MAY 25, 2011 AS LARGE AS A CROW...NOT BURDOCK ROOT

"THOSE WHO ARE FREE OF RESENTFUL THOUGHTS SURELY FIND PEACE." BUDDHA

I find this to be so TRUE. I have worked through my anger and resentment. This is part of my 6th Lifestyle change between the 5th Lifestyle change: Self- Esteem and the 7th: Self Love. I have worked so hard on 'letting go' of anger and resentment. Sometimes old anger and resentment will sneak upon me, but for the most part it is left in the past. I take a parting glance once in a while. I am human, after all. I am at real peace when I concentrate on myself. The prayers and meditation surely assist me in finding peace and serenity. Free yourself of resentful thoughts and you too can have peace and serenity.

Have you ever eaten Burdock root or leaves? I have in my friend's herbal miso soup (see recipe below) It wasn't as bad as I had imagined. The name Burdock meant nothing to me five years ago. I can recognize it in yards and woodlands by the large elephant ear leaves. I first saw a Burdock root on a nature walk with Sevensong in Ithaca, New York. I photographed one for my notes and wrote everything he said about this plant.

It is one of those herbs that were needed in the eighteenth century. It was used for gonorrhea and syphilis. Maybe we should use it again since there is a rise of syphilis in major United States cities (Miami, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas). The Native Americans used it for vitamin C deficiency, scurvy and for rheumatism.

The Chinese used it for tonsillitis and as a poultice for boils, furuncles, and abscesses.

So my friend used it in soup. He peeled the large taproots, cut into thin slices and started to boil in water, adding sesame seed oil, ginger and soy.

To make 2 cups of Miso Burdock Soup with Day Lily

Ingredients:

1. 1 (one) vegetable bouillon cube

2. 1 cup of water

3. 1 tablespoon of miso soup base

4. 1 burdock root ( peeled, thinly sliced)

5. 1 cup of watercress

6. 6 day lily blossoms

You must like miso. If you do not --you will not like this soup. Use the white miso - a tablespoon to a cup. Peel and thinly slice the burdock. Simmer miso and burdock together for 10 minutes. Add some watercress if you wish. Simmer for two(2) more minutes. Add 3 day lily blossoms to each bowl. This is soup (not tea) for 2... You and your loved one.

Photo note: Nearly as large as a crow, the Pileated Woodpecker is the largest woodpecker in most of North America. Its loud ringing calls and huge, rectangular excavations in dead trees announce its presence in forests across the continent. These amazing photographs are from Sevensong. I have never seen a woodpecker as large but I hope to one day. We have two smaller species on Fire Island. They are the Downy Woodpeckers and the Red-bellied woodpeckers.

Until tomorrow...