Seattle Cancer Care Alternatives
Michael's Pistol River Tree bLog update: 1/2/26
1/2/26
It’s been wet, and it’s been chilly but not cold enough for the snow we need in the hills. What may be visible as a result of the dampness and relative warmth are some of the signs of an early spring, perhaps some chickweed with its delicate Stellaria flowers, the claw-like fallen buds of cottonwood, or maybe some clingy nettles are beginning to show themselves. On my walk in the nearby county park I plan to find out more this weekend. 2025 was a great year for our work, despite the challenges of tariffs. We started making herb products for practitioners and herb vendors as well as serving our range of clients nationwide and internationally. Our in-house herb prep and production have reached new levels, as we powder and cap more herbs at our “Tiny House” facility. We have also licensed two of our blends, Vector Five and Elixir Six, to our partners in the UK. I’m looking forward to personally teaching more classes to both students and clients alike, including to practitioners outside of our country. Herbs speak a language of their own after all, and there are so many willing students who want to learn botanical rhythms and syntax. Wishing you a wonderful new year abundantly full of plant friends.
3/24
I was recently reminded how intertwined and tight knit our living community is with our wild neighbors when I was out for a walk and saw a dog off leash in the morning, but it turned out to be a fox leisurely strolling down the sidewalk nearby in Issaquah, Washington. The same afternoon I was walking down a trail past the woodland behind the nearby school, and thought, Wow, those kids have some wild screams for middle schoolers. But no, I heard coyotes howling in the afternoon. We often have owls around here, but the same night, one was hooting as if it seemed perched just outside the window.
Then, a couple of days later our older pug, Hank, started barking away at a bobcat walking along our fence. I'll spare you his bear encounter a couple of summers ago!
I often think of herbs as a conduit, a nature connector for us when we let that basic link to our natural world fade a bit. This happens to me. Maybe I get too much in my clinical head or distracted by the ever-changing online universe. Then I'm reminded to get in the woods or out to the coast, "bathe" in a forest or herbal space, make some extracts, or do an afternoon of encapsulating and breathe in the aromas. They bring me back to that world, the real one :) There are herbs that connect us in much more intimate ways through their array of psychoactive compounds and the interplay with these and our minds. These don't have to be intense or intimidating. I like to include herbs like rosemary and saffron, an aromatic and prized culinary spice.