About the Witcheylady
The Witcheylady -- aka Claire Cox-Wilson -- takes a moment to
glance at the moon.
"There is something magical about
herbs don't you think?" she says in a mysterious voice.
Peppermint plants grow by her water
spicket and pots of Aloe Vera flouish in the windowsills. And if one is
particularly attentive, it is possible to glimpse a rather
unusually knobby, hand made broom in the corner of the house
where the Witcheylady mixes her herbal potions.
The daughter of an Italian father and
an Hispanic mother, The Witcheylady comes naturally by her herbal
inclinations, which she says have been passed down through the
generations. Manzanilla (chamomile tea) for upset stomachs. Aloe for
cuts and burns.
"I'm surprised I didn't use
herbs with my horses sooner," The Witcheylady declares.
All her horses shine, well, like the
silvery moon. There is Doc, the wonder quarter horse, Thunder
the luminous black gelding, Lady, the opinionated mare, and
Tamera,
a 31-year-old Cushings mare with Insulin Resistance, whom many
pause to ponder the reasons her physical afflictions have not
caused her to pass long ago to The
Summerland*.
"I would like to think I have
learned something in the time I have been on this planet," says the
Witcheylady.
Indeed. Neighbors "Oooh" and "Ahhh"
at the sight of the herd and even the most scrupulous of vets take note
of the sleek and happy horses.
Perhaps part of the mystery can be
solved in the Witchylady's dual personality. For while The Witcheylady has a penchant for the
waxing and the waning of the moon, Claire Cox-Wilson is quite
grounded by her earthly accomplishments, including more then 30
years of horsekeeping and 32 plus years in the nursing
profession.
Cox-Wilson loves research, she
says, and her family has long ago given up any effort to pull her away
from her substantial stock of herbs or herbal literature.
"I can easily spend eight hours
reading eight different books on one herb," she says. "I just find them
fascinating."
The Witcheylady bends over to pluck a
few stems of fresh peppermint. She'll be putting them in the horses'
dinner buckets tonight, she says. A horse nickers loudly in the
distance and the moon rises into the evening sky.
*The Summerland is the Native American version of heaven
Herbal Articles by Claire Cox-Wilson
Send the Witcheylady a
message with
"Oxpictas" the owl
