The Silver Pen
Welcome!
This is my main blog posting page. You may be seeing all of my posts…or only those with a certain tag or category. For more info about the separate blog pages, click the pen or just use the main navigation. (But isn’t it more fun to click on a picture?)
Happy reading!
Herbal Compendium: Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacantha & C. monogyna)
Across centuries and cultures, hawthorn has remained a quiet guardian—planted along hedgerows and near homes to keep away illness, lightning, and ill fortune. Its thorns remind us that protection and beauty often grow side by side.
Yellowstone: Living Close to the Wild Edge
The mountain air doesn’t just soothe. It restores. It reminds me that my nervous system was not designed for 24/7 notifications and five-lane traffic. It was meant for wind in the pines, the rustle of wildlife in the brush, the surprise of an owl in daylight.
When the Trees Listen: A Bloom & Bough Snippet
The little girl giggled and patted Needle’s trunk. “I think the tree heard me.”
A Butterfly’s Breath: A Fairy Fable Snippet
Up and up and up the butterfly went, until it reached the very tippy tops of the trees.
Elspeth and the Whispering Tree
“There was once a tree,” he murmured. “High up in Glen Brae, where no one goes now. My mother used to say it remembered things folk had lost. Names, songs, and promises. She called it the Ash That Whispers.”
The Oak and the Nightingale
Her favorite place to rest was beneath a great oak tree surrounded by a fairy ring of mushrooms. She had heard the legends—that one must be careful not to fall asleep in such rings lest the Fae lead them away.