by John H. Drais
Drawings by Mary Kempf
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Issue Number 3
Issue Number 4
Issue Number 5
by John H. Drais
Drawings by Mary Kempf
from
Issue Number 3
Have you ever wondered why so many people have moved to California? You might seriously pose such a question, if you are living in one of the many mega-metropolitan complexes, like Los Angeles, San Diego or San Fransisco Bay Area. Do you know anybody who does not live in such a complex? These questions, rhetorical though they be, are asked daily by thousands of California's immigrants. And still they come by the thousands daily. This westward flood began, of course, long before there were any mega-metropolises, or even any large cities in the religion.
So many of the world's people and cultures have pinned their hopes and dreams on this wonderland of Calafia, that it is now the sixth largest economy among the states of the world, and has cultural ties to virtually every place on Earth. So many people have come here that the wonder it once was can hardly be found any longer. Did you ever wonder what the wonder was? The original wonder was its extraordinary natural diversity of ecosystems, with plants and animals adapted to each of them. Humanity roamed free and lordly through it all, from mountain heights to the Pacific shore. And, we might add, their roaming was in safety. Oh, for the good old days!
Well, the Great Mother provides a cure for all ills, you know. That's why she recommends a steady dose of Madre Grande's Natural Preserve. When was the last time you walked outside at night and looked at the stars? I will bet that there are no stars where most of you live. Since there are no stars, the best place to watch when you walk outside at night is over your shoulder. Is this not true? Tell the truth now, especially you ladies, do you ever feel safe, even out walking in the day light? Madre Grande's Natural Preserve will lighten your heart, as well as your step. It is a place of peace and spiritual power, where it is possible to poke your head out into the spatial depths and experience your oneness with the stars. It is a place of natural diversity, where you can delight in the life of its several natural habitats. It is a place for wordly retreat and for spiritual advance.
The monks of Madre Grande Monastery are dedicated to keeping this natural preserve available. For years they have been learning the nature and habits of Madre Grande's flora and fauna. More than fifty species of birds have been identified in the valley; some are permanent residents and others annual or occasional migrants. The old "Madre Grande Herb Walk" pamphlet (May, 1977) described 73 medicinal and edible plants of over 200 growing wild in the area. Unfortunately, fire in 1982 destroyed the herb walk and it has yet to be rebuilt. This article is the first of many to come that will introduce you to the amazing diversity of Madre Grande's plant, animal, insect and deva lives. Let me now dedicate this series to the herb walk which was once here. May it soon reappear.
With the help of our staff artist, allow me to introduce three residents of Madre Grande Valley, three of the subtle flavors in Madre Grande's Natural Preserve. More will be revealed to you in future issues of The Philosopher's Stone. Remember, for a dejected heart or a heavy step, the best remedy is prevention. Even though you cannot have Madre Grande's Natural Preserve every day, we will soon have these and other drawings by Mary Kempf available on greeting card stationary, so that you can have a taste of the preserve where ever you are and share it with a friend.
Our first offering is the easily recognized and difficult to miss hummingbird. One of the species found here is one of our permanent residents. Anna's Hummingbird is the largest of the seven species of the western states and the only one to be found here throughout the year. John Pepin, in "The Jewel of Western Gardens" [Wild Bird, May 1991, pp. 34-37] describes them here. "The males are unique among North American hummingbirds in that they have bright rose-colored iridescent crowns and throats (gorgets). The gorget is elongated at the lower corners. Color variations of purple, green and gold may be seen under different light conditions." This hummingbird feeds on flower nectar, small insects, tree sap, and hummingbird feeders. Since it prefers red flowers (and feeders), look for its nest close to these food sources. The nest is so tiny that you have very little chance of finding one, but you will know when you are close. The male ferociously chases away all intruders into its nesting area. This area is often up to 10,000 square feet. Begin your search in the late winter. Anna's breeding season begins among the earliest of any North American birds, and she often raises two broods in a season. If you should find one, notice the material in this tiny nest: plant down, lichens, feathers and spider web. Typically you will find two eggs which hatch in 14 to 19 days. About three weeks later these hatchlings fledge and can be found with their parents entertaining our guests.
