Creative Funk and Funky Lichen

I Finally Found My Voice.

          Sometimes the words come flowing from my mind as I type in a fervent manner.  Sometimes the pictures turn out fabulous, and I know exactly what I want and how to convey it. When blogging, sometimes it comes so easy to put into words what I feel in my heart and see in my mind...
             ...and sometimes it does not.
          Backspacing, murmuring my grievances, stretching my stiff muscles, quitting just to come back to it later - I've done all those almost every day for the past two weeks. How do I write about my first time in Tennessee? Such a gorgeous state, didn't care much for the tourism of Gatlinburg, but the trails were phenomenal. How do I go writing about it without the typical "we ate here, we did that"? Simple: I just don't.
          I knew that. It's easy not to write about that but hard to figure what else to write. Where was my voice? My creativity had ran dry. Then I thought back to those cabins and of the doe with her baby that we came across, so close I could touch her. I thought about my poor husband Ryan, sick the entire time and all I had were those few essential oils I had brought.
           Wait a second!
         That's right, we found that moss on the trail. Taylor identified it, said it was an antibiotic that could possibly help Ryan. There's my story...
           And so once again, I began typing. I finally found my voice.

Photo by Kara

Let's Go Back to Tennessee for a Moment.

               I wake up with a sore neck, my legs are numb. The music is playing low in the background as Kara and Taylor, up in the front seats, are talking about something possibly kid related. Outside my window are mountains covered in dense forest, the sky clear and blue. We had finally made it to Tennessee! Looking down to my lap I find my husband, asleep and probably uncomfortable. He doesn't see the mountains, he won't notice the sky. I try to shift in my seat without bothering him, but gosh we both probably needed to move anyways. He wakes, and in answer to my assumption,as he sits up mentions that his back is sore.
            Three days prior to this trip I was fighting off a sore throat and ear ache. I was so busy though, I barely took time to take care of myself (which is too often the case). Trying to work ahead for the trip, I managed to forget myself. But seriously Tina, how hard is it to man up and make yourself a cup of tea? And that's what I finally did after applying the proper oils for my ear ache. I was better the morning we left for the trip.
              But I drank the last of the yarrow, and Ryan started feeling ill that same morning. It must've been something I had brought back from daycare. I couldn't figure it out, though. I had only certain essential oils, and I knew that at least three would help. I needed my herbs. Too late on that, though.
     

             So a day passes and Ryan's fever breaks. We decide to go on some small hikes in Cade's Cove. Now Cade's Cove is gorgeous, they try to keep it to where you can imagine what life was like in these mountians over 100 years ago. The only problem was that it took about 100 years to get to our destination due to every one ahead of us stopping every time they saw something move in the distance, trying to take pictures. Hardly any one used the pull-offs.
              Between biding our time with the camera ready mob and our finally moving on, we stopped to look at the various cabins we came across. Ryan and Taylor would walk around each cabin, conversing on what was original and what was possibly added to or taken away. They talked about what they would've done different or what they want in their own cabins one day. Kara and I relieved ourselves in the woods and talked about the amazing trail running opportunities that lay around us. But in the end, we all just wanted to run deep into the mountains, build our cabins, and live outside of society.

Photo by Kara

              Abram's Falls was amazing. The water so cold, we decided against taking a dip. We did, however, get to go sit by the falls and just enjoy the break we had. At this point, Ryan was starting to turn for the worse again, but he only let me know. I kept my eyes open for anything that might help, whispering a prayer that He'd send something. There were herbs here I'd not seen before, and some that I did know but didn't need.
              Then Taylor stopped us, telling us he found some moss he had read up on a while ago. He figured it might help, I was willing to try. Ryan at this point was all but desperate.

You See a Usnea?

          Usnea, aka Old Man's Beard, looks a LOT like Spanish Moss. In fact, Spanish Moss's latin name stemmed from Usnea: Tillandsia usneoides. This amazing lichen can grow almost anywhere, from the cold, high elevations to dry deserts.
          What is a lichen? Well, properly who is a lichen?
        Lichen are made up of a partnership of at least three organisms. They may include various bacteria, fungi, and algae. Depending on the group that they consist of their constituents change according to lichen.
        The Native Americans would actually dye some of their cloth with Usnea. Depending on their methods, they would end up with yellows, light browns, and reds. Some also used it as part of their poultices and ceremonies. Either way, it had and still has medicinal effects.

           In a study done at Oregon State University back in 2003, some students used an extract of Usnea and other lichen to find the antibacterial effects they hold. In this study they tested the effects the lichen had on the bacteria Salmonella gallinarum. The Usnea had a greater effect of eating away at it compared to the other lichen presented. This is due to the constituents Usnea holds. Compounds like salazinic and usnic acid have an important role in the antibacterial properties found within the lichen.
          Usnea holds many other constituents such as phenolic compounds and metabolites. Due to the wide range and purpose of these compounds, this herb is wonderful as an antibiotic and helps support the immune system. Many people use it for sore throats, colds and the flu.
        More studies need to be done to further the findings of what this lichen can do for man in the pharmaceutical world, but I appreciate it non-synthesized. When you synthesize a constituent for medications, you break the harmony of the plant - thus causing a great chance of side effects.

We were maybe six feet away from this mama and her baby!

          In the case of my husband, we took part of the lichen back to the hotel and made a tea from it. It helped his throat and after about two cups of it he could talk again without as much pain. A huge thank you to Taylor for his wonderful finding.
           Have you seen this herb? Do you have any stories to tell? I'd love to hear them! Comment down below.
             Until next time, happy wildcrafting!

Also, check out my newest product: Old Fashioned Black Salve (found in the Apothecary Shop). Tinctures and glyrcerites coming soon!

References:

P., Paliya, B. S., Bajpai, R., Jadaun, V., Kumar, J., Kumar, S., . . . Singh, B. N. (1970, January 01). The genus Usnea: A potent phytomedicine with multifarious ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology. Retrieved July 18, 2017

http://staff.washington.edu/raista/lichens.pdf

(n.d.). Retrieved July 18, 2017, from http://lichens.science.oregonstate.edu/antibiotics/lichen_antibiotics.htm