About

Why Walk Down Chamomile Lane?

Will you walk with me? A Walk Down Chamomile Lane is really just a platform for me to “publish” on a wider scope, a humble collection of my own sundry epiphanies and prayers, a turning of my heart toward the whispers of God in the midst of a hurting world. AWDCL is wistfully reminiscent of my childhood. It is a physical place on my parents’ farm, the lane meandering between cornfield and pasture, along field and forest. It used to be bordered by fencing on one side; now that there are no grazing cattle, Dad has since taken the fencing down. There was one summer season, in particular, when I was delighted to discover the lane lined with wild chamomile, a.k.a. pineapple weed. Weed or true herb, it mattered not to me; I harvested and dried some for tea. Chamomile has really been close to my heart and my journey since I was in junior high. In short, I was sick for approximately one year. Rounds of doctor appointments, antibiotics, and a diet of fig newtons, Mylanta, and chamomile tea were part of my daily regimen. Every day, Mom would care for me with creative foods to assuage the nausea; every evening, Dad would read me to sleep as a diversion and constructive distraction for me. This, in fact, is where my obsession with L.M.Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables and Emily series began, and I devoured all of her books. Thus, also, began my obsession with chamomile. That summer, Mom let me convert the childhood sandbox into an herb garden. Dad sawed off cross-sections of a felled tree from the woods and helped me lay them down as pavers, flanked on one side by the new herb garden and on the other side, the granary. I poured over Jung catalogues, planning and dreaming of herbs, spices, and flowers. My love affair with gardening had taken root: chamomile, lavender, catnip, mints, basil, rosemary, and sage…all botanical beauties that I tended while my emaciated body grew stronger. Chamomile itself is symbolic of healing, an herb that whispers hope to a hungry heart. As you tread through these pages, should you choose to walk with me, my prayer is that you are also able to breathe in the fragrance of hope and healing. Much like the chamomile plant.