shops full of gorgeous tinctures and salves and teas and a marble soda fountain.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This used to be the norm. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As you climb the stairs to the room with floor to ceiling drawers, all hand painted with herbal names, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">you can't help but feel like you've stepped into a Harry Potter story with drawers like Mandrake Root, Unicorn Root and Dragon's Blood Reeds. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmClLV0t5f51NaUoj1sq3CNuW-L7CnJMmE1jzIyJlu2yiPXZruIljcIRjxVbqUcf4M1PGGKUmYV8vvCMDyA6_Rv2wMzMyz5mDgRvwPi0l5n4vHYI-FMXmUbcOfGt7vS9iOFYcrgwg7wr4/s1600/apothecary-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmClLV0t5f51NaUoj1sq3CNuW-L7CnJMmE1jzIyJlu2yiPXZruIljcIRjxVbqUcf4M1PGGKUmYV8vvCMDyA6_Rv2wMzMyz5mDgRvwPi0l5n4vHYI-FMXmUbcOfGt7vS9iOFYcrgwg7wr4/s1600/apothecary-14.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The tour is a quick 30 minutes and winds through the wholly unchanged two floors of the apothecary. Even the powders and liquids still smudged into bottles are original from the 1930's when the apothecary shut its doors. The docent carries an iPad with pictures of herbs pulled up to show you what Unicorn Root actually looks like and to pull up lists of herbal actions for the inquisitive herbalist visitor. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfgYU_6x9Zy5GXVXdz5GhJJfND_6qNkx8CAUBjKu4XESut450TOg1D_sf6LEYZXN9Vz6lKGNss5_KGrrQ6tqwRaUc28z0KQs401tHk-FxKLeef0zKkSApcw0fIBu8vTR4S5JONeRgvHE/s1600/IMG_3646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfgYU_6x9Zy5GXVXdz5GhJJfND_6qNkx8CAUBjKu4XESut450TOg1D_sf6LEYZXN9Vz6lKGNss5_KGrrQ6tqwRaUc28z0KQs401tHk-FxKLeef0zKkSApcw0fIBu8vTR4S5JONeRgvHE/s1600/IMG_3646.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">105 -107 South Fairfax Street </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alexandria, VA 22314 </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">703 - 746 - 3852</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Tours start at 15 till or 15 after the hour.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Admission is $5</span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0105 South Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA38.8043075 -77.04261529999996638.804259 -77.042694299999965 38.804356 -77.042536299999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-6476795326391750552014-06-27T00:05:00.000-04:002014-06-27T00:05:33.261-04:00Spring Bowl Trolls<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuEYHqSBvur6p2VRxwQM6MTvPcyqUmSBPTUTSIQb1_UJaYbEJyI5x8-p-OnIPAn0LIGv_B9_f1znn1PxGGLnvj8JqJQRXAZ8f00N7lQANGr4hjvxiiw4fxfUGTMA-9JDPry1cYzXZpYU/s1600/IMG_2846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuEYHqSBvur6p2VRxwQM6MTvPcyqUmSBPTUTSIQb1_UJaYbEJyI5x8-p-OnIPAn0LIGv_B9_f1znn1PxGGLnvj8JqJQRXAZ8f00N7lQANGr4hjvxiiw4fxfUGTMA-9JDPry1cYzXZpYU/s1600/IMG_2846.jpg" height="640" width="476" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bok Choy Tomato Soup with Chickpeas and Quinoa </td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I started cooking at home. A lot. Every meal. For about a month. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was exhausting and invigorating at the same time. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Really it was kinda inspiring to see what I could come up with, what I could enjoy. At the time I had a lot of restrictions in my diet. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crazy restrictions like no sugar, no yeast, no fungus, no grains. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you know how many foods have yeast in them? Did you know things like peanuts are a no go on this diet because they reproduce by fungus? Vinegar is a produced by yeast? Crackers have sugar in them?! Grains ferment in your stomach and feed the yeast/fungus?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">WHAT?!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My breakfast in particular went to very strange, savory new places.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And through it all I documented and Instagramed (@quinoaween) and someone pointed out that I had a lot of bowls on my feed and that I should name my little chapter of Instagenre.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And so I named it Bowl Troll. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I eventually eased back into the world of eating out I kinda stuck with my plant heavy bowls though and its been an amazing learning experience to think so very thuroughly about what I put into my body and what I don't. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDmGQbIWedhMYCTYb7oIM1XStXu8hlr_9vWNWOMTe7lwRusBWBrqO3bOoMcZmVFhfYVoroH-dtPs1enh3tQ_pyE5ScIaxP_zxch4WoIT3K2IpDOIFgNBdTIWpK_tDBVd6oRpkNFV-GGM/s1600/IMG_2855.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDmGQbIWedhMYCTYb7oIM1XStXu8hlr_9vWNWOMTe7lwRusBWBrqO3bOoMcZmVFhfYVoroH-dtPs1enh3tQ_pyE5ScIaxP_zxch4WoIT3K2IpDOIFgNBdTIWpK_tDBVd6oRpkNFV-GGM/s1600/IMG_2855.jpg" height="476" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flax Drizzled Green Beans and Japanese Sweet Potato Cakes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWGkWY2Jn8udLRGeHktL9qUw98sOzh1g2nWR0S5F0qmhXekRq1gqrJ8SvzxM-nfwAIDWbv7vCkPUHLNdNCyoXAUl62xGh0QAZBCVaoil3NeqNkAiv74JxMWypM6IbNYqRTm5nHDIVDJw/s1600/IMG_2859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWGkWY2Jn8udLRGeHktL9qUw98sOzh1g2nWR0S5F0qmhXekRq1gqrJ8SvzxM-nfwAIDWbv7vCkPUHLNdNCyoXAUl62xGh0QAZBCVaoil3NeqNkAiv74JxMWypM6IbNYqRTm5nHDIVDJw/s1600/IMG_2859.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buckwheat Cabbage Noodles with Crushed Macadamia </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrKZl4N1t4JixC0tljyUdCmCQM3861g0BX_9cgjo1armzse8JSenRwv-DXhDl-oJ0J62mR-I03v2KW1d7YlT6SIhW5K-hfXRMyHUIuYnYmsJBm_zCtv0itP8iFqQRqnzho7guS8YUZVCY/s1600/IMG_3035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrKZl4N1t4JixC0tljyUdCmCQM3861g0BX_9cgjo1armzse8JSenRwv-DXhDl-oJ0J62mR-I03v2KW1d7YlT6SIhW5K-hfXRMyHUIuYnYmsJBm_zCtv0itP8iFqQRqnzho7guS8YUZVCY/s1600/IMG_3035.jpg" height="640" width="478" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Life Alive Bowl with Tahini Dressing and a Green Juice</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieONAmsYJZESmX3HLFFSDxyabfTbWtzwg0DlG5vH7bdjbE_t8iMA95rY5JNQyjtuKAdJqfp0nPVxNIvVhAfYiASh2Bu8DGh97voO2PeQq-MIHCh7Ndpzo3ESTgOhRCoubzWYqiww9YzdI/s1600/IMG_3160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieONAmsYJZESmX3HLFFSDxyabfTbWtzwg0DlG5vH7bdjbE_t8iMA95rY5JNQyjtuKAdJqfp0nPVxNIvVhAfYiASh2Bu8DGh97voO2PeQq-MIHCh7Ndpzo3ESTgOhRCoubzWYqiww9YzdI/s1600/IMG_3160.