the white background is snow.

here's an excerpt from my book "Three Seasons of Bees and Other Natural and Unnatural Things" in which i talked about devil's club:

"The plant's scientific name is Oplopanax horridus, literally meaning heavily armed horrid cure-all.

Armed from root to tip by vicious spikes and thorns, the plant was the bane of early loggers and settlers who struggled to clear land; for these pioneers, a tall stand of devil's club presented a hellish barrier of barbed weaponry. But Native Americans honored the plant, a relative of ginseng, and used it extensively for medicinal purposes, chopping and powdering the roots and inner bark to treat arthritis, ulcers, diabetes and digestive ailments. Tribes carved sticks into protective charms and fishing lures, burned the bark and daubed devil's club ashes and charcoal on their faces before ritual dances, believing in the power of the ashen masks to ward off evil influences, which gave the plant the reputation of strong protective medicine.

With the neighborhood situation, the timing is perfect for me to learn about a plant ally with strong protective powers and, even though I'm not ready to take the ashen-mask route, I am willing to test the plant's shielding properties for warding off negative forces...."