March is Green and Misty

The early misty Marchy morning and me.

Oh March!  The past few days have found me feeling very sensitive and heart-achey for no apparent reason, other than the early spring... when I think of how my heart feels, I have the image of dark, damp earth being pushed aside for a fresh bright green shoot reaching for the yellow warmth of the sun.

Early as it seems this year, I welcome Spring. I welcome the open and raw feeling in my heart, as if someone has removed an armor breastplate after a long and exhausting battle.  My ally has been motherwort so far this year.  I need her loving support since just the beauty of the wind on my face can make me tear up with the sheer beauty and enormity of the experience.

I had some spare hours on Saturday morning before the 10am opening of the Woodfin YMCA Winter Market.  Being on the sleepy side of town, the shops were still closed and the roads nearly empty, barring the threads of misty clouds weaving around the trees, snaking up from the creekbeds.

A living rock, soft and green.

My car went past the road for the market and past the town limits just a moment later.  I kept going, until I noticed a fork in the road, pointing out the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance a few miles down the way...so I pointed myself in that direction and onward I went.

The sun was not quite above the mountain range, and so the diffused light through the clouds was pale and wan.  The mist was backlit as it curled around the top branches of the pines and oaks, or spun itself into circles in the little valleys and nooks.  I made my eyes stay to the road until I finally reached the Parkway entrance road and found a small pull-off.

I am a cautious person, and do not often go off on adventures alone.  I fret and worry and fill my time with stress instead of the sought-after peace...but not today.  The pull of the forest was so strong that I could not resist and with cameras in hand, went down the trail that began at the end of the pull off.

Wild Violets and
Mouse-Ear Chickweed

Beauty greeted me..then the symphony of the woods.  There were crackling leaves, dew dripping from the trees, and as the sun began to climb ever higher, a growing chorus of birds.

Everywhere I looked was gray and green.  Grey rocks covered in green mosses and lichens.  Dark earth giving rise to tender, baby leaves of many, many plants.  Grey bark with mossy stripes, and the grey branches tipped with a green haze. the promise of future leaves.

I found a verdant patch of violets breaking the soil around the base of an oak.  Just a few days ago, I ate my first violet of the year...ah...so sweet and fresh!  Perfect heart-shaped leaves for a heart-achey me.  What a delight, and a gift...

I found mouse ear chickweed (growing between the violet leaves) and some other familiar spring friends like wild onions, henbit and uncurling ferns.  While exploring, I came across a mystery plant...the leaves were beautifully spotted with white.  When I touched the leaves I found that they had a slight thickness to them, and they were soft and peach-fuzzy.

With the help of a Plant Identification group on Flickr, I now know it to be Hydrophyllum macrophyllum, large leaf waterleaf.  It will grow lovely, long stemmed flowers in the warmer days to come, and the leaves will be more solidly green.

Hydrophyllum macrophyllum, large leaf waterleaf,
Early Spring Growth (March 2012)

I finished these pictures just as the batteries in my camera died, so made my way back to the car and wound down the curly mountain road.  With the sun rising over my left shoulder, warming my face and head, my heart felt lighter in my chest as the mist lifted from the treetops into the sky.

These busy days (Photo Post)

This is our chicken, Bok.  She is our official compost-turner and shoe-pecker.  Bok just finished a prolonged molt, and looks gawgeous!  Her death sentence was drawing near, as she hadn't laid in over a month, but today we peeked and found some lovely brown eggs.  Well played, Bok, well played!

The catnip is happy, even though the cold is keeping it close to the earth.  It still smells potent, and yet Akasha kitty doesn't care for it until it's dried and crumbled into her special Nip dish.

Thanksgiving table: Pumpkin, Mead, Gingersnaps, Cranberry Cordial, Truffle Honey, and not shown is the spiral cut ham, turkey breast, stuffing, beans, peas, biscuits, and more bits that were brought by dear friends as they stopped in!

The gingersnaps going into the oven were lovely!

THIS is why I've not been blogging...Holiday honey sales!  I'll be back with more words soon, I promise.

