Overcome by Comfrey

After the protracted chill and practically endless rains of the last 2 weeks, it is time to resume wrestling the comfrey ( Symphytum Officinale) out of the back yard. I had hoped to uproot it before it sent out those stalks with their tiny almost flourescent blue blossoms. I am particularly susceptible to their beauty, and have come to understand comfrey as a plant with great healing powers.

Of course there are its uses as an herbal and homeopathic remedy. Symphytum leaves and roots are used as a poltice to treat broken bones and sprains, and has similar uses in homeopathy. Comfrey has some poisonous qualities (as do many healing herbs) and is not to be taken orally. It is said to make really good fertilizer,containing all three vital nutrients, especially the hard (for plants) to find potassium. Indeed, the dirt beneath all that growth is even better than the beds we have been nurturing for the last ten years. I have my own theory about comfrey. I believe it removes toxins from a meeting room -- the emotional, psychic, human kind -- especially when it's blooming, But the stuff is invasive as all get out. It has strangled my strawberries, probably killed my little cherry tree and spread into the ancestral oregano bed. It must be stopped.

Ignoring the alluring blossoms I waded back in, filling one large trash can and half of another. I thought I might get through 2 cans worth until I noticed a bumble bee enjoying the nectar. Foiled! Who am I to interfere with a pollinator? In another couple weeks the blossoms will be gone. It won't re-establish itself that fast ... will it?

Submerged reading at Maple St. Bookstore, New Orleans

Sadly, I can't get to New Orleans early enough to read my piece, A Brief History of My Nappy Head, but that shouldn't stop you from coming out to hear the other great authors who have contributed to Submerged: Tales From the Basin. Enjoy all sorts of meditations on hair, life and New Orleans. Proceeds from sales of the book benefit Gulf Coast recovery efforts. That's May 14, 7 p.m. at the Maple St. Bookstore, 7824 Maple St., New Orleans.

I will be there in time to work with the rest of the Submerged crew on Friday at the 7th Ward Neighborhood House.

So Who's In Control at FEMA?

We are coming into the fourth hurricane season since Hurricane Katrina and the first one of the Obama administration.  I remember the commitment President Obama made to not repeat the mistakes of the previous administration, especially in the area of disaster preparedness and the care for those who have survived natural (and unnatural) disasters.  Then candidate Obama even issued a fact sheet and plan.  You all know I love myself some Pres. Obama but I am deeply frustrated by the actions of FEMA in relationship to the ongoing post Hurricane Katrina housing crisis in the Gulf region.

On Wednesday FEMA announced they were taking all of the trailers back without providing additional housing or addressing the gross and ongoing inadequacies of their response to the needs of Katrina survivors.  

So I wrote our new president.  You should do the same.  I wrote because I am confident he will respond, and because I'm a community organizer.  What can I say? It's automatic.

Here's what I wrote:

Please stop the ongoing stress for Katrina survivors through their displacement from FEMA trailers.  The lack of accountability and control of FEMA is disheartening to those of us who voted for Pres. Obama and unconscionable (that is Bush-like).  

Don't just keep old Bush administration unfulfilled promises, make new ones that meet the needs of a people in desperate straights, and be accountable to the Katrina survivors and their fellow citizens who are concerned about their welfare.

I will be in NOLA next week working at the 7th ward neighborhood house and joining in any protests happening to force our government to speed the recovery of displaced/homeless Katrina survivors rather than continue to hinder it.

Respectfully,

Rebecca Johnson