We receive visitors from around the world at Madre Grande, and although most are colorful in their own way, perhaps none are as colorful as this shy visitor from the tropical forests of Mexico. The Black Headed Grosbeaks arrive in early Spring and leave just before Autumn falls. You can nearly always find them then, down around our Lower Lake, where they like to nest and raise their young. Search the low trees near the water. Look especially where a higher canopy from taller trees affords a more retiring home. You will find it perched precariously on a twig fork toward the end of the branch from 4 to 25 feet off the ground. For this sized bird, 8 inches in length, its nest is unexpectedly small. The female selects the nesting material using green twigs, rootlets, and grass. She lines the inside with fine strands of vegetation and hair. Don't fret, she won't snip your hair! Even though this bird is quite common, most people have never seen it. It's scientific name suggests why, Pheucticus melanocephalus, "retiring black-head." Listen for their conspicuous melodies and watch for the flashes of color and you will soon find them. You might watch a patch of red penstemon which it particularly likes in its diet of seeds, buds, and fruit. Here is how Greg R. Homel describes them in "The Timid Songster" [Wild Bird, Sept., 1991, pp. 60-63.] "Few migratory songbirds inhabiting western North America can compare in both plumage and melody with the Black Headed Grosbeak. The male of the species is truly a sight to behold with its thick conical bill, jet-black head and contour feathers adorned in brilliant shades of burnished orange. This orange is vividly contrasted against his radiant black wings and tail, which is amply dappled with icy white." If you are fortunate and find their nest, perchance you will find it with three or four blue-green eggs, each individualized with reddish brown specks and blotches. In 12 or 13 days these eggs will hatch hungry mouths, each demanding a specially high-protein diet to keep pace with their unusually high growth rate. In just another 12 days these birds will fledge and leave their nest. No doubt they prefer their nests near water because this ensures a large insect population nearby. When they leave their nest they drop to the ground and remain there for two more days, being fed by mom and pop and hiding in the brush. Then its off into the air with the folks, as they travel back to their Mexican winter home.
The rolling hills of Southern California were covered by a forest of chaparral. This low lying woodland is known as the Elfin Forest; it is made up of several shrubs of from two to three feet in height and others up to six to eight feet. Three of the lower canopy shrubs are the primary cause (and benefactors) of the region's periodic wildfires. These three are Lemonade Berry (Manzanita), Chamise (Greasewood), and Flat Top Buckwheat. This Elfin Forest is being pushed out of existence by California's rapid population expansion. Flat Top Buckwheat, one of its most prevalent species is also a native resident of Madre Grande. Also called "Wild Buckwheat" and "California Buckwheat", this plant is know for its dependable and long bloom, starting in June and ending as late as November. This dependable flow of nectar makes a fine light amber honey with a fairly strong but pleasant flavor. We call it Madre Grande's Gold. Because of this gold, the hills around here were the first tried when the European honey bee was introduced to the United States by Mr. Harbison. Nearby Harbison Canyon is named for him. There is both a Bee Valley and a Bee Canyon nearby, and Madre Grande is in Dulzura, which means "sweetness". This used to be the world's largest honey producing region, and Flat Top Buckwheat is the reason. There are about 150 species in the Buckwheat Family (Polygonaceae). None are poisonous and many can be eaten. Our prevalent specie is Eriogonum fasciculatum. All members of the Eriogonum genus have flowers in involucrate clusters. Flat Top has flat topped clusters of small pinkish white flowers, each consisting of four to six petal-like sepals. There are no true petals, and each flower has nine stamen. As the flower develops, it changes from mostly pinkish to mostly white, then as it dries it turns from reddish brown to a deep chocolate hue. How long this transformation takes depends on the wetness of the season. Its leaves are on the stem and are bract-like. The stems can be eaten raw or cooked before they bloom. The younger the better though, as they are astringent. From the leaves Native Americans made a decoction for headache and stomache pains. A tea from the flowers was used as an eyewash and for high blood pressure. The stems and leaves were boiled for a tea for bladder ailments. As the flowers dry, the clusters turn brown and the ovaries dry as their seeds develop inside a three sided achene with three little wings. These seeds can by gathered, dried and ground into a flour. Perhaps it is unfortunate that cattle do not like its astringent quality, making it a poor fodder. Although it is not an endangered specie, its habitat has been badly diminished by cultivation and development. It thrives at Madre Grande, many individuals reaching up over six feet. Come watch the bees close up as they gather nectar from each tiny flower. In the Fall, watch the tiny Lesser Goldfinch fly through its elfin branches and feast on its bounty of seeds.