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red Cabbage Tahini Bowl and One Strawberry </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEwcA9GiZ8ZGyF7MU1XZPBUeo-I8RHoXYVNzDNeTnXePk_E-I75hsTjZNx4FVLMLILBpusNlatY-CSK0riru9FZ5EpTkm-_pvPohBSbBdc1EuA69eeuePHXWIxj0rlD2FVw1XuJkAYrU/s1600/IMG_3172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEwcA9GiZ8ZGyF7MU1XZPBUeo-I8RHoXYVNzDNeTnXePk_E-I75hsTjZNx4FVLMLILBpusNlatY-CSK0riru9FZ5EpTkm-_pvPohBSbBdc1EuA69eeuePHXWIxj0rlD2FVw1XuJkAYrU/s1600/IMG_3172.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lemon Dill Wild Rice Stuffed Pepper</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6ol0O18KJdNGUSSqOQakzdYKwoMkg7ZJ0a6dbXiJ1LgyJwq6E-44sqPYA3EfwrKEj0xVFRzortVTi7N7onQeOruxX0CBLe88IF_u-3-YbBGDiLeMFNukEy_H7p3Y6u3GnI15rf13S5w/s1600/IMG_3174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV6ol0O18KJdNGUSSqOQakzdYKwoMkg7ZJ0a6dbXiJ1LgyJwq6E-44sqPYA3EfwrKEj0xVFRzortVTi7N7onQeOruxX0CBLe88IF_u-3-YbBGDiLeMFNukEy_H7p3Y6u3GnI15rf13S5w/s1600/IMG_3174.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artichoke Soup and Crusted Tofu Salad</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2t0AMyHoB9uzIXgZb3Yn-xLMmWMVWKuYfbKsfBun8scydzSV7w4QMqUtHlzNG61rEMhxB7cNfYC44XYT-Tq2ERnznYimNyxowGKdZ7Tf-BOUyHFfGLVlmVwIuVme1yT0nVtw4jsEVpHY/s1600/IMG_3543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2t0AMyHoB9uzIXgZb3Yn-xLMmWMVWKuYfbKsfBun8scydzSV7w4QMqUtHlzNG61rEMhxB7cNfYC44XYT-Tq2ERnznYimNyxowGKdZ7Tf-BOUyHFfGLVlmVwIuVme1yT0nVtw4jsEVpHY/s1600/IMG_3543.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sneaky Spinach Chocolate Smoothie</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTSUF9j95w-e08YAaxpBPrEdEyuBrhVL44f67Gvg1V0RgMHyP7YemJ0XokpEQzVrKJ1GUAmd3RPPEWFeBBnr0mlxLqaKgXTatH9vbmWVDGKfyl_Aj8lpWi7bWK4ZRR1NVnTx2OdwtM6g/s1600/IMG_3619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTSUF9j95w-e08YAaxpBPrEdEyuBrhVL44f67Gvg1V0RgMHyP7YemJ0XokpEQzVrKJ1GUAmd3RPPEWFeBBnr0mlxLqaKgXTatH9vbmWVDGKfyl_Aj8lpWi7bWK4ZRR1NVnTx2OdwtM6g/s1600/IMG_3619.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purple Paprika Miso</td></tr>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-71612370765496405082014-06-05T09:38:00.000-04:002014-06-05T09:38:33.991-04:00Where to Eat Vegan: The Holy Donut - Portland, Maine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt73d40y6a1E9BXDqy8XPvYcmTvzHBTV1UoNgeeS7jo51ISMxttblfY0YEJIBiGZI37MEHj8tuBRTZfzNrMvAdj_Hsccb9Fe22oRG3HNgjRanxsPcVqOSUbK8kosyKmeYYvV4coXA5jo/s1600/portland_november-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEt73d40y6a1E9BXDqy8XPvYcmTvzHBTV1UoNgeeS7jo51ISMxttblfY0YEJIBiGZI37MEHj8tuBRTZfzNrMvAdj_Hsccb9Fe22oRG3HNgjRanxsPcVqOSUbK8kosyKmeYYvV4coXA5jo/s1600/portland_november-23.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.theholydonut.com/">The Holy Donut</a> is a pretty inconspicuous looking place. I drove by it with the wistful memory of donut sugar sweetness floating through my brain and gloomily thought "none for me."</div>
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But as I parked around the corner on Mellen Street at my home away from home, just a few minutes walk from The Holy Donut I couldn't help but let a spark of optimism induce me to google: </div>
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The Holy Donut Portland Maine Vegan.</div>
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Low and behold: RESULTS!</div>
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Not only do they have vegan donuts but they have special Maine potato vegan donuts made with unbleached flour and organic cane sugar with frostings dyed and flavored with fruits and vegetables and REAL things. </div>
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I walked in and breathed deep the smells of berry glaze, fresh grapefruit juice and bubbling dough wafting from behind the scenes and parked myself at the window with a cinnamon sugar donut that had been handed to me moments before with a triumphant "Yep, it's vegan."</div>
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Enter - the moistest, softest donut I've yet to taste. Perfect.</div>
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Leigh Kellis and her father are the masterminds behind The Holy Donut and they work beside their crew daily making hand cut and rolled potato donuts.</div>
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Call ahead to reserve a box of vegan donuts because the cinnamon sugar (the standard on the menu that is always vegan) goes fast. Call 24 hours in advance and you can get customized frostings to spice things up! Gluten Free options are also popping up on the menu so everyone can enjoy the goodness.</div>
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The Holy Donut</div>
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194 Park Avenue, Portland Maine</div>
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207-874-7774</div>
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7 Exchange Street, Portland Maine</div>
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207-775-7776</div>
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Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0194 Park Avenue, Portland, ME 04102, USA43.6559671 -70.274849418.133932599999998 -111.5834434 69.1780016 -28.966255399999994tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-87148119780457275902014-05-12T09:54:00.000-04:002014-05-12T09:54:45.138-04:00What to do in Portland: Evergreen Cemetery <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-REP6TSUHX4i6-MvoptxzTo6yLE7YInHkEwvazPzRmuNmQozS7XrFnth6IguMD1BeQBjxejuQQagy-RUQGntfN3ihaBwRqMb8DsTGohRY_AX2Q3AjTXzh9Fohs_nrmhPV-gWBivMYCA/s1600/portland_november-38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-REP6TSUHX4i6-MvoptxzTo6yLE7YInHkEwvazPzRmuNmQozS7XrFnth6IguMD1BeQBjxejuQQagy-RUQGntfN3ihaBwRqMb8DsTGohRY_AX2Q3AjTXzh9Fohs_nrmhPV-gWBivMYCA/s1600/portland_november-38.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I really love a good cemetery. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The quiet winding paths, the chirping birds, the tangible, gritty lives buried right below your feet. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">So when John suggested a trip to Evergreen Cemetery I grabbed my camera and followed along. