Bring it 2021!

Happy New Year Dear Friends,

We made it. WE MADE IT. Whew. Doesn't it just feel marvelous? Like a long, long, long exhale. Yes, we have a long ways to go and much to overcome, but we are doing it - right now. We are strong. We are resilient. We suffer loss and we honor those we lose. We uplift those who need us and we remain steadfast in our devotion to goodness. If we aren't offering our own light to the world, what are we doing? 

We celebrated the return of the light with our own lights, not as brilliant as the sun, but hope-filled on long dark nights.

We sit in the sun every precious moment those luscious rays fall on our patch of Earth and in this moment, we salute you...

We made soap for the first time in a long time to gift our friends and family and it felt good to make something from scratch that is the best we know how to make. 

The plant nursery is ready for 2021 and the changes feel right.

The American Persimmons in Morrow County keep giving their most delicious fruits. This little collection of goodness set our minds to wonder, as always. They were collected at the end of December and we started harvesting from this tree in late September. Yes, you read that right. We still cannot believe the generosity of this particular tree species.

Part of our light we give to the world is offering a helping hand to cats in need. This is not either of our life dream, nor is it something we love, but it is a need right in front of us and so we buck up and do the work. 

This little kitty came inside (Oreo aka Wuk):

This little kitty (JJ) went to the Wyandot County Humane Society:

This little kitty (Orangey aka Autumn) went to the Morrow County Humane Society:

And yes, friends, this is all from late 2020. This puts us at least 10 cats helped since we moved here 10 years ago. 

The wood fire keeps us and our first stray here (Alvin), toasty, warm and peaceful.

When everything aligns, I write so I can share stories of this land. The Night the Whippoorwill Sang waits for you here. 

The Darkling Beetles tucked away in this piece of firewood make us smile every time we find another gathering. We move their world of wood to the porch and nestle them in. The porch wood pile is growing and growing as it does every year. This is the never burn pile. Long ago, someone stayed in our house and burnt up this never burn pile. Hurt and anger and sadness lingered and sometimes finds us anew for different reasons, but we move on and perhaps not forget, but put the energy to use in a better way. We plant more trees. Protect more rotting wood. Offer a smile to the rattling car driving down the road. 

Happy 2021 dearest ones. We hope this year is brilliant for you!

Soundtrack: 

Joaquim Cooder - Over that Road I'm Bound to Go

Joaquim Cooder - Calm My Mind

The Bengsons - The Keep Going On Song

The Bengsons - One Hundred Days

Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen (best turn this UP!)

Sharon Van Etten - Seventeen

Amy Ray - Let It Ring