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by John H. Drais
Drawings by Mary Kempf
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Issue Number 4
The Paracelsian Order operates its tax-exempt business under several alter egos. Legally these aliases are known as fictitious names, or DBAs, an abbreviation for "doing business as." When we filed the Fictitious Name Statement, we called ourself Madre Grande Wildlife Sanctuary. It used to be the law that if your property was posted as a wildlife sanctuary, you could then take legal action against anyone hunting on your land. The law has changed, however, and now only the government operates wildlife sanctuaries. Is this another loss of freedom?
Another of our DBAs is Madre Grande Monastery. Here reside the monks who operate the administrative headquarters of The Paracelsian Order, and Madre Grande Wildlife Sanctuary. Well, since life at a monastery is not what you would call "wild", and we are truly trying to preserve what is natural, Madre Grande's Natural Preserve expresses more correctly who we are. Furthermore, by posting our property as "no hunting", we have the same rights as Wildlife Sanctuaries used to have.
This land was once plentiful with edible vegetation and game. The Native Americans had a wealth beyond our imagination. Food was abundant. Refrigeration was not necessary. Life was simple and mostly carefree. Travel was unrestricted and safe from the oceans of Baja and Alta California throughout the Coastal Range. Since the explosion of population into this "new world", it has never been the same. We must now protect all our animated fellow beings as benevolent masters, not as administers of sorrow and destruction.
Periodically Mother Nature shrugs off most of her animated forms. When this occurs it usually coincides with climatic changes. Other forms can then evolve to meet the conditions for life in the new climate. A large gene pool is needed to make these transitions possible. "A large gene pool" is just another way of saying "a large and varied population." Because of our actions, which includes our lifestyle, the Earth seems to be experiencing a mass extinction of animated forms far beyond anything we find in the geological record in the earth. Primarily, humanity is the cause. I wonder who named us? Certainly we are not humane!
When Noah saved his race, he was concerned with flood. Ancient doctrines say the major destructions are periodic and alternate between flood and fire. Could it be that we are witnessing the onslaught of the next extinction by fire? With the destruction of the ozone layer, the rising temperature from the greenhouse effect, volcanoes gushing millions of tons of sulfuric acid into our atmosphere, and our continual inhumane and unrepentant domination of our world, what would Noah have to say to us?
We say, change your lifestyle and have a sample of Madre Grande's Natural Preserve. Alter your heartspace, enlighten your being, and experience the Mother's presence. Madre Grande always needs your support and loving prayers. Pray for the preservation of all life and transitions freed from sorrow. If you are unable to come and rejuvenate here, then here is a sample from the Preserve and two of its ingredients you will be missing.
The Canidae family includes dogs, foxes, and wolves. All members of this family are doglike in appearance and all have five toes on their fore feet and four on their hind feet. Some domestic dogs have five toes on their hind feet, like Midnight, our somewhat domesticated black Lab. All of them also have scent glands on the top, base of their tail, which is revealed by black-tipped hairs with no underfur. All of them regulate their body heat by panting, with moisture being released through the tongue.
Other than Midnight (Canis familiaris), the dogs at Madre Grande are wild. The wild dogs of America are in the genus Canis and there are only three of them: the Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus), the Red Wolf (Canis rufus), and the Coyote (Canis latrans). We do not have wolves, but we do have Red Foxes. So if you see a dog here that looks like a wolf, it is probably a Coyote. Red Foxes have a white tipped tail, whereas Coyotes have a dark tipped tail, like the eastern Kit Fox. Wolves are large, foxes are small, and coyotes are medium sized, weighing from 20 to 50 pounds. Their body length, including their head, is from 32 to 37 inches, plus a tail of 11 to 16 inches. Their coloration is similar to foxes and wolves, gray to reddish gray with rusty legs, feet and ears, and with whitish belly and throat. Their nose, however, is narrow and pointed, rather than the wide nose of dogs and wolves. Unlike either foxes or wolves, coyotes carry their tail down, between their legs when running, and it is bushier than domestic dog tails. They breed with dogs to produce a hybrid coy-dog, which makes identification confusing. With a footprint of about 2 1/2 inches in length, about half the size of Midnight's, it is easy to identify and track on our dirt roads.
