The Woodland Herbal Team Shares: "My Perfect Day"

We thought it would be fun to highlight what our team members feel would happen on our perfect day and what that might look like, in the hopes of giving you a glimpse into who we are so you can get to know who's behind the medicines we make. We also hope you will jot down your favorite things that would make up your own perfect day, with the goal being to work a little toward that each day, even if that means to simply notice that which you enjoy occurred, even if only for a fleeting moment. Because while a perfect day may not be truly realistic, it's the little things that bring happiness and joy in life.

Brandon Elijah Scott, owner, herbalist

The morning starts with a sniff and a slurp from my puppy dogs. My body feels great, limber and no ache in sight because my back doesn’t hurt and my head’s clear of tension on my perfect day. My wife Leah grumbles at the dogs and complains it’s too early to be alive. But she perks right up and kisses me, reminding me how much she loves me on my perfect day. I hear the thud of toddler feet running down the hallway. My ornery boy Rowan slams open the door and jumps in bed with the puppy party and we cuddle together for a time.

I take a very hot, very long bath in a tub I can actually submerge myself in, while staring out at the snow capped mountains outside the window. I watch an eagle soaring through the skies, before diving for salmon near a mama bear and her cubs as they meander around a mirrored lake.

After getting dressed in a comfy outfit, I wander through an old growth forest without a care, because no one’s relying on me and time doesn’t exist on my perfect day. I soak my feet in a rushing stream and I lay back on a bed of cushy moss and watch the sun stream through the towering trees.

Jenni laden with shears and a basket skips along the stream with fox and raccoon friends in tow. She grabs my hand and we go on a herb walk and we find every endangered plant is alive and well, because no plant or animal could ever die out on my perfect day. We smell, taste and gather our favorites.

And since it’s my perfect day, and football haters don’t exist on my day, Jenni jumps up and down, exclaiming excitedly that the Buckeyes won, besting rival Michigan in humiliating fashion before disappearing to gather sassafras twigs for fire starter.

Afterwards, I take my son on a hike and we see wildlife everywhere we turn. He’s on his best behavior, of course, because it’s my perfect day. I teach him to tread softly and to respect the animals. I snap wondrous photographs of these precious creatures, and each animal stays still for a moment to pose and every image is perfectly in focus on my perfect day.

There’s no stress on my perfect day. I meander down the mountain to find my family grilling slow-simmered ribs, firing a pepperoni and mushroom pizza in a stone oven, and my wife fanning a freshly baked huckleberry pie. My uncle Bob is tending a large bonfire while my father-in-law Ken sings his favorite classics on guitar. The sky is clear and glittering bright as shooting stars stream by and the aurora borealis dances over our heads.

With my belly stuffed, heart full and soul nourished, I lay my head on what feels like a cloud beneath the stars, and I fade off to sleep, where I find my mom visiting me. She hugs me and kisses me, telling me she’s so proud of who I became and how sorry she is that she isn’t here. Because life is simpler, and all is right on my perfect day.

Jennifer Parsons, herbalist

On my perfect day I wake up early to sunshine with no alarm clock beeping. I throw on a big skirt and favorite hat to wander to the herb garden with my dogs, with no leash because they won't chase squirrels on my perfect day. I harvest all my favorite plants in my big basket, smelling and tasting each as I go. Rosemary, sage, thyme, comfrey, peppermint...but wait!

What is this?! A new plant! I barefoot run for my bookshelf friends, franticly flipping through the Gladstar, Duke, Rose, Pursell, and Culpepper pages until I discover it is a magic native plant not seen for generations and it is growing everywhere! A plant that makes a person feel well and whole without fail, no matter the ailment. I give thanks and harvest some to share with all.

That's when my phone rings, and I hear my mama's voice say, "today is a good day for a picnic; grab something and let's meet at grandma's." In no time at all I've made the perfect lemonade cake and arrive at gran's to find all 5 generations eating and belly laughing and hugging each other under a giant maple tree. On the way home, my husband Ken and I take the long way spotting lots of bald eagles and red tailed hawks. We don't miss a single bird.

We pull in our driveway and find a beautiful mare with a sleek red coat, already saddled, prancing and ready to go! I mount up, and the stirrups don't need adjusted on my perfect day. Papa appears with his own mare, and yells, "Race ya!". Full out, flying gallop with no worry, only joy, because there are no groundhog holes in the fields on my perfect day. We run until the horses are lathered and my hair is tangled and our faces hurt from grinning. We walk home gently, joking and giggling our matching giggles, watching butterflies flit from trees to plants.

When home, I find Ken playing music with Willie Nelson on the front porch, strumming guitars and singing all my favorite songs together. All my wildling raccoon friends are there with their babies, and we cuddle in the grass and share a snack. The sun then sets with a big mug of black coffee, a pile of cookies my mama made for me, flashing fireflies, and me cuddled with Ken. That is my perfect day.

Leah Scott, distributions manager

On my perfect day I wake up to the smell of pancakes. They are the most wonderful pancakes I have ever had with real maple syrup, of course. It is the only way to eat the best pancakes ever.

