Category Archives: MUSINGS

April 2, 2015

Pieces of April

By JL

The climate in my northern realm usually puts us about a month behind the adage, April showers bring May flowers, but every so often we’re blessed with a good year; this year is holding promise to be just that. The snow melted away nearly a month ago and the frost has worked it’s way out of the ground. Green shoots are poking up in the flower beds.

violets and lilly of the valleyI spent the morning in my gardens, picking windblown leaves from around emerging daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, rhubarb, wild strawberries and mint. I can barely wait to pick my first bunches of violets and fragrant lilly-of-the-valley to fashion into fairy bouquets, though their bloom time is a good six weeks away.

It felt good to be scratching in the soil again after a long winter. By noon, I kicked off my shoes and socks to reacquaint my feet with mother earth—Gaia’s spirit and mine connecting. Barefoot, I padded around my little acre checking for signs of green life.

April is a month of transition, a wild woman changing her moods with capricious will. Rain turns to sleet, then to fluffy flakes and back again to rain—all in a matter of minutes. Sun and sixty degrees mid-morning gives way to a cold chill on the wind and thunderstorms rolling in by late afternoon. A late season blizzard can bring two feet or more of snow; with the only consolation knowing that it will melt away in a day or two.

Geranium leafNo matter the unpredictable weather, April holds the promise of summer ahead. I found that promise in the bright green leaves of my wild geranium, rocketing up from the soil in a sunny southwest corner of the garden. They were pungent with the spicy, concentrated sap of spring. I plucked a handful of the leaves to whip up a batch of my Gardener’s Hand Scrub.

I’m co-teaching a class on using garden variety flowers, herbs and plants in home remedies. Though technically not a remedy, making a scrub is entry level herbalism. I want to bring samples for the students, so the little handful of wild geranium leaves was a happy surprise; they’ll add a clean, refreshing scent to my Gardener’s Hand Scrub.

I keep a jar of hand scrub by my kitchen sink all year round, but I especially appreciate it when I’ve given my hands a good workout in the yard or garden (I don’t wear gloves as often as I should). The grit of the sugar or salt powers off the grime, exfoliates my hands and cleans up my cuticles, while the oils condition my skin and nails. I just scoop out about a teaspoon full and work it into my dry hands, scrubbing and massaging, especially around my cuticles, then thoroughly rise with warm water and pat dry with a soft towel.

Basic Sugar or Salt Scrub

  • 1 cup of sugar, sea salt or Epsom salt.
  • Approximately 1/2 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon vitamin E oil
  • 1 or more Tbs of aromatic herbs of choice, chopped.

Pour about 1/4 cup of sugar or salt in food processor, add herbs and pulse until herbs are finely chopped. This will result in super fine sugar or salt, and depending on the moisture content of the plant material it may become  pasty. Remove mixture from processor and add to remaining salt or sugar, stirring to incorporate. Add vitamin E oil. Add olive oil (start with about half the amount) and stir all together. Continue adding oil until the mixture reaches consistency of thick paste. Place in a clean jar or other container with tight lid. If it seems too dry, add more oil. Too loose, add more sugar or salt.

It isn’t necessary to use a processor; you can make your scrub by simply mixing the sugar or salt, oils and aromatic herbs in a bowl. I like the method above for breaking down the plant matter and releasing the volatile oils.

So what’s the difference between salt and sugar in a scrub? Sugar is a more gentle exfoliant because the shape of the grains are more rounded, less sharp that salt. The glycolic acid in sugar moisturizes and conditions skin. Sugar scrubs are also stickier than salt scrubs. Salt not only offers a more vigorous exfoliation, it also contains beneficial minerals; salt has long been used for purification and healing, though it can be more drying than sugar. Can’t decide which one to use? Mix it up with a half of each.

You might also try putting all of the sugar and/or salt into the processor. The superfine consistency results in a very gentle scrub. Your scrub should keep for 4 to 6 weeks (the more plant material in the scrub, the shorter the shelf life; check your scrub often to be sure it isn’t spoiling). Keep it by your sink and use it every day! Try these common herbs and plants in your scrubs:

  • Mint leaves
  • Marigold petals
  • Rose petals
  • Lemon balm
  • Citrus zest (may shorten shelf life)
  • Lavender (buds or leaves)
  • Cedar

Try combining two or three for your own, custom aromatic blend.

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March 28, 2015

As Long As I Have High Heels Everything Will Be Just Fine

By JL

I have a birthday coming—soon, so yesterday I sucked it up and made the obligatory visit for my annual physical. I’ve been seeing this doc for my entire adult life. My appointments these days are pretty uneventful. The nurse checks my blood pressure, pulse, weight and height, then a I have pleasant chat with my doctor while he adds the stats into my now digitized files. It occurred to me that he is the one constant witness to the passing of my years, the chronicler of my time on this earth.

Today he recorded a new development—more of a reversal, really, given that I’m starting to shrink. I’ve lost a half an inch, and his is not good news. It means I’m that age; despite my best efforts and any modicum of success at remaining youthful, my physical body is progressing along the natural aging continuum while in my head I am still holding steady at thirty—forty at most.

