*This post is Day One of the January Nablopomo 30-day blogging challenge hosted by BlogHer.
Living on our little homestead for seven months now has taught me a few things about seasons.
Among the lessons:
Summer is hot.
Obvious, I know but, seriously, if you think about it, it’s not that hard in our society to spend the vast majority of your time in a climate controlled setting. I KNEW summer was hot but when it came to actually needing to be outside more than I was in, I discovered in a very practical sense that spring is a lovely time to be in the garden. It’s 70 degrees and sunny and the earth is cool beneath your feet. Summer is hot and buggy and horrible. But… if you do things right in the spring you will have to spend less time planting and, far worse: weeding, in the summer.
Some seasons are more fun than others.
It’s quite pleasant to head out into the twilight around 9pm on a summer’s evening. There may be a warm breeze blowing and the frogs and crickets are singing their nighttime songs. Evening chores are lovely and peaceful and a joy. On the other hand, heading out into the snow when it’s below freezing and pitch black at 6:00 pm in the winter to break a layer of poopy ice off the chicken’s water dish is less fun.
When planting and harvest time hit you have a tiny window to get ‘er done. If you snooze, you lose. Play in the heat of summer. Play in the dead of winter. Once spring hits you have a matter of a couple of weeks to lay out what’s going to happen for the rest of the year. If you don’t act quickly you have to wait a whole year to try again. Fall is for picking, washing and preserving and there isn’t much time for anything else. Stall for even a few days and the earth will re-claim what she’s offered up to you.
As we kick off 2015 I can look back and see that life itself is a cycle of seasons.
For our family, 2013 was joyous. After some really rough financial struggles we found ourselves both well employed and moving past basic survival. Not very far past but we were confident, every day, that we would be able to put three meals on the table the next day. If you’ve never lacked that confidence you will never truly understand the peace that I’m referring to. We had time together and a nice home and everyone was healthy more often than not. It was a season of much needed rest.
2014 started off in the same vein but it became clear fairly early in the year that the seasons were changing. By April we were being swept along in an avalanche of life. It wasn’t all bad. A lot of what happened was stunningly wonderful. It was just… well… if you don’t already know you can read more here.
Going into 2015 we are skiing right on top of that avalanche and it is exciting and exhilarating, exhausting, overwhelming and fabulous. If it’s true that a man without a dream is dead then we are alive to the fullest! We are dreaming bigger than we have in a very long time and, even when it’s exhausting it is awesome in the most true sense of that word. It’s “spring” in our lives. We are planting seeds just as fast as we can to ensure an abundant harvest in the years to come.
Hippies considering the future…
I don’t think we can maintain our current pace forever. We’re only human! But I’m not worried about it. Last fall I reached a point where I just couldn’t imagine canning one more tomato and right about then they stopped turning ripe and the work was done and I was able to sit down and look with joy at my shelves full of food that would feed my family all winter long. This is the season we are in. We are scrambling to get the work done. There is not a doubt in my mind that when we reach the point where we feel like we just can’t “run” another step we will find that the seasons are changing and then we’ll have time to look back and see all that we’ve accomplished. It’s going to be great!
Do you feel the cycle of the seasons reflected in your life? What season are you in now? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Are you, too, seeking to save the earth, promote world peace and raise productive citizens without expending too much effort?
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