"Two wrongs may not make a right but a thousand wrongs make a writer.”

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

The D.A.R. and Four Sacred Herbs

Not many things can beat sitting around a table with a group of like-minded people to discuss books.

I was recently invited to the monthly meeting of Town and Country, a local women’s group of lifelong friends. From historians to teachers to retired medical professionals, we gathered at a friend’s house over hors d’oeuvres, bourbon slush, and elder blossom liquor to discuss my novel, Let Evening Come. 

Some in the group have a direct relationship to Native Americans, and I learned of the four sacred herbs: sage, cedar, sweetgrass and tobacco, a discussion that led seamlessly into that of my novel with its Indigenous components.

Other members of the group are affialiated with the Daughters of theAmerican Revolution, the historic patriotic organization of forward thinking women established in 1918. There were bookmarks proclaiming The American Creed: I therefore believe it is my duty to my country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag; and to defend it against all enemies. Penned by William Tyler Page in 1918, a creed that seems more urgent today.

While they don’t call themselves a “book club”, on this day it was.  




2 comments:

Kathy Labrum McVittie said...

Loving this slice of your shared literary life, Yvonne! Particularly your gathering of sage, cedar, sweetgrass and tobacco. A "new world" litany of our garden's lavendar, rosemary, colewort and clover...

Yvonne Osborne said...

Thanks for commenting here Kathy. This meeting meant a lot to me. I love your "new world" garden versus the Native American one. I don't know colewort....I'll have to look it up!