After I eat as many as I possibly can, I head into our art shed to sit at my pottery wheel and make the prettiest mugs and bowls. If you don't use it, you lose it does not exist on a perfect day. Then I go to the park with my husband Brandon, my son Rowan, and our three dogs. We all take a walk with the dogs and they are on their best behavior. Demon howling at people coming towards us does not exist on the perfect day. We stop at the playground to watch Rowan have so much fun playing with the other kids. After he is all played out, we head to my favorite restaurant, the Yucatan in Coshocton, and I have the best chimichanga ever, which isn't much different than usual, as they are always perfect, even on the least perfect of days.

We drive home after we all have amazing meals. Then we have the whole family come over and watch the most exciting Ohio State game and I get to watch all the smiles come over their faces because we enjoy the game together, but most of all we enjoy each other's company, homemade food, pie, and jokes. After everyone goes home and Rowan goes to bed, Brandon and I spend some time in the kitchen and learn to make lava cake. It is cooked to perfection and we enjoy it with vanilla ice cream. Brandon loves it as much as I do because chocolate hating doesn't exist on the perfect day. We end the day by cuddling under a super soft blanket on the couch and watching Scrubs.

Angela Mehok, artisan

My perfect day entails waking up to the smell of coffee brewing and a whiff of hot apple pie baking in the oven. I walk out to my grandma handing me a cup and we sit down with my mom and have a typical morning that we used to have before she passed away. Then, I hear laughter in another room and walk in and see so many loved ones that have passed on and they all exclaim “HI ANG!” I cry out in excitement and slowly go to each one hugging each and everyone and catching up. I just don't want this to end ever! My niece, Haley girl, comes up to me and asks if we can go hang out with my kids and do some cringe worthy fun activities! We run around outside filming us being silly so I can have the video after my perfect day has ended.

My dad, uncle Jeff and grandpas are working on cars nearby. Because it's my perfect day, there is no anger or throwing tools or cussing, because everything goes perfectly on my day. My grandma comes out to tell them the chicken and dumplings are ready and I hear her sweet laugh and it makes me feel so much happiness inside. We all go inside to sit down to a meal I will never forget! There is no talk of politics and we all have the perfect conversations about their lives. We talk and laugh and cry a little but mostly just enjoy each other's company. As the day comes to an end, I get to say goodbye individually to each one the way I want to, because again, it is MY perfect day. All in all it is the perfect day with the perfect people and the perfect food and perfect conversations and the most perfect love of all those who have passed on. 

Sarah Garbarino, assistant artisan

The perfect day does not exist, but, my ideal version of a “perfect” day happened 09/30/2023. I remember waking up feeling somewhat happy. I was excited for our day at the county fair, one of my favorite late summer activities. We had some family spending the day with us, it's always a great day when family is around. It was a very calm morning, I managed to get lots of chores done with the motivation of fair food and spending the day with loved ones.

Once the afternoon came around, we decided to get some lunch at a local dinner before making our way to the fair. Our food was delectable and we were having a wonderful time together! But, there is always going to be a let down, even on a perfect day. The cappuccino I had gotten was intense and packed with sugar, it seemed I had a sugar rush rather than a caffeine buzz. I also could not stop sneezing, it was awful and very uncomfortable. But one of the reasons why this was my perfect day, I stayed positive and didn’t let it get to me. After brunch, we made our way to the fair.

The traffic was hectic, lots of stop and go, everyone was going to the fair that day. We made it to the entrance where we paid for parking. I took $5 out in cash to pay, and came to find out it would be $15 for each person. That was my game money! Little did I know the rest of our time there would drain most of my cash, but I still tried to have a nice time with everyone and myself. We walked around the fair for a while, the sky was completely clear and the sun was bright and hot, It was such a beautiful day to spend time at the fair. I was only able to play one game because the starting payment for each game was $5 and to keep playing to win a better prize, you had to pay $5 more. I ended up only playing one round of pop the balloon with a dart and I won a stuffed tree frog, it made me very happy because he was really cute!

We walked around a bit longer and found ourselves wanting fair food. I decided to have an ice cream cone, it was a local business and I had their mint chocolate chip on a waffle cone. It was so smooth and velvety the best mint chocolate chip ice cream i've ever had, and it was only $3! We took our tasty snacks to the stadium where we wanted the county tractor pull. It was one of those things that didn't necessarily matter or make any difference to anyone, but I still enjoyed myself. It is the only place you can go and see a pimped out tractor! We shared lots of laughs and I felt happy because I made sure to maintain a positive mindset and enjoy the little things. It can be extremely difficult to feel happy or be optimistic, but anyone can turn around their mindset and think positive, it just might help you get out of a dark place. Perspective and mindset is everything!  

Brandon Elijah Scott & Jennifer Parsons

Brandon is a wanderer and world traveler, an author and artist, a herbalist as well as a photographer, thinker, designer, nature lover, and seeker of truth and wisdom. Jenni is a life long herbalist who is a book obsessed, nature lover, who follows the old ways, and who lives and loves by wit, wisdom, and community.