ebb & flow

10.26.2019



Snow has been falling and melting and then falling again in the Blue Mountains of Northeast Oregon.  There comes a time when a lot of roads seem to be inaccessible for the winter up there, so we are going as often as we can, while we still can.  During this, the most magical time of the year, I feel like we are playing hide and seek with all the spirits and creatures of the forest, seen and unseen.  I can feel them more strongly than ever, whispering through the trees.

At home, the weather is warmer, but we are still leaning into fall.  Pumpkins are on the porch, leaves swirl up and down the street, flannel sheets and extra blankets are on the beds, candles are lit nightly, and I have taken once again to the rocking chair by the fireplace (where I am now) to read or knit or catch up with online things.  I make time to sit on our little front step and gaze at the moon before I go to bed.  Most nights we are in bed fairly early, and we are sleeping a little bit later in the morning without loud birdsong or any light coming through the cracks in the blinds.  This bothers my husband who is normally an ultra early riser, but it just feels natural to let our bodies ebb and flow with the seasons, the rhythms of the earth.  I fully surrender to this slower, darker time of year.  What most would probably call an ebb, to me feels like flow.

I've been listening to Arvo Pärt and falling quite happily under the spell of his music.  We are going to a concert next month featuring some of his work and I'm trying to learn all I can.  I especially love his more minimal, melancholy work.  Read more about him here.  (I find and listen to his music on Spotify and watch performances on YouTube with my basic, free accounts.)  

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake does not represent any of my favorite kinds of classical music (I love chamber music, or modern classical such as Phillip Glass or Kronos Quartet), but last weekend went to see and hear just that, performed by the Walla Walla Symphony and the Eugene Ballet, right here in our own little town.  I was very surprised that as soon as the curtain went up I was struggling to keep big tears from spilling over onto my cheeks.  It was an overwhelming emotional response, one that I could barely control.  Art - its beauty can split you in two.  I loved it, and I want more. 

I've gotten way behind on posting and have a camera full of pictures from various outings getting older by the day, so I'll try to be back here again soon.  

Samhain / Halloween is in five days, new moon in one - are you ready?  How do you celebrate?  Asia Suler of One Willow Apothecaries is one of my favorite resource for, as she says, establishing a deep relationship with the earth. There's so much good to read on her blog, Woolgathering & Wildcrafting. Read her ideas for celebrating Samhain here.  

by mlekoshi