Written October 10, 2020: A few pictures from recent days and weeks, a jumbled mix of sun and rain, forest and sea. A feeling of in-between. Not quite here, not quite there.
As temperatures have cooled and rains have been here periodically, we've had to get our furnace fixed, shore up a filling window well, and are are just about ready to get some wood. We are lucky enough to have two fireplaces in this little house and I can't wait to have our first fire. Mushrooms are popping up all over the back yard. Leaves in the massive trees around our house are beginning to fall. Mornings are dark and cozy, evenings long and lamplit.
We keep going back to the ocean, if even for a couple of hours, the distance from her felt for so long now starting to fade. Hikes in favorite places feel even more sacred now after the wildfires took away so many. Memories flood back each and every time; I can't help but see my little boy where a young man now walks. Now he walks the dog while I take pictures and gather nature's bits and bobs. I felt I was just starting to learn the plants in Eastern Washington by the time we left, and now I'm trying to pick up where I left off here, though now I am getting more serious about not just identifying things but learning how to use them, mostly for medicinal purposes, but also for self-care, in cooking, or for home care. As I've said before, I believe in the magic(k) of the natural world.
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I found the above post in my draft folder, dated 10/10/20. It has obviously been a while since I checked in here and I'm not sure why I never finished this post. I actually do have one more draft I'll probably publish, as well. I hope you don't mind that they are not exactly timely... but I want to preserve these memories here. ♥︎