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The grounds are gorgeous and lush and the headstones are lovingly swaddled in shrubbery and we enjoyed a long walk until we came upon a gravestone that read Gelineau. Christopher, whose side of the tombstone held his dog tags, died on April 20th, 2004. A year and a few days later Lavinia, his wife was buried next to him. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">We sat before their gravestone, peeking into the glass box that held clues to their lives and possibly their deaths and speculated. A clay sailboat, wedding pictures, a heart shaped crystal.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"> He must have died in the war. But what happened to her? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I googled his name and found his story: a bomb in Iraq, as we had suspected. The story went on to talk about how Lavinia had played the guitar and sung their favorite song at his funeral.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">John and I sat and tried to imagine having the strength to play music at our spouse's funeral.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">How could such a strong woman have committed suicide a year later?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">We delved deeper into google as the sun warmed our backs and we stretched out in front of Chris and Lavinia.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Oh wow…."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">That's all I could say when I found the <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0406-20.htm">story</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">A year after her husband's burial, her estranged father had come for a visit and had strangled Lavinia before hanging himself. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">We sat stunned, staring up into the sky. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Cemetery's can be sombre. I suspect for most people they are. The thought of death is uncomfortable. Repressed. But I can't help but feel like there is something about walking among the dead that can give strength and gratitude to the living and in that moment John and I could think of nothing but the good fortune we had been afforded.</span> </div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">So many other headstones hint to untold stories. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">What happened to Lucy H Shefley and who is Mother?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">But if the mystery doesn't lure you in the fresh air surely should. Headstone after headstone was coated in luxurious carpets of orange lichen - what my budding naturalist brain suspects is possibly the elegant sunburst lichen, or more correctly - Xanthoria elegans.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">John pointed out the lichen in praise of Portland's superior air quality - and while he isn't wrong that lichen grow attached to pure air destinations, that's only true for some lichen. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Xanthoria elegans, if that is what this is, is actually so resistant to pollution and severe conditions that it has been tested and vetted as a survivor of outer space simulations. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">But really it's just beautiful to see such a pop of color on cold stone.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSc7mqyCOVIoh2C1_iqEQMR1y-ziwKD5bwTy49ZF7-a6hCNmGuE-URcuxgj1fsmQNLAm2zkNSYcFHiHc7AjqgDE4NImAa1RJNpjV615yrlaUBS838WMKLdCPo2EIb3K2VeJX6pE0oHgJ8/s1600/portland_november-35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSc7mqyCOVIoh2C1_iqEQMR1y-ziwKD5bwTy49ZF7-a6hCNmGuE-URcuxgj1fsmQNLAm2zkNSYcFHiHc7AjqgDE4NImAa1RJNpjV615yrlaUBS838WMKLdCPo2EIb3K2VeJX6pE0oHgJ8/s1600/portland_november-35.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><a href="http://www.friendsofevergreen.org/evergreen-cemetery/maps/">Friends of Evergreen Cemetery</a> is a group that has dedicated their time to preserving the beautiful grounds of the cemetery and they have an active calendar of history tours and garden walks for the public. The city of Portland itself has a really impressive cache of urban trails on their Trails.org website and they have a <a href="http://trails.org/our-trails/evergreen-cemetery/">suggested walking tour</a> of Evergreen Cemetery complete with hours, bus routes and possible activities for each hike. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKph0vHPqiw7Q5YWUKGV3gRZJ4CB-ZwGamaYJpTpL_ltE_j3LqnYPbt9lG-zSoW1hEyipnzV39ywYpFu2EcnqLI1EMvhMaq0l2EsFJwPyhfwiZkrmXpd70-GWNdKojkCLZw8wh2nqlm4/s1600/portland_november-39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcKph0vHPqiw7Q5YWUKGV3gRZJ4CB-ZwGamaYJpTpL_ltE_j3LqnYPbt9lG-zSoW1hEyipnzV39ywYpFu2EcnqLI1EMvhMaq0l2EsFJwPyhfwiZkrmXpd70-GWNdKojkCLZw8wh2nqlm4/s1600/portland_november-39.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">If there is any tombstone you cannot miss it's Edmund J. "Taz". I may be a sucker for old dilapidated, half worn headstones but this headstone is just amazing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Evergreen Cemetery</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">372 Stevens Avenue </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Ground Hours: 7am - 4:30pm</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Office Hours: 7 am - 3:30 pm </span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0672 Stevens Avenue, Portland, ME 04103, USA43.681422100000013 -70.29407570000000843.681377100000013 -70.2941547 43.681467100000013 -70.293996700000008tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-64009918503310523072014-05-06T00:27:00.000-04:002014-05-12T10:04:56.917-04:00Things to do in Portland, Maine: Gilsland Farm Audubon Center <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYrI4vm68Aj1xgnmVdRmL89X-A-uZ9kAE1z-K_ANin6zNSGlMh1AjmN0wgyzRsCUbC1qFNPLpZVx-J74AiFXmz4PtGwBjb6JcQ3gnverB9ZZqFGw5_Z4QlaupTt63TMRZ41joAdL1Bzo/s1600/portland_november-15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYrI4vm68Aj1xgnmVdRmL89X-A-uZ9kAE1z-K_ANin6zNSGlMh1AjmN0wgyzRsCUbC1qFNPLpZVx-J74AiFXmz4PtGwBjb6JcQ3gnverB9ZZqFGw5_Z4QlaupTt63TMRZ41joAdL1Bzo/s1600/portland_november-15.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Traveling alone is not only liberating in a cripplingly social way, its also sometimes just necessary for me. Who else wants to get up on their "vacation" to hang out with strangers and watch birds? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Wherever I travel now I'm sure to scout out nature centers and arboretums and I was lucky enough to land upon <a href="http://maineaudubon.org/find-us/gilsland-farm/">Gilsland Farm</a> - Portland's Audubon Center and they just happened to be having a birding walk that Thursday morning of my trip. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">As I pulled into the parking lot I spied a tiny gathering of birdies, bundled and swathed against the wind, hugging their binoculars tight. They looked up curiously as I stepped out of the car. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Is she lost?" I could feel them thinking. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I don't know if it's a lack of patience that seems to naturally push youth from the scene. Or perhaps the intimidation of trained eyes and ears that soar to identifications quicker than one's fingers can type out a Google. Or is it just a lost art, like so many others, that has slipped from the forefront as technology took center stage, usurping sticks and stones, in the lives of youth?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Whatever the case, you can't help but feel a little out of your element when you show up to your first birding walk. All the bells and whistles of a bingo game don't even begin to compare to how disorientingly seductive this art they call birding can be to the uninitiated. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghklRoUd5fxFocoelFeYfsPCmD0hKwinHwShIo7pJi1XJKVuSk5gnNlBw5SlZeh7Rl8G7LJO__iwZ_RHpDHwAZZ9w9c0eow9MDKEvHDK_mSJyERqlkVgZdFFuPao1pNv4pr0JjhqUUhU/s1600/portland_november-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghklRoUd5fxFocoelFeYfsPCmD0hKwinHwShIo7pJi1XJKVuSk5gnNlBw5SlZeh7Rl8G7LJO__iwZ_RHpDHwAZZ9w9c0eow9MDKEvHDK_mSJyERqlkVgZdFFuPao1pNv4pr0JjhqUUhU/s1600/portland_november-16.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I sidled up to the tiny group and acted nonchalant as I waited for the magic to unfold. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">They noticed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Oh just visiting. I go somewhere new every month and this month it's Portland," I explained, smiling weakly back at the surprised stare I received. "No I don't have any binoculars, this is kinda my first time doing this." I stomped my feet for warmth and again cursed my decision to come to Portland over the welcomingly warm arms of the lower laying lands down the coast. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Well we've actually got a nice little group out today, this is great," came a voice from behind us. I turned to see another fledgling join the group, his plumage still youthful and vibrant against the peppered whites and grays of the rest of the group. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Our fearless leader," one of the gray's quipped, "last week it was just the two of use out here and it was colder than today. Let's see how long we all last today."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Fearless leader? He can't be any older than I am! How did he happen to master this retiree ridden past-time before acquiring achey joints and a walking stick?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Doug led us through the woods and out to the first blind where he panned the scope out over the water.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Mergansers, Buffleheads, Goldeneyes, Double Crested Cormorants - despite the frosted temperatures the count started to climb and more bizarre, outlandish names were called out and the scope swung and trained quickly under Doug's direction.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">As with anything, the first time is always a bit harry, a bit awkward. As I looked through the scope I asked questions to help establish some parcel of association for my brain to form a memory around.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"So the mergansers are the ones with the bad hair day?"I asked.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The woman next to me laughed, "I hadn't thought of it that way but yes," she replied. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"So you're here all alone?" she asked as we followed Doug and the scope to the next spot. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I imagine she inaccurately but endearingly perceived me as a duckling on my first adventure away from home pond. We walked and chatted about the benefits of ample free time and hobbies that require that life. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Oh look out there in the grass. A Flicker. Didn't expect to see him today!"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The speckled dot flit and fluttered away from the scope before I could see him. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Patience and acceptance are truly honed virtues in this trade. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">My feeble attempts to photograph a bird through the scope resulted in an artful bum shot. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Eventually we wound completely around the grounds and back to our cars and my first taste of professional list making and ear bending was at a close. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nCjQaIsr9X_7nGBI0DavA1y5xfwRhi0o-ccO7oIctAjL4up1L2qT3au2S8g-U2mdM1UAwS1zrNwGxEAFqY9g-5Ld1pB3jcDwB6L6ozZtX1YcZzt-G3lIABp5CwbxGjdzKbJ40GTOsP8/s1600/portland_november-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nCjQaIsr9X_7nGBI0DavA1y5xfwRhi0o-ccO7oIctAjL4up1L2qT3au2S8g-U2mdM1UAwS1zrNwGxEAFqY9g-5Ld1pB3jcDwB6L6ozZtX1YcZzt-G3lIABp5CwbxGjdzKbJ40GTOsP8/s1600/portland_november-18.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bittersweet - Celastrus orbiculatus </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judy, my walking companion</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Check out the Center and walk the beautiful grounds if you ever make it to the Portland area. </span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;">Doug and his followers walk to trails every Thursday morning from 7 to 9am.