Forest Flora

Beneath the thickly matted fir and pine needles of the old-growth forest, oregon grape roots shoot out mustard yellow runners. Lush purple elderberries grow over the crystal-clear spring swelling out from an underground pool. Raspberries form a thick bramble along the cool, tumbling creek waters.

On the hillsides, fields of St. John's Wort gleam yellow and green amongst the native grasses. Tall spires of mullein grow in the disturbed earth.

I walk slowly through a meadow of rich medicine.

A forest in my hand...

Towering, majestic ponderosas with cinnamon-red bark, pose overhead with twisted, turned branches reaching skyward. I feel humbled by the immensity of the trees sculpted like mammoth bonsais in the mountain basin. Lodged between the giant roots,and feathered out through the pine needles, I gather the fallen seed.

At high noon, I cradle a forest of dormant seed in the palm of my hand- a sacred offering to return to the earth.

Gathering Pine Seed

Ponderosa pine cones burst in the summer heat, expelling seeds from sienna-colored cones on heavy branches. Seeds glide to earth on parchment-hued wings floating on a gentle breeze. Blustering storm winds fling seed far afield from the mother tree.

The winged seed spins round and round on a miniature propeller nose diving down to earth. Each seed glides into a soft landing amid deep beds of long ponderosa pine needles or onto parched summer soil.

A single seed becomes a giant.