Today, I Found More Labrador Tea!

Well, finally, some sunny weather here in good ol' Nova
Scotia! It's allowed me to get back out in the woods, and
look for medicinal plants, and other interesting things.
Mind you, I've noticed that the mosquitoes are more plentiful
than last year, in my area of the province.

Today, I discovered a new location for labrador tea, which
happens to be a favourite plant of mine. It's rather deep in
a predominantly softwood forest, that opens into a large
swamp, replete with all kinds of interesting grasses, and
some old hackmatack trees. I found the large cluster of
labrador tea growing on the southern boundary of the
swamp.

I've brewed the tea on many occasions. It's often listed as
a poisonous plant because it is classified as a member of
the Rhododendron family of plants. It contains a volatile oil
which, if released, can cause problems. However, I'm
always careful to steep the tea, rather than boiling it for
long periods of time. It gives off a mild, spicy flavour, which
I find quite nice.

Tomorrow, I plan to work on another issue of the newsletter,
Natural Healing Talk. You can subscribe to the newsletter
at my Wild World of Plants site, http://wildworldofplants.com.
This will be issue # 8, and I'm happy to say that the
subscriber base continues to grow, albeit slowly.

Well, it's late -- time to get some sleep!

Good medicine always!
Laurie

Foggy Night!

Hi Everybody,

I just came back from a late night walk. My gosh,
it's quite foggy here on the south shore of Nova
Scotia. In fact, it was so foggy that, on a couple
of occasions, I turned on my flashlight to make
some sense out of where I was walking!

There were few sounds to speak of, except for
some frogs peeping in a swamp. Once, I heard limbs
cracking off in the bushes. The cracking sounds were
not heavy, and may have been caused by a porcupine,
or something of that size.

I'll be back in a few days with a longer post. This
is just a note to maintain contact -- sorry for not
posting during the past week. I expect to have a
new website online in a week or so; I'll post the
URL on this blog.

My best regards,
Laurie:)

Insight

Hi,

As I mentioned in the post of June 2nd, my walk on
the mines road inspired new insight into a short story
I had written several years ago. In the post that
followed, I mentioned how I had lost the first 12
hand-written pages to the story. I'm happy to report
that the re-write is coming along fine. No, I wasn't
able to find the missing pages:(

In any event, I don't want to leave the impression
that the "new insight" I mentioned, had anything to
do with the missing pages or the re-write. Rather, I
was troubled with certain elements of the closing
paragraphs to the story. I must have spent an hour
debating possible changes. Then, I decided to take
a break, and have my walk.

Anyhow, I had stopped to gaze in over a field -- I
often stop at this field, because it is so darn nice,
and has a special beauty in the moonlight -- when
the thought suddenly came that the ending would be
perfect if I deleted the second to last paragraph!
It was unnecessary, and simply prolonged the
closing scene.

I rushed home and made the change to the story.

Well, so long for now. I'm looking forward to a
beautiful late night walk -- the sky is relatively
clear, and the moon will be in its glory!

All the best,
Laurie

Have you had this writing problem?

Hello Everyone,

I've a very challenging and interesting problem concerning
a particular story that I plan to include in a short story
collection. You see, I wrote this wild and wacky story about
three ago, and now find myself missing the first 12 hand-
written pages! I don't know what happened to them? I've already
done one last search, and now find myself in the curious position
of having to redo the opening stage of the story!

I feel a bit upset that I can't find what I had written, simply because
having those pages would make life a lot easier. And, of course,
I'm curious as hell over what I wrote! I imagine it was as wacky and
wonderful as the remainder of the story.

The story is loosely based on a trip I made with friends, up the
Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland, then over to the coast
of Labrador and along a narrow dirt road to Red Bay. It was a
fantastic trip! The people of Newfoundland and Labrador are real
folks without the pretensions we often find elsewhere. They will
put you up for the night, and give you the shirt off their back, if
they have too! The reality is different than the impression you
often get from seal hunt protesters, many of whom would have you
believe the people are cruel and barbaric.

Anyhow, back to the problem. I will certainly keep you updated
on how things turn out. It is just sooo weird to look at a story
from several years ago, and to try creating a totally new
beginning to it -- one that flows in the same style and manner
as the remainder.

All the best!
Laurie:)

Inspiration

I walked last night along the old mines road, and enjoyed the light
from the waxing moon. At one point during my walk, I stopped to
enjoy the late spring sounds, including the rustle of leaves caused
by a warm breeze from the southwest. As I bathed in this delightful
experience, I thought about "inspiration," and the role nature has
played in inspiring many people throughout history.

You know, it only takes one such experience -- perhaps, the crystal
still water of a lake in the moonlight, or, soft falling snow on Christmas
eve -- to inspire us to action, or to give us an idea that will later be
developed into something worth while, such as a fulfilling career or
occupation.

My walk last night gave me new insight into a short story that I've
been grappling with for the past week. It posed a particularly difficult
problem, and one which I'll explain in my next post. For now, I have
to close, and run into town. I've got some things to do in Bridgewater
(the nearest town to where I live) and, besides, I want to meet a
friend for coffee:)

All the best!
Laurie