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Cloudy with chance of sniffles. . .

It’s Herbal Awareness Month. . . not really, but I couldn’t figure out an attention-getting opening line. I’m a little under the weather today. . . my brain’s a bit cloudy and I do have the sniffles. I do not have any Echinacea tea in the cupboard, but will be getting some later today. Meanwhile, Link is healing up from his fever and you’ll be getting to know him a bit more tomorrow. In the meantime, you might want to check out another “link” below and get a quick description of the benefits of Echinacea and 12 ways to use it. We have lots of it planted in our perennial garden and I can attest that the bees and butterflies love it! It’s just starting to pop out of the ground now, so here’s a pic of what it will hopefully look like in a few months. . . monarch and all- although we seem to attract a lot of yellow swallowtails. . . enjoy the article!

http://www.diynatural.com/echinacea-benefits/

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“Link-ed” In. . .

This week we’ll be introducing you to our liberal blogging rat, Lincoln. . . his friends call him Link. He loves everything from the 1960’s and idolizes John Lennon (hence his usual army shirt outfit, round glasses and long hair). His blog is called, “Link’s Underground,” and you’ll see Pam & Todd reading his blog on occasion at The Green House.

Writing a comic strip with environmental themes, we naturally attract a more liberal audience. Often it’s of the extreme liberal variety. When we first started The Green House, we would get “strong” suggestions to get really liberal with our story lines, but our goal was to always keep a good balance. Link gave us the ability to get a little “out there” and have fun poking fun at the extreme right wing media, especially Rush Limbaugh, whom Link loathes. . . but also listens to. Maybe it’s the old “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” philosophy, but he listens, as do I from time to time.

As time has gone by, I find myself inclined to mellow out Link’s attitude a bit, and have him be more into technology and pushing the green agenda more than being political- although sometimes those topics intertwine. To be totally honest, it’s just that politics are a subject I’d rather not focus on in my writing. There’s so much greater good I can do finding humor in everyday life. . . it reaches a broader audience and tells the kind of stories I like to tell. It’s also too easy to fall into a reactionary position and spend too much time in negativity and the hot political topic of the media day.  I do LOVE how Walt Kelly handled politics “back in the day” with Pogo. . . but I don’t feel that’s where Peter an my strengths are as story tellers. In that regard, it’s important to have well defined characters with easy to recognize personalities. Link is a character with a lot of character- and personality. It’ll be fun sharing his quirkiness with you. He angers easily, but is also a true friend. We hope you enjoy spending some time with him this week.

As Kelly and Pogo said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” I don’t want to be my own enemy in the world of promoting green concepts and lifestyle. I don’t want to preach my philosophy, but instead depict a world where our characters are positive role models, working to find peace and harmony. . . along with a few laughs along the way. For ideally, that’s what life should be about. . . and I believe Walt Kelly and John Lennon would approve.