our hands at work 

memory, childhood. we live on 8th street, the tracks are behind the pink run-down apartments on 9th. the trains run at all hours of day and night. at night, their horns echo in my sleep, no more disturbing to me than the sound of my own soft heavy breath.

now, 2:44 am. i lay awake, hearing every single train on its way through town, despite being over a mile from the tracks in a different house. despite having slept through a university dorm, a lively apartment of 7, a loud bustling city. they are ceaseless, endlessly annoying. it becomes more and more evident that i have been away for some time.

pure and natural cures

the last 10 days i've had a sinus infection that turned into bronchitis. i spend 3 solid days in bed, sleeping 20+ hours each and coughing the remaining hours of the day. but i think i'm on the mend, due to strictly following my naturopath's orders given over the phone tuesday. today i only slept 12 hours and coughed less than 1 hour! tomorrow i'm hoping might be able to go to work a bit.

here's what the naturopath recommends for upper-respiratory infection and bronchitis:
- Homeopathic remedy Pulsatilla 200CH or K, esp when there is yellow and green mucous
Herbs, preferable in tincture, 3 times a day, away from food in a little water.
- Mullein 30 drops
- Coltsfoot 30 drops
- Marshmallow 10 drops
For coughing:
-Slippery Elm lozenges or powder mixed into tea
Also:
- Vit C, up to 1000mg every hour.
- lots of echinachea, tea and tablet
- Eucalyptus and mint vaporized, and also rubbed on chest and back 3x/day.
- Thyme and sage infusion
- For swollen lymph glands- Genstra’s Lymphogene
- sleep sleep sleep
(note, this was her recommendation for me personally. i am not handing out general naturpathic advice here, it might be totally different in another patient!)

on a sunny day in may...

a bee pollinates a blueberry bush


spearmint parfumes the air

the plastic hummingbird feeder casts a colorful shadow


clean laundry sways in the breeze


toes wiggle into a new pair of sandals


and a perfect spot for lunch is found

home again home again jiggity jig

i've been home for less than 3 days, but it seems like much longer- like i'm in some sort of small-town time warp. the first couple of days were busy, seeing people, unpacking, getting settled back in. my head has been especially busy trying to figure out where i am and what the hell i'm doing back here. today, i started work back at rachel's bread where i worked all through high school. it was a busy day, and i was tired by the end of it, but i felt a gradual realization throughout the day that this is where i need to be right now. working at rachel's- chopping veggies, washing dishes, bagging bread, having engaging as well as light conversation with co-workers will, i hope, give my mind time to slow down a bit. after work, i bike over to my dad's place and he made me dinner while i took a nap on the couch. its nice to be close by so i can have more regular interactions with my family, rather than just one intense week over a holiday.

i haven't been back to goshen for more than a week or two in the last 3 years, since i graduated from high school. and i think that as my parents marriage dissolved a year and a half ago it became more appealing to avoid goshen. but i feel like after a roller-coaster that the last two years have been, goshen is where i need to be. i need to be here for the familiarity, for the sense of community and support, for the acceptance of my whole self that i feel so much more readily from those whom i have grown up with and known for long periods of my life. i need to be here to regain some equilibrium.

in other news, i just found out that i was awarded a nice scholarship from MMA for school next year that i applied for back in february. yeh! thanks for urging me to apply grams!

leavings

my last week in montreal was quite a whirlwind of work, spending time with friends, packing and goodbyes. here's a rundown monday to thursday i worked at least 30 hours at Maison de l'Amitié to help the registration run smoothly and train the next batch of teachers. although i've enjoyed the job, its been stressful these last few months and it was a good feeling to tie up loose ends and be finished on thrusday. in the last few weeks i had been putting in extra hours to prepare a manual for the new people who will be working for the program.

Thrusday night my mom got in to montreal. Friday morning we wandered around the plateau, did a few last minute things, shopped a bit, and ate at my favorite vegan restaurant for lunch. in the afternoon we cooked a big meal of homemade spring rolls (recipe soon to come!), coconut veggie curry over rice, and fresh fruit with orange-blossom water and dark chocolate for dessert. about 8 friends and roommates joined us and we had a really lovely time sharing food and stories.

Saturday we packed an in the afternoon mom and i went to a partner yoga workshop at with Karen at Heaven Yoga. It was really great, and i'm excited to learn some of the postures in my classes this summer!!

Sunday morning we left montreal and now we're in waterloo. Here, I put half my stuff in storage and saw a few friends and we're crashing at a hotel and will do the second leg of the trip to G-town tomorrow morning.

here are some pics from the workshop, more from the rest of the weekend to come once i get home