Father's Day

My husband is an amazing father to our little boy. I'm grateful my son has such a wonderful loving dad.

He's decided to start eating healthier as he draws one year nearer to a special birthday. Yesterday, Raven was dismayed about some extra hair in my hair brush. He doesn't have his own brush, lest he's tempted to brush his hair, although sometimes brushing proves necessary, like it did this morning. He's concerned about over-stimulating his follicles, especially after two seasons of daily hat-wearing. I think this is a common fear people have when they lose hair. From my perspective, massaging the scalp and tapping with a brush can help encourage blood flow beneath the surface. That's why topical applications of cayenne pepper which acts as a rubafacient, stimulating blood flow beneath the surface, have helped grow hair with some of my clients. Brushing also clears away dead skin covering emerging follicles.

This picture was taken 14 years ago. Raven looks pretty much the same, younger perhaps. I think all of the ho shou wu root over the years has done a lot of good. It's easy to forget what works when you get out of the habit. I said, "Can I tell you what I'd tell my clients? Add several drops of rosemary essential oil into a couple tablespoons of olive oil and couple of rub into your scalp, drink a smoothie with barley grass and powdered alfalfa, and start juicing greens like kale, dandelion greens, and Swiss chard every day. I asked him if he could give up acidifying foods like wheat, coffee and red meat. I wrote him a special grocery list for his new diet, and he was off. He's been inspired by his vegan friend and Weird Al Yankovic.

My Huitaca coffee substitute made a fabulous iced beverage all day long. It grows hair, builds muscle, cleanses the blood, seems to reverse wrinkles, and cleanses the liver and kidneys. It's also delicious. It has ho shou wu (polygonium multiflorum), roasted dandelion root, roasted chicory, cooked rehmannia and some secret ingredients. He's still eating fish and some cheese, but is limiting dairy. We're drinking hemp milk, coconut milk and the like. We had salmon salad with feta, kale and lentils last night. Hero loved it.

For breakfast, I made both a raw and cooked version of improvisational mushroom-onion-walnut-cheddar-and-zuchini croquettes. He wound up eating five raw ones and three cooked ones. I didn't have quite enough rice flour, and so the cooked eggy ones turned out crumbly. I made a spicy garlic-cauliflower-lime-hummus with red bell pepper and served it with garlic-honey cucumber 'chips', avocado slices, more bell pepper, tomatoes, and feta. I made rosemary french fries for the kid, which we all ate. And we enjoyed a nice lemon-and-limeade with blueberries and ice sweetened with honey.

For lunch I made, my Satin Skin beetslaw (with beet, apple, broccoli, carrot, raisins, walnuts, lemon, honey, apple cider vinegar, mayonnaise, fresh ginger and garlic) and a Quinoa Risotto with finely chopped fennel bulb, purple onion, mushroom, coconut milk, cow milk, and cheddar cheese.

My husband has always been very loving and supportive of my various forms of self-expression. It's things like that which were good clues as to what kind of kind, supportive and open-minded dad he would later become. W

Raspberry Hibiscus Elixir with Sage Notes

This shamanic drink will have you nesting with perfect strangers like you're long time moondrunk warbuddy Pinochle partners, purring like cats who adopt baby rabbits with their six fuzzy nipples, and toasting to the Indian medicine men of the early American frontier like they done gone and saved your first born. With your glass held high and mighty, libate the living and the dead. Imbibe in the delicious doowop tralalas and the clucky undertones of the Waltzing Raspberry Lush. Its transcendent overtures of radiant post-apocalyptic zen animalism will charm the pants off of you.

Hibiscus Sun Tea and Honey Sage Tonic:

Hibiscus: lowers cholesterol, helpful in weight loss, a diuretic (helps in cases of fluid retention), soothes stomach and respiratory inflammation, a mild laxative, and astringent (dissolves phlegmatic conditions due to allergies, colds, and sinus congestion). Hibiscus is used in traditional impotence remedies for men. Side effects for men may include prolonged erections and multiple orgasms. Just saying, buyer beware.

Sage: analgesic (pain relieving), diaphoretic (increases perspiration), astringent (breaks up congestion), rejuvenative (anti-aging), high in antioxidants (fights free radicals)

Lemongrass: opens psychic awareness/intuition, relieves stomachache, slightly lowers blood pressure, anti-plogistic (fever reducing), and may help to relieve tension headaches

Chamomile: mild sedative, calms and tones nervous system



Instructions:

* First brew a sun tea with six Passion Tazo tea bags (or a hibiscus and lemongrass infusion of approximately 4 oz of dried herbs) and 3 Tazo Chamomile Calm tea bags for a whole afternoon (approximately six hours in one gallon of spring water). Refrigerate.

* Next, add 4 stems of dried white sage to 2 pints of water in medium sauce pan.

* Simmer on low heat covered with a lid until the liquid is reduced by half. Strain.

* Add 1/4-1/2 cup clover honey. Dilute 1 part spring water to one part sage reduction. Cool mixture.

* Combine sage honey tea with hibiscus chamomile sun tea to make a medicinal tonic.

* To make it a mild cocktail: add 1-2 ounces of Mathilde's Raspberry Framboise to 2 ounces of combined tea in a chilled glass.

And now you have your self a Waltzing Raspberry Lush! A Pandora special. Especially lovely after a day of readings and talking with dead people. If you skip the Raspberry liqueur, you can add fresh ripe raspberries and a sprig of spearmint.



Other potential drink names that are coming to me but may already exist somewhere: The Diaspora, The Diaphanous Punk, Punch N' Judy, Gypsy Thieves, The Rabbi's Razor, The Dirty Priest, Primping Rituals of Animals...I could go on all night.