So much more than food

Foraging is about so much more than finding food-

it's about finding your place in th' world, in your community,

and ultimately, it's about finding yourself-

I stood by th' river and watched a heron hunting. 

He was looking for food, i was looking for food. 

We watched each other stalk around, 

i felt honored to be in his presence-

i wonder how he felt to be in mine. 

I followed th' river in th' direction of it's flow, 

came across a couple of large bull thistles,

favorite food of th' gorilla, 

favorite food of mine.

A little further along- 

I'm wondering at a Cow Parsnip, how it got this low in elevation-

there are two of them next to each other-

i taste some, grab a stalk to take home and share, 

leave th' rest there- 

this is a plant that will stay with you forever.

I decide to check on our resident hemlock population-

a deer watches me cross th' field- 

i find a dead beaver, 

and chewed willow mixed up in th' hemlock patch

animals are a lot like us, i think.

I move on-

snack on some spruce tips- 

head for th' linden trees which brought me out here.

I find some linden leaves ripe on a tree i'd not seen before,

collect a salad's worth, and head home-

plans change, 

i never made it to th' trees i thought i was heading towards-

still i found something worth taking home-

and a little bit of food too.