Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health by Rosemary Gladstar

Author:Rosemary Gladstar [Gladstar, Rosemary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Published: 2008-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

A SPRY SPIRIT

I met Adele Dawson soon after I settled in Vermont. Having barely survived my first winter, I was seriously questioning why any self-respecting herbalist would choose to live in a place where winter ruled for seven months of the year. I might have packed up and gone home to California had Adele not stopped by to visit and bring me some plants from her garden. Watching the way that this tiny spritelike woman walked through the gardens, the way she spoke to the plants, and the way they spoke back, and seeing the sparkle in her eyes, I recognized that I was in the presence of a great herbal elder. That spirit of hers fairly danced around me, drawing me in, forever quelling any doubts about what I was doing in Vermont.

Lucky for me, Adele lived nearby, just over the hill, as the crow flies. Her rambling farmhouse was surrounded by a mostly untamed garden that ran wildly up the hillside. Lush with herbs, wildflowers, and useful weeds, her garden was reflective of the free spirit of its owner.

I was constantly amazed at Adele’s accomplishments. I knew her as an herbalist, an extraordinary gardener, and a healer. But others knew her as an artist, a writer, a political activist, and a world traveler. Honestly, I’m not sure there isn’t much that is good in this world that Adele wasn’t ready to experience, and she filled whatever circle she was in with her stories, laughter, political observations, and endless insights into the many interests she had acquired in her long, rich life.

People often asked her, “Adele, what’s your secret for long life?” Perhaps they expected to hear of a secret tonic or special dietary guidance. Little did they know that Adele was a moderation guru. She ate and drank whatever she chose, but, as she would say, “Everything in moderation.” She loved her tinctures, which, the way she made them, tasted more like sweet liqueurs than medicine. Her most famous was Sweet Annie’s Liqueur. When I’d take my students to visit her, she’d greet us at the door with a small shot glass of liqueur for each of us and a large one for herself. Her other longevity secret, which she repeated often, was quite simple: “One must be very careful whom one chooses as one’s parents.”

Adele was a very popular lecturer in New England. I got to be Adele’s chauffeur, driving her to all of the conferences and events she was invited to. One time she was invited to speak at a conference where all the presenters had a long list of professional-sounding initials after their names. So Adele carefully listed herself as “Adele Dawson, NBEIE.” When I asked her what the initials stood for, she answered, “Natural born expert in everything.” She said I was the only person who had asked her about it.

No matter where Adele taught, she drew huge crowds. She had a marvelous wit and laughed often. She used to tell all of the older woman, “So long as they think we’re crazy, we’re safe.

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