March 28 in Vermont, it’s a classic almost-spring day. Well, for Vermont, it’s a spring day.
It’s 34 degrees, raw and cold and glowering with the threat of rain, or snow, the ground still half snow covered and half frozen. It’s not pretty, not the vision we have of spring, all soft and flowery. Here the shift from the cold, quiet of winter to spring blossoms happens agonizingly slowly and lasts from roughly the beginning of March to the end of April or the middle of May, two full months and more. Mud season, sugaring season. Every swelling bud and greening gets rich attention.
Worse, we feel the anticipation, mounting, lots of promise, slow delivery. This is the shift from water to wood energy in the yearly cycle of the elements and seasons. Our long winter ends by asking more of us: wait and be patient. Mounting anticipation often and freely gives way to irritation, frustration, anger, eruption.
I can mark on the calendar, almost to the day, when people start coming in exhausted (from the seasonal ask) and irritated. Their issues spill over into crisis. It happens every year. I begin to see headaches, heartburn, accidents, rashes, eczema, insomnia, all evidence of disturbed wood energy.
And for 20 years, inspired by the wisdom of John Roos, our brilliant and departed local homeopath who treated my infant son for eczema, I have passed along this excellent advice.
The best topical treatment for eczema is homeopathically produced pure calendula cream, with nothing else added. Ordinary calendula cream just isn’t as effective, as so many patients
have confirmed. You most likely will have to order it. I pass this tip onto you, dear reader, with the hopes of making your transition to spring a bit easier…
Glorious May poppies in greening Vermont gardens, worth the wait.