Elephant and hummingbird

One day an elephant lumbering through the jungle 

came upon a hummingbird lying on the ground 

with his feet up in the air.

"Are you all right little friend?"  the elephant inquired.

"I heard the sky might fall today so I am trying 

to hold it up,"  the hummingbird replied.

"Hold the sky with those skinny little legs!?

What a foolish bird you are," 

the elephant chortled as he continued on his way.

"Maybe I cannot do a lot," the hummingbird declared,

"but at least I am doing what I can!"

The elephant stopped, lay down next to the hummingbird
and put his feet up in the air.                                                                                                            
                                                    ~Chinese folktale

Saving and protecting our environment seems to be a daunting task,

one that an individual might see as too big to do anything about.

Result from that set of mind is that we - do nothing. 

"Nobody made greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."

                                                                                         ~Edmund Burke

Today's trends include disappearing wilderness and farmland,

irresponsible consumerism, the poisoning of our waterways, species decline etc.

This is very discouraging  and if we are ever to turn the tide on them

all of us need to learn and appreciate how our own behavior contributes to these problems 

and how we can change it in order to reverse or diminish the impact of these negative trends.

If you can not plant a tree in whose shade you know you will never sit,

I am sure you can pick up a piece of trash you didn't leave behind...

If you can not turn some lights off, you can switch to eco-friendly light bulbs.

If you can not take shorter showers, you can turn the water off while you brush your teeth.

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself

is changed, but that our power to do it is increased."

                                                                                        ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 There is always something, and everything is important!

Many tiny little things can sum up to make a BIG change.

"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather then contempt,

we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology.

We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, 

not just after we got through with it."

                                                                                   ~Lyndon B. Johnson

Milky, Milky.......Oat!

It was such a nice day today that I decided to walk, 
instead of getting a ride to Borders.

Walking briskly, thinking about who knows what, 
I was quite surprised when my foot hit the grass, 
not the pavement of the sidewalk. 
There it was - a meadow, undeveloped property 
in the midst of all of the new stores, apartments etc. 
Plants (that some may call weeds) were quite high 
but there was a little path and I went on... 
It was such a nice surprise to encounter many herbs there; 
dandelion was of course "sprinkled" over half of the area,
burdock had these awesome huge flowers,
and what brought me back to childhood the most 
were the - milky oats. 
I grew up in the Mediterranean where these are everywhere... 
I remember playing with them when I was a child, 
trying to get them to stick to other person's clothes... 
I was reading about them the other day, 
and I still wasn't quite sure that these are the same plant, 
since I didn't remember them being "milky"...

So now as soon as I saw them, I instantly knew these 
were the plants I used to play with, but were they MILKY? 
Of course I had to pinch them to find out...

Yes - they were! 
I got splashed with a big drop of oat milk! 

Estimated 20 minutes walk took me 40 minutes, 
 but hey... I did stop to smell pinch the oats!

So let's explore some of the properties of the milky oats...

I will not give you encyclopedic overview of this plant, 
you can find that anywhere, but rather, since I do not have 
any personal medicinal experience with them yet, 
leave you with the words of other herbalists...

'*Herbalist Charlie Kane states that:"
There is some difficulty in describing what Wild oats actually does; it is not an overt sedative, nor is the plant overtly stimulating, but this does not detract from the fact that if you are physically and emotionally "rode hard and put away wet" the plant imparts a sense of stability.

Depressive states arising out of pushing through workload on the job or at home are lifted. The edginess and frayed-end feeling of kicking nicotine, opiate or alcohol habits is also lessened. As Michael Moore succinctly puts it, "This is crispy critter medicine". "

Henriette Kress says:

"Milky oats is the single best herb for sudden loss, be it from the tsunamis in Asia or from cancer in somebody close to you. I recommend it both for those who are directly affected by the loss and sorrow and for those who stand beside them, frustrated by their sheer helplessness."

Ellingwood's overview of Avena:

"Its selective influence is directly upon the brain and upon the nutritive functions of the organism, increasing nerve force and improving the nutrition of the entire system. The influence of a single full dose is promptly felt, similar to the influence of any active stimulant, but more permanent. It is a stimulant, sedative and direct nutritive tonic, apparently restoring the wasted elements of nerve force...

It is a remedy of great utility in loss of nerve power and in muscular feebleness from lack of nerve force.

In the overworked conditions of brain workers--ministers, physicians or lawyers—in the general prostration from great anxiety and worry...

With these, there is so-called nervous dyspepsia, atonicity, in fact, of the entire gastrointestinal tract. There is heart feebleness with some irregularity; there is cool skin and cool or cold extremities: there is melancholia, irritability, peevishness, vagaries of thought, morbid desires and fancies, usually accompanied with autotoxemia which demands persistent elimination. 
With these avena is directly indicated.

In sexual neurasthenia it is the remedy par excellence, as it has a selective influence upon the nerve structure 
of the genito-urinary apparatus...

In conjunction with cactus, or apocynum, as these remedies are indicated, it will be found of much service in the treatment of weak heart, and the resulting complications."' *                                                                                                                                                                        *Kiva Rose for herbmentor.com

Back to the future...

Once upon a time.........

...there was a world where every person was a herbalist...

No, this is not a fairy tale.

In the old times everyone used herbs, and knew at least few remedies for common ailments. Ask your grandparents and/or your great grandparents...

My 72 years old grandma still has a few herbal remedies up her sleeve!

Herbalism used to be primary health care. Doctors were scarce and were generally only consulted in emergencies back then. Unfortunately after the World War II herbalism quickly went spiraling downward. New technologies and science inventions became popular and people started favoring the pills over natural medicine. After all, it is easier to swallow a pill then it is to cook a meal or harvest the plants and make a herbal remedy.

Following that trend we got ourselves in a BIG old mess.

Our planet is wasting away because of the side effects, not only of our modern medicine but also mass production, modern technologies and inventions, and most of all - because of our conformity and greed.

Turning our backs to nature, we walked away from ourselves.

Now that the impact of our great inventions and technology on the environment is well known, that our food is full of artificial additives, as well as hormones, that many species of our flora and fauna are getting to the point of extinction, air and land are polluted, water is made “clean” with chlorine, natural catastrophes are starting to happen on a regular bases, it all seems to go downhill...

Now is the time to take action, and the only way to get ahead is - to go back. Paradoxically, the one and only way to go forward is to go – back.

Back to the roots.

Our friends and allies, medicinal herbs, are patiently waiting in the shadows (and on the sunny meadows) for us to straighten up our act and start thinking about our planet, their and our habitat, as well as our health - from the (w)holistic perspective.

Only then can we really make a change for the better

on the long run...

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need,

but not every man's greed”. (Gandhi)