Also known as a brush or prairie wolf, the coyote's official name is Canis latrans, which means "barking dog". It gets its name from its peculiar yapping, which it does at sundown, when an airplane passes overhead, and when it packs with its hunting partners in a feeding frenzy. The first time you hear this eerie sound, it is guaranteed to make your hackles stand up. The coyote actually has quite a complex communication system and it has been studied extensively. A resourceful hunter, it also eats carrion. In fact it is omnivorous and will eat practically anything, but its main course is small rodents and ground squirrels and, of course, the ubiquitous cotton tail rabbit. Cats do not last long here either and last year our coyotes ate five of them, as well as all our chickens. In an unusual interspecies cooperation, they have been seen hunting in partnership with badgers, using their keen sense of smell to locate underground prey, which the badger then digs out for an ecumenical meal.
Mating season is in the winter, so its gestation period of about 63 days brings springtime litters, which range from four to ten and sometimes as many as 19 helpless pups. These grow at an astonishing speed, nursing for about three weeks, when they begin to take food from their father. They are independent by Fall and leave home to set up their own territory. They may live to be thirteen years old.
In many areas a bounty is placed on them, but they seem to know how to remain just out of gunshot range. Their territory is from Alaska to Central America, and west of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, but they have now spread even to the eastern seaboard. It seems the more they are persecuted, the more they prosper. Here at Madre Grande they may be seen raiding Midnight's food bowl in midday, or just lazing about in the grassy fields, thoroughly enjoying a dog's good life.
The coyote holds a special place in the lore of nearly all Native Americans as a trickster, rebel against authority, and a breaker of nearly all taboos. In western areas he is at the same time an imp and a hero. He can make mischief beyond belief, turning quickly from clown to creator and back again. In the Plains and Plateau traditions most tales bear witness to his cleverness alternating with buffoonery, his lechery, his craft in cheating and destroying his enemies, his voracious appetite, and his never-ending need to poach game. In the North Pacific, the emphasis is more on his cleverness than his stupidity, but his gluttony and lust are well represented, too.
"Shorn of the various surface features from different cultures, Coyote and his kin represent the sheerly spontaneous in life, the pure creative spark that is our birthright as human beings and that defies fixed roles or behavior. He not only represents some primordial creativity from our earlier days, but he reminds us that such celebration of life goes on today, and he calls us to join him in the frenzy. In an ordered world of objects and labels, he represents the potency of nothingness, of chaos, of freedom -- a nothingness that makes something of itself. There is great power in such a being, and it has always been duly recognized and honored by Indian people."
Lame Deer, Sioux medicine man, said, "Coyote, Iktome, and all clowns are sacred. They are a necessary part of us. A people who have so much to cry about as Indians do also need their laughter to survive."
Although I have never actually witnessed a coyote in pursuit of a Roadrunner, their territories do coincide, and both of these beings are noted clowns. Actually, this bird of the Order of Cuckoos got its name from its rather strange habit of running along a road in front of a team of horses at speeds up to 15 miles per hour. It races along on its strong legs with wings outspread, running and jumping with a fast gliding motion and only flies as a last resort. Pushing its head and neck forward and jerking its tail up and down as it runs, it stops by turning abruptly and braking itself by throwing its tail over its back.
The word cuckoo derives from Greek coccyx, which becomes coccyx (pronounced coccyx) in English. Onomatopoeically, the Latin cuckoo describes the sound made by the European Cuckoo. Incidentally, since its beak is decurved at the tip, and our tail bone has the same shape, our tail bone is called the coccyx. The plural of coccyx is coccyges (pronounced kaksigees). The Order of Cuckoos is called Coccyges and it has three suborders: Kingfishers, Trogons, and Cuculi. The Cuculi suborder has one Family called cuculidae made up of Cuckoos, Ani, and Roadrunners. Our Roadrunner is Geococcyx Californius. Since geo means earth, the Madre Grande resident is named the California Ground Cuckoo. This ground cuckoo has many common names, including Chaparral Cock, Snake Killer, Lizard Bird, Churca, Paisano, Correcamino, and Cock of the Desert.