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">207-781-2330</span></div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com120 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, ME 04105, USA43.705918 -70.24044500000002218.183883499999997 -111.54903900000002 69.2279525 -28.931851000000023tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-35408413606770779262014-04-30T15:32:00.000-04:002014-04-30T15:32:04.564-04:00Somewhere New: Portland, Maine <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHxAYI6U1STMR5DI7Eb6bE0-7EZfhEvsGVmeaOnEGoqRcNuiPFhXa6b_IQZlfcg4jv76eZLvuzJ1tnmIZpvI5ACsQSAlzuw7YEw3BaNvYrjEdqZ-CnYEfsaJM-VURAM5Vg4OWi2Yo7jY/s1600/portland_november.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHxAYI6U1STMR5DI7Eb6bE0-7EZfhEvsGVmeaOnEGoqRcNuiPFhXa6b_IQZlfcg4jv76eZLvuzJ1tnmIZpvI5ACsQSAlzuw7YEw3BaNvYrjEdqZ-CnYEfsaJM-VURAM5Vg4OWi2Yo7jY/s1600/portland_november.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I got off the plane in Boston and just couldn't contain my smile. Boston, oh Boston, what fond memories we have together. I rented a car and hurried over to <a href="http://www.veggiegalaxy.com/">Veggie Galaxy</a> to dig into a warm breakfast of pancakes and found myself thinking about how cute and quaint Portland was bound to be. A mini Boston I imagined. I was eager to get to my tiny Boston and so I jumped on the most direct route, the dreaded 95.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The two hour drive up through Massachusetts and into Maine is a long stretch of bland highway. My buoyancy wavered as I searched for grander scenes. Phallic sumac pierced the sky and densely bordered the roadside, occasionally giving way to tiny man made lakes and catchment pools. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Where is the mystery? Where is the wild? Where are the lobstermen?" I thought to myself. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I saw signs for Kittery and pulled off, desperate to see a glimpse of the ocean to restore my faith. I wound over to Route 1 and into Kittery. Strip malls greeted me moments after passing the 'Welcome to Kittery' sign. Wild, mysterious strip malls. Where were the crumbling light houses? The white sailor shacks on the cliffs? How far would I have to drive to see something beautiful.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I gave up and turned back, disappointed in my own impenitence. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Soldiering on I finally pulled up to my host's house on Mellen Street. After a quick tour around Ellen's beautiful little apartment she was off again and I was alone to plan out my day.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">But I kinda didn't feel like it. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I don't really know why I was being so sour. I just wasn't enthused. I sat on the bed with my bag wishing I had just stayed in Boston for the weekend. While this type of obstinate mood doesn't befall me often, this isn't the first time my Somewhere New has encountered the melancholy, naysaying Lacey, whom I shall henceforth refer to as Macey.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">The best course of action that I've found is just to ignore her until she's done pouting. So I plodded around the house changing my clothes and unpacking my toiletries and the bundled up and headed out into the city while Macey muttered derisively in my ear.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">"Well aren't we smart, coming to Portland in the fall when it's 2 goddamn degrees outside. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">Brilliant idea. How far are we going to have to walk before we find anything worth finding?"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">She mumbled and muttered and I just kept walking in search of lunch until I found <span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3C/font%3Ehttp://www.localsproutscooperative.com">Local Sprouts</a> and sat down with a giant salad and a bowl of vegan macaroni and cheese. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">When ignoring doesn't cure Macey, food does.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">After lunch I walked, as I often do on my first day in a new city, just to explore and see what there is to see. It turns out, when I'm not being grumpy, that Portland, while not the mini Boston I envisioned, is rather cute. I ducked into a second hand store and bought a sweater to add an extra layer to the mix and found that this too helped to reduce the Macey and open up my mind to the possibility of liking Portland.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666;">Later that night I met up with a couch surfer who had reached out to me. We met at the month's <span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3C/font%3E%3C/font%3Ehttp://www.portlandgreendrinks.com">green drinks</a> and he ended up being my long weekend friend and almost constant companion for the rest of the trip. While perhaps I might have kept Macey at bay on my own, I credit John with really being able to show me a side of Portland that was much deeper than I would have expected.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="color: #666666;">It's funny, because as I write this post I am just recently returned from a second trip to Portland. Thinking back to my first trip to Portland and my impressions, and reading what I wrote about Portland in my most recent travel journal, the opposition of feelings could not be more stark. While my first trip started begrudgingly and almost forced, my second trip was like visiting a long distance lover, with all the expectation and excitement </span></span>therein. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;">I can't wait to share the next few posts of the quirky touristing I happened into during the rest of my stay in Portland.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiqYg7LD2H8Um5PpDEWR00VFXayvXeqiqGOjxyqXaa0afan4J28FiKH5tCi4MYuPDqMUCQW-J3pJ7vTdwfoe_14wczjYOI0kR-bNDMzPa3MJVZ_kC9ClRm4ttxn5Z8wItU3PayTgbcgg/s1600/portland_november-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSiqYg7LD2H8Um5PpDEWR00VFXayvXeqiqGOjxyqXaa0afan4J28FiKH5tCi4MYuPDqMUCQW-J3pJ7vTdwfoe_14wczjYOI0kR-bNDMzPa3MJVZ_kC9ClRm4ttxn5Z8wItU3PayTgbcgg/s1600/portland_november-2.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Peaks Island from the lighthouse</td></tr>
