The Return of the Sassafras!

Years ago, I called our place Sassafras Hill. This was because when we first built our house on the Bayou, just about every other tree was a sassafras tree. I loved it! Then for one reason or another, the sassafras trees began to decline in numbers. They became few and far in between which distressed me to no end. I missed my trees! My love for the sassafras tree is merely because of the smell. If you ever have the opportunity to smell any part of the bark or root of this tree you will immediately know what I mean by this. It smells like root beer. For any that do not know..sassafras root was the main ingredient in root beer before its use was banned. (It seems that when you force feed lab rats massive quantities of the sassafras oil, they develop liver damage. I tend to believe if you force feed lab rats massive quantities of anything it could cause liver damage.) Now, artificial flavorings are used and they are supposed to be much healthier for you! Hmmmm?? I question this with a capital Q! The sassafras you find in teas and such now has been processed to remove any of the harmful stuff. Personally, I still think it is relatively impossible to have any problems using the sassafras root or bark since umm.. well.. I cannot imagine using massive quantities of it at one time. It is strange that the use of the root and bark has been banned but not the leaves. It is a little known fact that file' is made from the ground leaves. Now, just what is file' you may ask??? (As you can tell, I do not know how to put the little accent mark over the "e"..sorry.) File' is a powder that is used in making Creole or Cajun dishes. It is most recognized as Gumbo File' and is served more or less as a condiment to be sprinkled on the dish. Long before this use, though, the Native Americans would pound the leaves to a powder and used it as flavoring and as a thickening agent in soups and stews. It now has become a staple in many Southern kitchens. But back to the point of this post..I am happy to say that suddenly there are sassafras trees popping up everywhere! I am carefully staking the little saplings so that they will be protected from lawnmowers and tractors alike. Hopefully soon, there will be sassafras trees covering our hill and I can enjoy a cup of sassafras tea again without worry that I will be decimating the population of these enjoyable trees!

The Monarch Butterfly migration must be in full swing about now as our yard is full of the orange and black flying flowers. I love seeing these flitting about the blue ageratums and the goldenrod. I was pondering just why it seems that the monarchs are so tame compared to other butterflies. They seem to have no fear of humans as they bop around on the flowers. These are butterflies that are of the "no net needed" sort. If you stand near flowers long enough, you will have them crawling all over you. Just reach out next to one feeding on a flower and before long it has moved to your hand. Maybe they are fearless.. or.. maybe they are stupid?? I just like to think they are friendly!