The Roses Grow
Where The Bear Lives
I was able to sneak away to the UP for the weekend to be with my family.
Growing up, I learned to walk through the woods in the fall practicing the tradition of grouse hunting.
My dad uses verbal cues for us all to stay aligned as we spread out and move forward together.
“Keep the sun on your left cheek.” “Pivot towards the white pine.”
Woodland navigation
This past weekend I joined the tradition once more to see how it would feel to participate again. I envisioned a nourishing experience.
We spent a few hours in the woods on state land that my dad knows well.
We were nearly done and my brother, Josh, mentioned the rosehip spot.
“Yes, let’s go to the rosehip spot!” Was my natural reply.
I’ve asked him and my dad in the past to keep an eye out for wild roses while in the woods.
We passed the pond where I once saw a bear swimming, drove on the dirt road through the cedar swamp and there was the sandy spot that the roses call home.
We walked through the wooded areas here on our last jaunt of the day. Where we came out of the woods and back onto the road I spotted sweetfern. I hadn’t knowingly met sweetfern in the wild. The aroma is sweet and familiar. It’s a smell I’ve affiliated with the woods there in high summer but I never knew where it was coming from.
The sweetfern grows where the bear lives
The bear lives where the blueberries and roses thrive
Sandy soil, cedar swamp, wild medicinals
Over the summer I was gifted sweetfern hydrosol which greatly aided a blistery patch of poison ivy I was tending to. I read of this remedy in The Earthwise Herbal by Midwest Herbalist Matthew Wood.
Every year, as woodland wanderers we have the opportunity to meet new plants, insects, fungi, animals, etc. Beings that may allow us a shift how we relate to existence.
Tomorrow, Thursday October 18th, I will be at Rustic Roots Winery for the final Third Thursday of the year. Come out for colorful river valley views and good company.
Jaime