Who am I kidding? In my head, I’m Sigourney Weaver rocking it in a t-shirt and bikini briefs in Aliens. But much to my regret and the desire to admit it, in the mirror I’m Madeline Kahn in Young Frankenstein.

Gold Kitten HeelsI woke up this morning with an overwhelming desire to don a long, sleek satin dressing gown, slip into a pair of kitten heels and adjourn to the sunny breakfast room where I could sip my French press coffee and enjoy a soft-boiled egg and toast sitting at a chic, blonde-oak, mid-century Heywood table with vinyl-padded, curved-back chairs. From there, I’d retire to the chintz covered sofa with my laptop and continue writing the next great American novel.

In short, I awoke with an urge to embrace the stereotype of a woman past her prime, slowing, but glamorously fading into obscurity.

Instead I poked my arms though the bulky sleeves of my ratty plush robe and slid my feet into faux suede and fleece mules. I shuffled blurry-eyed to the kitchen where I managed to get most of the coffee grounds into the Mr. Coffee basket and pour the water in without spilling, only to find my coffee pot, my morning life line, the brewer of my vital energy elixir, is kaput. It coughed and sputtered and blew a lot of steam that lifted the cover of the water reservoir up and down making it look sort of like a black dragon having a hissy fit.

It finally dribbled about a half cup of very strong brew into the pot. I added hot tap water and called it good. My toaster is operating on its last few coils, judging from the alternating stripes of crunchy toast and chewy bread it popped out. Forget the soft eggs, way to much effort.Coffee

I sipped my coffee while my brain wrapped itself around this new information. I’m shrinking. Old people shrink, they turn into tiny little gnomes wearing cardigan sweaters when it’s 80-degress, demanding the air conditioning be shut off in every room they enter. It occurs to me I hate air conditioning. I start mentally calculating how many cardigans I own and decide to start a box for charity donation.

I may have lost half an inch, but I’m not about to give a mile to aging. And there’s always high heels—or at the very least kitten heels.

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January 4, 2015

This Is What I Want, What I Really, Really Want

By JL

Here we are, creeping up on a full week in January already and I have not yet made a single resolution for the new year. I’ve thought of plenty, mind you—lofty, idealistic goals stirred up by the bold declarations of those answering the call of self-improvement and good deeds. It’s a contagion, I tell you, one I do my best to ward off.

It’s sort of the same for me as Black Friday—everybody in a panic, crushing into the stores, snatching up bargains all in lather, sacrificing Christmas spirit to the idle worship of the solid gold beast that is consumerism. I like to wait until the fever pitch cools, the excitement dwindles and the competition all goes home. I’m good with paying a few dollars more to avoid the triathlon of jogging in place at 3-a.m. to keep warm while waiting for the store to open, sprinting through the aisles, and then playing tug of war over the last Samsung Galaxy SII 4G—which will be obsolete before I can wrap it and tuck it under the tree.

With resolutions it’s not as much a competition as it is joining in the fray, tossing your intentions into the ring to see whose lasts the longest. I’d rather sit back and watch the perennial, early contenders—exercise more, eat less, get in shape, lose weight—all going down for the count.

It’s never wise to be rash about these things. Setting goals is a careful consideration, best based in reality—the reality that the harder they are, the less likely you will succeed.

Well that’s just wonderful advice coming from a midlife mentor isn’t it? Harsh even. Here’s the thing, if you start out working toward what you want, instead of setting goals for what you should be doing, the chance of success is way better—and you might just get a bonus to boot.

I don’t want to give up sugar, chocolate, wine or delicious fatty foods like cheesecake and maple nut ice cream. But I do want to feel better, and feeling better means eating more whole fruits and vegetables, drinking two liters of water, and getting my butt out of the chair for a walk in the brisk air every day. When I do those things consistently I feel better—physically and emotionally. Success!

I also have fewer cravings, and when I do indulge in chocolate, cheesecake, ice cream, cookies, potato chips, French fries . . . some body stop me!  When I do eat those taste-tempting treats, I’m satisfied with smaller portions because I’ve filled up on wholesome, fresh foods.

I also want to write more of what I want to write and less of what I think I need to write to get paid. If I write what I like to read and enough other people like to read it too, maybe there will be some money in it down the road. If nobody likes it but me I’ll still have enjoyed writing it.

I want to treat myself well—really well. I’ve done it for other people for most of my life, and I don’t regret it nor will I quit doing it, but I’m ready to stop denying my own special treatment of myself.

I want to worry less. I think that one is going to take some practice, or training in meditation, or maybe drugs. Whatever, it’s something I want so I think I can achieve it.

Finally, I would like to avoid selfish, negative, aggressive, ignorant people, but short of becoming a hermit (yes, I know that’s not a long walk for me), I don’t think I have much chance of success there. So I will say instead that I want to deflect the energy of selfishness, aggression and ignorance with my own super power cloaking shield.

Okay, that one might be a little unrealistic.

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