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Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0Portland, ME, USA43.661471000000013 -70.255325943.477733500000014 -70.5780494 43.845208500000012 -69.932602400000007tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-89387578404610973712014-04-27T22:31:00.000-04:002014-04-27T22:31:18.856-04:00Farm Day: Little Red Bird at Clagett Farm <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Holly of <a href="http://www.littleredbirdbotanicals.com/">Little Red Bird Botanicals</a> tends a small plot at <a href="http://www.cbf.org/about-cbf/offices-operations/clagett-farm">Clagett Farm</a>. Amidst the farmyard chaos and despite the screech of the turkey she's managed to carve out a little slice of herb filled peace over the last five years. There's an air of quiet anxiety when a gardener first visits their piece of land after a hard winter. A held but hopeful breath. </div>
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Will the plants come back? What was lost? What survived?<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=293894263015010596"></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keesa enjoying the sunshine</td></tr>
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My experience with farming and gardening has always been with with the more macho sense of the word. Beefy tomato plants get yanked and discarded at the end of the growing season, seeds are snatched and hung if they are even kept at all, and a quick batch of winter-kill field peas gets thrown into the ground to the mercy of the first freeze.</div>
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An herbal garden is much different. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peonies </td></tr>
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As we approached the bed Holly and her mother started to call out the name of plants. </div>
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"Oh look at the Mullein popping up."</div>
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"Good, we've got peonies here and over there the hyssop is looking good already."</div>
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As we surveyed the survivors I was struck by just how different this first day felt from past first days on agricultural farms. There was such palpable rebirth and regeneration here. </div>
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Like seeing old friends at your old favorite bar. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black or perhaps Blue Cohash</td></tr>
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I spent the morning with Holly getting acquainted with her herbs, my head reeling with all the new plant names. We attended to each plant as individuals. Some budding plants needed to be freed from smothering encroachers, others we covered in a soft blanket of pine needles and others we just simply recognized with a few words before moving to the next.</div>
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As you weed an herbal medicine garden you learn that the traditional foes of farming: the chickweed, dandelion, plantain leaf and dead nettles, aren't really foes anymore. But even friends can overstay their welcome and butt in where they aren't invited so out we plucked them. We made a tidy little pile of chickweed for Holly to bundle home and mix into her smoothies. She praised their superior nutrition and invited us to take chickweed as well. </div>
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But wait. If they are so nutritive why cast them out of the garden?</div>
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"I don't bother growing things like chickweed in my garden when it's so abundant in our environment. Why plant something I can easily wildcraft?" Holly explained.</div>
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And she's right. Walking from my car to my apartment later that day I spotted chickweed growing between sidewalk slabs and clustered around the front steps. It's everywhere if you know what to look for. But where does one wildcraft in the city? How does one know where it's safe? </div>
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I still have much to learn it seems.</div>
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The time passed quickly with multiple hands at work and before we knew it the weeds were gone and it was time to wake up the nursery and start planing some seedlings. I watched and chatted with Holly as she placed the chamomile seedlings in neat little rows.</div>
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"I wish it was possible to get just one seed in each little hole, you know. It always ends up being these little clusters that you have to pull apart. But I'm going to plant them pretty close together so they grow up kinda bushy, like one big chamomile bush."</div>
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The slow, intentional act of planting is such a calming experience. </div>
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I'll be helping Holly throughout her growing season this year and documenting the growth of the garden and I can't wait to learn more. She sent me home with a hyssop and several little chamomiles of my own that I dutifully planted in close knit rows. Now all there is to do is water and wait. </div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com011904 Old Marlboro Pike, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772, USA38.8174652 -76.80002059999998213.2954307 -118.10861459999998 64.3394997 -35.491426599999983tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-9673140891652915132014-04-17T09:18:00.001-04:002014-04-17T09:18:36.944-04:00Somewhere New: Indian Wells Hike, PA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sometimes I like to bend the rules of Somewhere New and see an old friend. Jonathan and I take turns driving the windy back roads of Pennsylvania to visit each other every so often. For the month of October, Phil and I packed up for a long weekend in the mountains at Jon's.</div>
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I'm not a fan of Halloween. I started loosing interest in it about as soon as I started loosing teeth. Don't get me wrong, I still liked candy, but Halloween just seems so terribly contrived. So devoid of any real culture. As a teenager it was an excuse to stay out really late with friends running around the neighborhood. As a young 20 something it was an excuse to drink excessively. I just wasn't into it. </div>
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And yet the peer pressure to dress up and show up is high.</div>
