My name is lauren. Eventhough I and my twin brother were born and raised in southern California , Ventura to be exact, our roots far exceed the suburban sprawl of strip malls and housing contracts characteristic of such a place. Up and over the Pacific, lived half my family (my pops side) in amongst the sheep and silver ferns in a little grouping of islands called New Zealand/Aoteroa. My mom is from the quintessential laughing stock state of the union- Texas. Born to a military she traveled a lot but not as much as my step mom who I have had since i was a wee tike of three; she came from Zimbabwe and roamed west ever since. I've always traveled as a kid, and I suppose it was the 9 months I spent living under a box elder in the Santa Cruz forest that made me want to gather some roots. By learning and using the plants around me made me feel like I had some ground under my feet that I could depend not to shake or roll. The patch of yerba santa or hedge nettles would always be right where I last saw them, which is more than I can say about my own family. This program called to me because it made me become aquainted in a direct and tactile way with my surroundings. By learning more about the plants in this area I feel more attatched to my place.