Gwendolyn Lewis

Author's posts

Using Lavender for Serenity and Health

Lavandula, commonly known as lavender, is having a moment. Lavender lattes are showing up on the hippest coffee shop menus all over the world, and with reason. The plant renowned for perfuming the southern French countryside and relaxing millions of people worldwide is easy to find and easy to grow, provided you have the right …

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Honor the Dead with Bon Odori

For many, summer is a time for freewheeling fun, without the typical responsibilities of an academic year or simply maintaining one’s own comfort in the winter. But for the Japanese, summer is a time to reflect on those who have gone before us with gratitude and appreciation. One of Japan’s biggest festivals happens in mid-summer …

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How to Learn Anything with Focused Practice

In June, it feels that summer will last forever. The next few months stretch out in front of us and as the weather heats up and plants burgeon in gardens and in the wild, a feeling of possibility closes around us. The days are longer, kids are out of school, and we remember that we …

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5 Ways to Use Coffee Sacks in the Garden

If you go to any local coffee roaster asking about those bags that coffee beans come in, it’s likely the roaster will offer some to you. The things are like pallets. They’re everywhere, free for the taking, you just have to know where to get them. What’s more, they’re super useful for projects around the …

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How and Why to Roast Your Own Coffee Beans

If you appreciate the difference between Ethiopia, Sumatra, and Brazil, or if Juan Valdez has ever appeared to you in a dream, then you just might be a coffee lover. When you want good coffee, you have two options: shell out or do it yourself. If you are lucky enough to find a source for …

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Treat Yourself to an Unplugged Day

It’s difficult to imagine life before smartphones, but I’m fairly certain it existed. Now our attention spans are shorter, our mental faculties – memory in particular – have been dulled like a knife used to cut frozen spareribs, and we let strangers make our decisions for us when they review products we’re considering purchasing or …

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Perfect Yoga Positions to Reach Your Summer Samsara

**Before embarking on any new exercise adventures, it is recommended you consult a medical professional, in order to avoid hurting yourself or otherwise putting your physical wellbeing in harm’s way. Yoga is great for everyone, but, just like skateboarding or luge racing, it works best when practiced safely.** In the middle of the year, when …

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When It’s Too Hot to Chew: Gazpacho

Beauty shall be edible or nothing. -Salvador Dalí Maybe you think of soup as something to eat on a cold winter’s day, served in a mug you can cling to with cold hands. Or perhaps you think of soup as an accompaniment to a sandwich, something cooked in a single pot of simmering leftovers. Think …

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Light Up Your Backyard with Firefly Conservation

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,And here on earth come emulating flies,That though they never equal stars in size,(And they were never really stars at heart)Achieve at times a very star-like start.Only, of course, they can’t sustain the part. -Robert Frost, Fireflies in the Garden When the heat of the summer puts …

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Get Outside This Summer With a Trip to a National Park

The National Parks offer some of the greatest opportunities in the United States to experience the extremes in raw terrain, flora, and fauna, that the country has to offer. There are 60 national parks spanning 28 states, from the volcanoes of Hawaii to the seaside mountains of Maine and the glaciers of Alaska. Take the …

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