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And actually, that's how Somewhere New started in a way. That first trip to <a href="http://www.hibouladybaby.blogspot.com/2011/11/somewhere-new-boston.html">Boston</a> in 2011 was a protest against a party I didn't want to go to. Not because I don't like my friends. Because I don't like what Halloween has become. Where are the scary movies? The all night pumpkin carvings? </div>
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The celebration of past spirits and the embracing of current life? </div>
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Getting together in costumes and drinking doesn't fulfill any part of me.</div>
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I know this view isn't popular though so I chose my getaway location wisely by choosing to spend my time with another self-styled social curmudgeon.</div>
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We visited the budding <a href="http://www.arboretum.psu.edu/">Penn State Arboretum</a> one evening. We watched old, silly scary movies. We carved pumpkins and ate my famous butternut squash mac and cheese. And generally we just gave Jon a big ole dose of socialization that he is usually too studious to seek out.</div>
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One thing I insisted on doing was taking a hike in the untapped wilderness of PA. We chose Bear Meadows and did a long winding hike through the tall laurels and up to the vista of <a href="http://www.billshikes.com/trails/central/indian_wells.htm">Indian Wells</a>. </div>
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Bear Meadows - which gets its name from the common inhabitants of the area - is actually a bog, not a meadow. The area is unique in its variety of trees which are usually found further north - things like Balsam Fir and Yellow Birch, but it actually has strong feelings of the south too. Walking the trail from the parking lot, as you start to climb, you enter a dense forest of laurel that stretches well above your head. Every so often Phil would let out a "Hey OH!" to ward off any roaming bears. </div>
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The hike is about 6 miles with a pretty good climb that empties out to a rocky outcropping and a great view of the fall foliage. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ground Cedar sporting strobili</td></tr>
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Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-293894263015010596.post-54237940472615623332014-04-13T22:23:00.000-04:002014-04-17T08:58:23.319-04:00Herbalism: Centro Ashe Medicinal Mushrooms Workshop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On a chilly morning in November I pulled up to Centro Ashe. </div>
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In a rural neighborhood a squat sprawling house and an oversized garage sit back from the road a bit. A tiny slat board sign out front reading: Centro Ashe est 2012, is the only things that sets it apart from the other houses. </div>
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I followed painted signs and shuffled into the garage. A ring of metal chairs in the center of the room were filled with other future medicine makers and curious counterculturists. </div>
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We sat tentatively, sipping nettle tea and milling about to look busy.</div>
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Holli is no white-coated doctor. She's not even the flowy skirt, patchouli kind of doctor. </div>
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She's a fungaculturalist - she grows mushrooms for a living.</div>
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But she's not ignorant to the abundant healing powers of mushrooms. But many of us were.</div>
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We started by introducing ourselves and talking about our relationship with mushrooms.</div>
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Answers ranged from:</div>
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I eat mushrooms</div>
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I've tried those Whole Foods grow kits without success</div>
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I drink mushroom tea, but I don't really know what it does</div>
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I've foraged once, but someone else knew what we were looking for</div>
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And my personal favorite: I've taken some really magical journeys with mushrooms</div>
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She started off our day of fungal fun by asking us to guess what percent of modern medicine is derived from mushrooms. </div>
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10? 15? 20?</div>
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No idea.</div>
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Turns out that since the medicinal properties of the ennoki mushroom were first studied and proven in Japan in 1972, more than 40 percent of our medicines have been derived from mushrooms.</div>
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Now that's not to say we didn't use mushrooms before that. It's just that the scientists, those white coat guys I mentioned before, hadn't approved them yet. Once the powers of mushrooms were chronicled for all to see the fungus hit the pill stands pretty quick.</div>
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According to Holli: </div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; line-height: 17px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;"> "Humans are more closely related to fungi than to any other kingdom, including plants, protozoans, and bacteria, and we have developed similar defenses against mutual disease-causing enemies. The idea is that because fungi and animals suffer from many of the same diseases, fungal medicines are active against many of the organisms that infect humans. Though ancient cultures have known this for centuries, scientific studies have only confirmed their incredible healing powers within the past few decades."</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaDxYQk9LAzIbrknL2LV6KQqFLJykHIBU-an1PPntBdNOECUZrEWM_ZXa4mVVF40sfOT487C8sEk7oibyYPOhny4GmOimbJSd7V_WYTQE0S3itH4CM-8E3yY7t1rRZE6bQqYBsfhNhdE/s1600/IMG_2045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLaDxYQk9LAzIbrknL2LV6KQqFLJykHIBU-an1PPntBdNOECUZrEWM_ZXa4mVVF40sfOT487C8sEk7oibyYPOhny4GmOimbJSd7V_WYTQE0S3itH4CM-8E3yY7t1rRZE6bQqYBsfhNhdE/s1600/IMG_2045.jpg" height="400" width="297" /></a></div>
