The Holdfast

I live in a home in the redwoods.

Mushrooms blossom after each rain.

But today is not a mushroom day.

The ocean is calling, its salty fog whispers twining around my wrists, my ankle, my mind.

Ahh. Heartbeat of my soul, the breathing of waves in and out.

Sometimes things die.

Sometimes we help them die.

We think it’s just a straw.

If a million of us think that, a million straws settle in the belly of the ocean.

One day, we might be thirsty

and find nothing to suck up our straws.

The part of kelp that anchors it to the ocean floor is called a holdfast.

Let us hold fast to the earth. If we forget our holdfasts,

we might drift in an ocean of straws

forever.

The ocean makes me feel expansive, infinite, philosophical.

Stinging nettle patches, up the road from the ocean, make me feel hungry!

Stinging nettle is one of the most nutritious plants native to North America.

Full of minerals and vitamins, its stinging barbs release

neurotoxins that act like

Icy-Hot

on stiff muscles and arthritic joints.

It’s also very tasty!

(Like spinach on steroids.)

Blanch, boil, or dry the leaves.

Make nettle tea, which can also be used as a conditioning hair rinse.

Blanched leaves blended with

olive oil

pine nuts

garlic

and parmesan

make an incredible, wild-harvested pesto!

“Hope means to keep on living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.”

- Henri M. Nouwen

Keep humming, keep harvesting, keep running to hug the ocean.

Her arms are open. The redwoods keep breathing.

The earth waits to embrace you.