Wow, its been a really long time since I've updated this blog! I've been having some pretty bad cervical spine issues these past few months that have been causing really intense physical (and emotional!) pain. I almost stopped doing everything I enjoy doing, and for a while I was reduced to a sniveling lump. I even thought I was going crazy for a minute. My GP tried all kinds of pills and steroids (which helped me to blow up like a cow) before I finally went for an MRI and was told I needed surgery for bulging discs. Well, I'm not buying it! I am going to try to do everything I can to heal myself; and yes this is possible since I (luckily) don't have any nerve damage yet. Knowing the problem has helped me to start taking it more seriously instead of just trying to push through the pain like I was doing before. I have good days and bad days but this is not a pity party!!! With the world coming back to life outside my door I decided to get out my camera and capture some of the beautiful spring ephemerals blooming right now; blink and they'll be gone! So, without further adieu, toothwort, hepatica, trillium, blood root, and elusive morel mushrooms, show thy selves!!!
The image above is toothwort, sometimes called birdsfoot, the roots taste somewhat like licorice and they will numb your gums, an old remedy for tooth-ache!
If you are in to mushroom hunting there are many guides around Georgia who can take you on a hunt and help you identify these beauties correctly. While morels are prized and quite valuable (up to $40lb) there are many false morels that can make you very sick. Also, please don't pick Trillium flowers!!! These flowers have a complex seeding process (it's done by ants) and picking one will not only destroy the root system, it will prevent the flower from reproducing. You can NOT seed trillium's by yourself, so take pictures instead!
Happy Spring Everyone!!!
Trillium
The early evening star
The muse of three ivory words
Tied to one gravity of reason—
Tied to the gold pollen
Of birth and rebirth and rebirth.
The trillium and all her creamy luck
Equal in truth—unbiased, measured, even
And blooming silver on all three faces
Of muse. Serving sincerity
On all three plates of heaven.
The trio of power, wisdom, clarity
Paralleling the blonde expressions
Of stars—and the outstretched
Limbs of stars—
Blooming and bedding against
A warm cliff—Soft on a poetic landscape;
Unfolding
On a precipice, leaning clear over its demise:
Tied to the gold pollen
Of birth and rebirth and rebirth.
The trillium and all her creamy luck
Equal in truth—unbiased, measured, even
And blooming silver on all three faces
Of muse. Serving sincerity
On all three plates of heaven.
The trio of power, wisdom, clarity
Paralleling the blonde expressions
Of stars—and the outstretched
Limbs of stars—
Blooming and bedding against
A warm cliff—Soft on a poetic landscape;
Unfolding
On a precipice, leaning clear over its demise:
--Masiela Lusha
