First witch hazel, home

Some of my best discoveries are made en route to the compost heap—I mean that literally, not figuratively—and so it was that today, when I was doing the necessary chore of adding compostables to the pile, that I happened to look up at the surrounding foliage which, in this case, belonged to a Witch Hazel. These ubiquitous shrubs, the source of a liniment used for everything from quelling acne to shrinking hemorrhoids, actually have nothing to do with witches or Halloween or Satanic rituals, although the shrubs flower at just about the time that Halloween displays start appearing, which is pretty magical by itself. Rather, the "witch" term is derived from the Old English wiche or wice, the terms for "pliant." This is a reference to the wood, which is very springy and is used by dowsers—certainly their own species of magician—to locate sources of well water. I never got the hang of dowsing, but I've become adept at finding the start of Witch Hazel blossoming season. Here, just above the compost heap, it is. Let us give thanks to lettuce scraps and banana peels for putting me in the right place at the right time.