Spelunking 101 and Plant Identification Help

Here is a photo post for y'all to enjoy...they don't capture the reality of the smell of the leaves, the sound of the rushing stream nearby, the dripping of the rain onto the fallen leaves, or the giggling of my dear Eric and myself, but I'm pretty proud. 

You see, the photo-genius behind Modern Scribe Photography, Sarah Thomas, has been teaching me how to use all of the twiddly-bits on my camera, I've been excited about getting the pictures I want instead of dealing with the pictures I get! 

I could use a hand with plant identification as well!  Check out the last couple of pictures and let me know if my guesses are correct...(UPDATE:  The identified plants have been labeled!)

Eric found this small cave in an abandoned housing development near his job...armed with flashlights, walking sticks, and a camera, we decided to go investigate how deep it was, and seek our fortunes, and fight kobolds and drow...

But this is from halfway in, looking toward the entrance in the first picture.  The rest of the cave was just dark, wet rock, mud on the ground, and angry cave crickets.  Denied the chance to battle a dragon, we explored the surrounding riverbank.

This was a verdant green, more live than most other plants around.  It struck me as my eyes fell on it, and my brain said "Vinca" (periwinkle), but that is not correct.  There were no visible flowers, does anyone know what this is?

Is this bee balm? Monarda?  Because when I saw it, my heart sang.  But I've never found bee balm in the wild, only big, red-flowered, over-fertilized department store bee balm for landscaping...Can anyone confirm it?

UPDATE:  This lovely purple-flowered plant is Wild Phlox

It was the only spot of bright color among the greens and browns.  I was enchanted!

And then I found more color...can anyone help me identify this berry bramble? 

UPDATE:  These are not berries at all, but rosehips!  I'd never seen them so small before!

It started to rain, so I was more worried about covering the camera and heading home than collecting a berry or two to study.  Silly me!  I don't know the smell or texture of the inside of the berry, and surely don't know what they are.

Picture Post: Drum Altar, Equinox 2011

The drum altar is one of my favorite parts of participating in events with my spiritual family. Made up of eclectic, ecstatic, and excited witches, we use this space as a focal point for the community at large weekend events.

The core structure of the drum altar uses the Yoruban Ifá sprits, the Orisha, and their archetypes to build from...but the altar is not limited to that tradition. We have many different paths at these events, and the common languages are love and drum...so there is a Ganesha, a Legolas doll on the Ochossi altar (hunter, archer, tree-dweller), many many different things used to symbolize the energies we are all bringing together to work with.

Along with symbols, the festival participants bring food, candy, fruit, bread, wine, rum, whisky, cigars, candles, and more...the offerings left on the higher tiers are left for the gods, and those on the blanket are for the hungry and thirsty drummers, dancers, and watchers as the night grows darker and the fire grown higher.

Here are some glimpses of the altar during the daytime...imagine it at night, lit by tealights and candles, the mirrors flashing with the firelight, the pounding drums at your back, and the blankets full of happy people feeding each other chocolate, honey, and grapes!

Oshun, Mary, Sweet Mother, the center and heart of the altar.

A larger view of the altar...Oshun, Yemaya, and Eleggua

Ganesha is chilling next to Ochossi, and under Ogun.

Ancestor, trickster, gate and crossroads

A view of the left side, Ogun near the top, Obatala at the top, Chango opposite Ogun.

Images from my world...

Some of the accoutrement from the Asheville Fortune Teller's Guild boot at LAAFF 2011.

The view of the festival through the belly and breasts of an empty Damiana bottle

Tidying the cordial and tincture cabinet...nowhere near done!

The past few nights have been beautiful, chilly and breezy with crickets singing and rain falling.  The days have been no warmer than 75 degrees.  Goldenrod is blooming, and apples are ripening, and I've been full of DOING.  Autumn turns me into a squirrel, and I preserve, bottle, brew and dry everything edible I can get my hands on!

Enjoy your fall, my friends. What is keeping you busy these days?