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The main fear of using foraged mushrooms is the well known fact that some mushrooms are poisonous and many mushrooms look alike. </div>
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A cute little mushroom saying we learned goes like this:</div>
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There are old mushroom hunters, There are bold mushroom hunters,</div>
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But there are no old AND bold mushroom hunters.</div>
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The main rule when hunting for mushrooms is: When in doubt, throw it out.</div>
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Holli brought in some specimen for us to ID.</div>
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The four mushrooms above are all either Turkey Tail (known to be anti-malarial, anti-microbal, anti-oxidant, and anti-tumom), or look alikes. When fresh and attached to trees their colors are very similar and it is only by a few tells - mainly the texture of their undersides, that can give you a true ID.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2CDrJEst7VdM8pIuPCgKZd1Hx1KUF1f1eNNgtgNgqdfCbN-Y_iMtZwH2mYJvbp0BF5t_JFzdp3WQ6-B_1r3WJDvrUA2lCyPkxZ3ql6ZgKG0fUhN0tXA7WdgMQHTpXGFBU1OPmHqek_A/s1600/443px-Mushroom_cap_morphology2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2CDrJEst7VdM8pIuPCgKZd1Hx1KUF1f1eNNgtgNgqdfCbN-Y_iMtZwH2mYJvbp0BF5t_JFzdp3WQ6-B_1r3WJDvrUA2lCyPkxZ3ql6ZgKG0fUhN0tXA7WdgMQHTpXGFBU1OPmHqek_A/s1600/443px-Mushroom_cap_morphology2.png" height="640" width="472" /></a></div>
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Along with the 4 types of undersides there are four basic types of mushroom in the fungi kingdom:</div>
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Sacrophetic - the type that decomposes matter and releases acid</div>
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Microryzol - the vast networks that sync up with roots under the ground. Very difficult to cultivate but crucial to healthy plant and soil relationships</div>
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Endophytic - the type that invades plant tissue but leaves the host functioning and healthy - these can be grown sans-host</div>
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Parasitic- the type that feed on the weak, these slimy specimens don't usually produce a fruit body of their own</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEfAgUapstsKFCJHiXUbRkPoGd0wUVp9PY5KbOEtjRd0hz2T-hYpFMjJ9_hS5-8zv4zS52FtZINfbYRuFiQ1Hp_CGZIA-NuZ4W9kbO0VG-6EeRfy2QojZ_KrLviu0XsFXnkV9G3Xnqfao/s1600/IMG_2032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEfAgUapstsKFCJHiXUbRkPoGd0wUVp9PY5KbOEtjRd0hz2T-hYpFMjJ9_hS5-8zv4zS52FtZINfbYRuFiQ1Hp_CGZIA-NuZ4W9kbO0VG-6EeRfy2QojZ_KrLviu0XsFXnkV9G3Xnqfao/s1600/IMG_2032.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Innoculting wood with reishi plugs</td></tr>
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As we learned about hyphae and spore prints and tried to wrap our brains around the scale of the underground network attached to the tiny umbrella shaped fruits we cal mushrooms, our eyes started to glaze over from overload. </div>
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Holli wisely put away the power point and started getting us to just jump in and try it. </div>
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For the second half of the class we learned how to inoculate wood for mushroom cultivation and make little fungus boxes to take home.</div>
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The general steps were: find some fresh wood that isn't too big around, drill holes into it, hammer the plugs in, cover the whole with wax, bury, wait. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmiXRgu1VMvqzU_iM3fb8rLqHj3D8xGXEG-ycYjSze3RCayOWIFYXtGBNYIfa736lQAXkwHAi945gdIHafKQh2g43hGBq3tttI2mO3GIcV7F1ihOFUp_QAXg7nOflXDwOLgJDiAxMC1U/s1600/IMG_2043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmiXRgu1VMvqzU_iM3fb8rLqHj3D8xGXEG-ycYjSze3RCayOWIFYXtGBNYIfa736lQAXkwHAi945gdIHafKQh2g43hGBq3tttI2mO3GIcV7F1ihOFUp_QAXg7nOflXDwOLgJDiAxMC1U/s1600/IMG_2043.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></div>
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We learned some interesting do's and don'ts of the cultivating world.</div>
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DO:</div>
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-Start with Oyster Mushrooms - as they are most forgiving to cultivate</div>
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- Learn your wood - not all wood will grow mushrooms</div>
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- Study your mushroom - what's it's natural habitat? What does it like to eat?</div>
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DON'T</div>
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- Inoculate dead wood. Only parasitic mushrooms thrive there and parasitics aren't very useful </div>
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- Try to inoculate Black Walnut, Cedar, or Hickory - it won't work. These trees are naturally anti-fungal or produce essential oils that deter fungal growth.</div>
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- Contaminate your specimens before inoculation. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4sBnonyzKcLNeO27laAgMYQhWxAhvSRhTscGPusQFLmkBlk0LNW0Jq7zsKPvtgjWm2iDmfxn6wne40qho_zOY3xekCsqW0rMAnGPVCpSRsfYPgYtW66S9PdSL8luEXDGb9C4DDaGqZ0/s1600/IMG_2047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp4sBnonyzKcLNeO27laAgMYQhWxAhvSRhTscGPusQFLmkBlk0LNW0Jq7zsKPvtgjWm2iDmfxn6wne40qho_zOY3xekCsqW0rMAnGPVCpSRsfYPgYtW66S9PdSL8luEXDGb9C4DDaGqZ0/s1600/IMG_2047.jpg" height="640" width="476" /></a></div>
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This class was such a fun, hands on way to start getting interested in the world of mushrooms. Honestly, it was way over my head for what I am ready to do with mushrooms but being around experts in any field is always humbling and inspiring for future endeavors. </div>
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<br />Laceyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776175871871389463noreply@blogger.com0