Kirk, I gathered some bee balm seeds from my garden last month. The smell of their dried pods is intoxicating to me. It's exactly how I want something to smell, something that I sniff over and over. I was greedy for them, but forced myself to leave a few standing, in case some creature wanted to eat them this winter (or maybe just sniff them, like me). Your photos activated the scent part of my brain and I smelled them again, just reading this! Thanks for that, and for sharing your way of thinking about our path forward.
It’s so funny you mention this, because I’ve been on a bit of a journey recently to find a good fragrance for daily use. I keep falling back to ones that remind me of the garden — typically ones that are heavy on tomato leaf and black pepper. But the heady, spicy scent of beebalm might be what I’ve been trying to approximate the whole time! It’s absolutely addicting.
Totally addicting. Are you familiar with Nadine Artemis and her botanical scents and oils at Living Libations? Some people are wild about her fragrances, but I am a super fan of her skin oils - I layer frankincense “best skin ever” with some of her dab-on oil mixes to get something spicy and layered that’s sort of in the family of bee balm’s smell. She also makes a “seabuckthorn all-over lotion” that might be up your alley given the type of fragrance you mentioned liking
Love your pictures!
Thanks so much, Deb! A nice way of holding onto the year’s color :)
Kirk, I gathered some bee balm seeds from my garden last month. The smell of their dried pods is intoxicating to me. It's exactly how I want something to smell, something that I sniff over and over. I was greedy for them, but forced myself to leave a few standing, in case some creature wanted to eat them this winter (or maybe just sniff them, like me). Your photos activated the scent part of my brain and I smelled them again, just reading this! Thanks for that, and for sharing your way of thinking about our path forward.
It’s so funny you mention this, because I’ve been on a bit of a journey recently to find a good fragrance for daily use. I keep falling back to ones that remind me of the garden — typically ones that are heavy on tomato leaf and black pepper. But the heady, spicy scent of beebalm might be what I’ve been trying to approximate the whole time! It’s absolutely addicting.
Totally addicting. Are you familiar with Nadine Artemis and her botanical scents and oils at Living Libations? Some people are wild about her fragrances, but I am a super fan of her skin oils - I layer frankincense “best skin ever” with some of her dab-on oil mixes to get something spicy and layered that’s sort of in the family of bee balm’s smell. She also makes a “seabuckthorn all-over lotion” that might be up your alley given the type of fragrance you mentioned liking
https://livinglibations.com/collections/best-skin-ever
Oh, these look great! Very interested in the sea buckthorn! 🤔👃
So smart and poignant. The long winter and the long game…
Thanks for reading, Richard!
Profoundly beautiful photographs and words to remind me of the long game. Thank you.
Thank you for reading, Kimberly! 🌾