The idea for taking it upon myself to forage for my own foliage in an urban setting was introduced to me by one Joe Medeiros, biology and ecology professor at Sierra College in Rocklin, CA. A scruffy and adventurous man, he would often entertain his classes with tales of surviving bear encounters in isolated wilderness and complaining intelligently about the earth's rapid over-populating of humans, all with wry wit and heartfelt sincerity. We all trusted him immediately. Thus, it was not so surprising that, on frequent field trips around campus and in the nearby Northern Californian foothills, I thought it ingeniously resourceful and just plain rad that he would stop, bend down and pick some random green-leafed herb on the side of a sidewalk or trail and cram it into his
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