ephedra

havre de grace, maryland

herbalist that should have been my first cue
or maybe it was that she wasn't so excited by my visiting prospect
some people just like their privacy, I guess, and I myself use plants fer healin' all the time

so what made her a witch? besides her pronoucements, that is. wicca. words.
anyways, I was fairly astounded to find that my first night on my internet trip I was up late talking about death and spirits and totem animals and dreams and native americans with someone who wasn't supposed to like me.

I guess I get along well with cancers
ephedras not her real name, but an herb her ears perked up upon mention of, and decided it was a pseudonym she was comfortable with.
and her picture, only with sunglasses or face obscured - no eyes, power.

cuz people are so judgemental,
like when she decided havre de grace needed a health food store/juice bar with internetworked computers for time-rent
she took entrepeneur classes in baltimore, joined the local merchants association, made up a business plan, found a space to rent
merchants association decided it wasn't suitable for their town - didn't want to attract alternative types, or get young people involved with computers.
build it out on the highway, they said.
they kicked her out of merchants association
spread a rumour to the building rental guy that she would take him to court
wow! did you fight them?
it'll never happen there, they've got a 5 and 10 cent store.
she seems to rage against the machine fairly often
while I was there the oldest of the two daughters on premesis, sara 7, went to school.
heatwave the day before, the teacher asked her to bring a fan from home.
in convoluted child speak explanation, we discover the school's airconditioning is broken, and the teacher's fan broke.
ephedra wanted to get this straightened out, she went with sara to school
I work on my pages, chat with peter
she comes back in a flying rage shrieking somethin' fierce - a school administrator had blown her off
why do the teachers need to bring fans?
it's the teacher's responsibility to provide fans when the air conditioning breaks.
when's the air conditioning going to be fixed?
it's the parents' responsibility to talk to the school board about that.
they don't give a damn about the kids! she wanted to um, do not so nice things to the woman, so she left, and pulled her daughter out of that place, that day
not just rash though, inconsideration like in the winter, when school was snowstorm postponed opening, poor kids who come to school on their own were lingering outside early, without coats, with snotnoses and blue lips
faculty, staff inside the heated school unopened, even for waiting
she arrived uninformed over lateness, got the door open, brought the kids in, ordered to leave, had the kids do a sit in, the school called the cops to eject her and the kids.

so now she's looking into private schools.
most of what went down the first night was opening, sharing spacetime with a psychic
what else would you call someone that heard her mother's voice calling her in time to arrive mom home an hour before her mother passed on? some things are best left unsaid, intimate particulars rended open leave folks suffice to say, and I can say for myself,
she taught me that death ain't to be feared, death might actually be a nice place to visit, and a great place to go. she councils the dead and that much she says - don't fear, it's great where you're going.
now she encouraged me to maintin a little more secrecy, there's power in privacy, she sez.
she also relentlessly encouraged me to return to school when she heard I was taking next semester off.
it's a respect issue, between her and peter, he will always get the job, if only cuz he has a degree.
I don't see myself bing in that kind of a position, or wanting to play into that, but you will want to have your degree.
peter's common law wife, she brought to that partnership three daughters, and between them, a son, cochise.

maryland | destin | summer '96 | share

justin's links by justin hall: contact