Today's Walk

I took a stroll around the neighborhood where I work - like I normally do, but today I paid more attention to the trees and the flowers in people's yards. I noticed olive, lemon & eucalyptus trees, French lavenders, lamb's ears, yarrows, and rosemary bushes that look like they’re used for ornamentation. They all grow well here in the Southern California climate. I wondered, as I walked, if their "owners" realize the bounty of food and medicine within their reach.

I didn't realize what olive trees where until I lef tthe state and worked on farms in Israel. I pointed one out to my friend, a California native, the other day and she had no idea. I wonder if our lack of knowledge is a combo of the education here or we just take our wonderful fruit growing trees and plants here for granted - noting their existence but not really knowing what they truly are and what they offer.

Last year I took a most illuminating herb walk that was sponsored by the local health food store. We went to a park nearby and within a foot's walk into the park, the herbalist started pointing out all the medicinal plants. From nettles, elms, horehound, mugwort, mustard, white sage, to black sage, the place was ripe with incredible plants. I had no idea of the bounty so close to home. It opened my eyes to what's possible to grow in my own backyard and how nature is really here - when we look and listen - to help us.