Tonight I bring in all the rest of the basil. I hate it but it’s got to happen. What I can’t use in basil oil, I’ll dry. Boy, is my house ever going to smell good this week!!
I am also planning on cutting my white sage and preparing a couple smudge sticks. I’ll try to get some pictures on my Pictures Page when I make the smudge sticks. People make them with a variety of herbs like sweet grass and vanilla grass and others, but other than the addition of lemon grass I mixed with it a year or so ago, I’ve generally just made them with white sage. You make a stick and then after it's dried you light one end and let the smoke float into the air. It is supposed to cleanse sickness and disease from the air. It’s an odd smell. The first time I actually ever heard about one was when I was visiting an older lady whose husband had recently died. She knew that I was terribly interested in herbs and wanted to encourage me. She had used a smudge stick while her husband was sick and had a piece of it left and gave it to me. For me, it was a heart-to-heart gift and I’ve never burned it. I’ve inspected it and contemplated how much it must have meant to her every time she lit it. For her, it was hope. For me it’s a reminder of how fragile we are and how important it is that we take the gifts that God has given us and be responsible with them and use them; to not ignore what is right in the palm of our hands.