Sounds medieval, doesn’t it? No, we are not becoming indentured servants. We won’t be slaving away without pay for 7 – 10 years. Well, the without pay part is correct.
My Mom, Terry Rae
Rogers, has long had a servant’s heart. She started volunteering for the local
ambulance as an EMT almost 40 years ago. 33 years ago, she was invited to a
family’s home birth because she had this medical training and could bring
oxygen. The two local midwives at the time welcomed her with love and offered
to share their knowledge with her. At that point, she began her service as a
midwife. At one point in my teens, she was the only midwife in northern Idaho
below Sandpoint and Bonners. She travelled to assist families as far as Kamiah
and Post Falls. Many of her clients were on the Palouse.
She has trained
and worked with many new midwives, so that now she usually stays in Benewah
County for her clients. However, she does still travel farther, especially to support long-time clients…and for the
children she delivered who are now starting families!
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| Photography by Kira-lynne Hanson |
Believing that
natural is often better than synthetic, she wanted to study herbalism so she
could make her own tinctures, teas, and salves instead of having to buy them.
She took Shonda Parker’s herbalism class nine or ten years ago. Shonda has
written some wonderful books helping moms live naturally healthy lives and
raise children more naturally http://www.naturallyhealthy.org/.
This
intensive, two-year course taught Mom a lot that she then put into practice.
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| Photography by Kira-lynne Hanson |
Every year, she
gathers local herbs at the peak times for their medicinal properties. This
year, I asked her if she would take my daughters and I out with her and teach
us all she knows. Enthusiastically, she said, “Yes! Of course!” For those of
you who know her, you can probably hear her excitement to share her love of
herbs and years of wisdom with her “girls”.
So a month ago, I
shared with some of my friends how much I was looking forward to these
wildcrafting trips. Tracy immediately asked, “Can I go too?” Several other
friends (and a brand new one) also showed interest and excitement. Taking as
many as what to go is fine with my Mom: the more the merrier! She just
encourages them to realize they will have to supply their own materials and
containers, and that we gather at the whims of nature, in God’s timing.
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| Ignore the date, this was a comfrey infusion we made to soak the leg of one of Kira's hens, last September. |
So now I have to
put together the jars, bottles, and materials needed for our early spring
herbs. I better get busy!
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