All members of the Cuculidae family are slender with long tails and zygodactyl feet. That means its toes are joined or yoked (zygo - means yoked) into pairs, two forward and two rearward, just like Woodpeckers and Parrots. The sexes are nearly indistinguishable. Our Roadrunner is 20 to 24 inches in length, including its long, maneuverable, bronze-green, white-tipped tail with eight to ten feathers. Its body is heavily streaked with olive or tawny brown above and buffy whitish below. If you are fortunate enough to see its rounded wings extended, note that they seem much too small for its body. Look for its distinguishing white crescent. It is a beautiful sight that we are still trying to photograph. As if not to be outdone by the rest of its body, its oversized head has bright, alert eyes, ringed with blue and orange skin. Topped with a shaggy crest, its bristly head feathers leave its nostrils exposed and the bristles normally found at the corners of a birds mouth are either inconspicuous or missing altogether. Like the puppy dog in the nursery rhyme, "with its tail cut short and its ears cut long", this bird has its wings cut short and its tail cut long. With a bill which is too big for its head, and plumage coarse and harsh, it appears more than just a little bit disheveled.
Try to observe it hunting for lizards, its primary food. It holds the lizard in its bill and whacks it against a rock, then swallows it whole. It also eats caterpillars, scorpions, crickets, snakes and mice. Indeed, because of its rapid movement it can jump and snatch small birds right out of the air, and rattlesnakes are no match for it either. You might even hear its song of six to eight dove-like coos, descending in pitch with its last note about the same pitch as a Mourning Dove's. It can both coo and crow like a cock, and makes a rattling sound by rolling its mandibles together.
Generally nesting south of the United States, Madre Grande is close enough to the border to enjoy this resident year round. It nests in a very rude pile of sticks lined with grass, feathers, bark, rootlets, or snake skin. Look for it in low trees, cacti, or in Woodpecker holes. The European Cuckoo lays its eggs in nests of other birds, whose young get pushed out by their foster sibling, so it can get all the food. Our resident, of course, is much more charitable. It lays from three to six eggs at a time in its own nest, and may lay more while its first brood is only halfway to adulthood. It has even been observed tending two nests at the same time. Therefore, as many as twelve chalky white or pale yellowish eggs may be found in the nest. The eggs, which are incubated mostly by the male, hatch to reveal black-skinned, featherless young. Their growing feathers remain in the sheath until fully developed, making the birds appear covered by a curious coat of mail, like porcupines. When the feathers are fully grown, the sheaths burst open at the same time, so that the change to adult feathering takes place in only a few hours.
1. Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz (editors), American Indian Myths and Legends, Pantheon Books, New York, 1984, p.335.
2. Ibid., p.336.
Beckoff, M., Coyotes: Biology, Behavior and Management, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1978.
Burt, W.H. and Grossenhelder, R.P., A Field Guide Series, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1961.
Wild Animals of North America, National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, 1960.
Nature in America, Reader's Digest, 1991.
Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz (editors), American Indian Myths and Legends, Pantheon Books, New York, 1984.
Peterson, Roger Troy, A Field Guide to Western Birds, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1969.
Nature in America, Reader's Digest, 1991.
Pearson, T. Gilbert (ed.), Birds of America, Order of Cuckoos, by Finley, W.L., Doubleday and Company, New York, 1936.
The Book of Popular Science, Vol. 6, Grolier Inc., 1963.
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by John H. Drais
Drawings by Mary Kempf
Issue Number 5
Madre Grande's Natural Preserve is in a fertile valley on the southern slope of Mother Grundy Mountain. As the mountain pushed upward the underlying bedrock was exposed. Mineralogically, this rock is know as Granodiorite. Once exposed to the atmosphere, metamorphosis commenced. This weathering process caused cracks to form over long periods. In time, by this process, the mountain was covered with large chunks that have split off. They are rounded and worn by wind, rain and fire, causing Mother Grundy to look like a huge pile of boulders.
Fortunately we live on a very rapid time line, for these freed boulders are bouncing and rolling, grinding and sliding, down the mountainside. They live according to geological time, so in nearly 17 years of watching them tumble, I have only seen a location change in one of them. Since they sit between bounces for such a long time, by our human standard, the soil under them is often washed away. This has resulted in a multitude of caves, tunnels and shelters all over the mountain. The usual chaparral covers the mountain, but some of the habitats on the slopes allow special growing conditions. One of the common residents of Madre Grande's Natural Preserve is Laurel-Leaved Sumac. Here is a description of this native and an example of the effect of one such special growing condition.
This shrub is a very valuable constituent of the elfin forest, as the eight foot chaparral is called. It blooms profusely in the early Summer, providing pollen and nectar for the early broods of bees. It is a major source of wildflower honey that is collected in its habitat, which is limited to the Western portions of our coastline. But Mother Grundy, jutting abruptly up from the surrounding hills, catches the ocean breezes every afternoon. These on-shore breezes carry moisture laden air inland each day, as the sun begins to decline. This is the ideal environment for this laurel, which seems to live off the resulting fogs and dews. It does not do well with frost, which "burns" the leaves, killing the young buds and branches. Avocados will grow where the Sumac shows no "burn".
This plant normally grows as a shrub. It has a massive root just under the surface that can be several feet in cross-section. After fires, this is one of the first plants to reappear, so much vitality is stored in its massive root. It sends roots in all directions. As they reach the surface they sprout lots of little branches, which shoot upwards, straight and tall. Each shoot has leaves along it arranged alternately, as they spiral up the stem. As it gets taller every leaf node sprouts a branch and the shoot fast attains the stature of a small tree.
Densely pack twenty to fifty such small trees, and you will have an image of the Sumac bush. In the chaparral, these bushes sometimes form rounded masses up to ten feet high. As the shoots develop into trees, only those that reach the surface of the bush will bloom. Lower branches die and dry up, thus creating a canopy of leaves and buds over the ground and piled leaves below. Each year this canopy expands outward and the trunks broaden. The trunks gradually fall, from their own weight, and are replaced by advancing shoots.
The leaves are distinctly fragrant when crushed. They are thin, narrow and partly folded along the midrib. When mature the leaves are dark green with red margins and some red veins. They grow to five inches in length and up to 2 inches in width, but normally are just from 1 1/2 inches to 3 inches long.
One of the first signs of Spring are the reddish brown, delicate and tender leaflets that cover the canopy. The red is so distinct that it appears as if in bloom. Hummingbirds, who prefer red flowers, are often attracted to this display. Alas, it does them no good; there is no nectar from the leaves.
Soon after the red young branches have sprung from the canopy, cone shaped clusters of tiny white flowers burst upon the springtime scene. They surround each young branch and pop out at the tip of nearly every stem. Throughout the summer and fall, the birds feast on the bounty of seeds provided, as each flower dries and develops into a brown seed. These seeds are about 1/16 inch across, and are relished by blue-grey gnat catchers, plain bush-tits, house finches, gold finches, and several species of sparrow, to name just a few of the local diners. They fly from bush to bush in flocks and remind one of schools of fishes darting from cover to cover.
Usually the trunks never grow much beyond a two inch diameter, nor above 5 to 8 feet high. The wood is soft due to its rapid growth, and does not add much to the heat of a fire. The trunks are light and straight, though, so as spears and light structural supports they are of use. The Native Americans made use of the antiseptic and astringent qualities of the leaves in tea. This tea was used to treat such infections as gangrene and syphilis, and women drank it after childbirth.
Under special growing conditions, plants will often grow unusually. There is a Rhus laurina that grows in front of the southern opening to a small cave on the south face of Mother Grundy Mountain. It grew in such a way that only one trunk was able to reach above the rocks into the light. The rocks and root were arranged to prevent the soil from eroding away, and moisture evaporating from the soil. The tree must have grown for many years, for now the trunk is over twelve inches in diameter, and it reaches nearly 25 feet in height. It is not a bush, it is a tree.
Taking this hint from our Mother, we have been training some Sumacs to grow tall. Forcing the growth into just a few trunks, by preventing new shoots and lower branches from growing, made these Sumacs nearly twenty feet in height and up to eight inches in diameter in six years. They are large enough now to support a hammock, and high enough to create a shady and protected environment for shorter plants, and shelter for the birds.
There is nothing quite so comforting, I think, than swinging in a hammock to the tune of a wind chime, while flocks of tiny birds chatter in the canopy above. If you are unable to visit your Mother's garden to experience these delights yourself, then share this appetizer with a friend. It will make your spirit clearer, and so refresh your soul. The child's rocking chair below was made from branches of shrubs and trees found on the grounds of Madre Grande. The chair has straight parts made of Sumac, and curved pieces made from willow (pictured at the right), of which we will talk in a later preserve sampling. The artisan makes full-sized, rustic furniture from such materials in the woods of British Columbia. Although the Native Americans did not make furniture, the early frontiersmen did. We are planning a course in this art; are you interested? Let us know.
Bibliography Chaparral and Desert Shrubs of San Diego County, City Schools Curriculum Project, San Diego, 1939.
Gales Donald Moore. Handbook of Wild Flowers, Weeds, Wildlife and Weather of the Palos Verde Peninsula, Caligraphics Printing and Publishing, San Pedro, 1974.
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