And suddenly, August.

Of the summer months, August is the summer-est. It's the final full month of the solar season, and it's the start of my 4Q (fourth quarter of the year). It feels fitting that this month start with drizzle and the potential of rain, as Nona Gaia needs it here in my corner of the world, and the latest plantings will most certainly appreciate it. Anyhoo... If you've been following me for a while, you know that my "new year" begins at Samhain, as October moves to November, so that means August kicks off the quarter of preparing for deep autumn and the coming of winter. This is obvious in the gardens, as every day there's harvests to gather and preserve for food and Medicine, and I'm still getting the summer seeds in for autumn and winter harvests. It also means wrapping up some of the elements of the past year, and putting in place aspects to support me in moving as smoothly as possible into the next - in the gardens and out.

As I plan for my new year, I look ahead to some major life shifts, including ::drumroll, please:: retiring my business of some 30+ years at the end of this calendar year. Yeah. That's big. And yet it's not. You see, I'll continue doing what I do, which is rooted in sharing my experiences and occasional tangible creations with others, I'll just be doing it as a hobby and not a business. And that prospect feels good and right. 

Now, I could go on here about leveraging the transformational heat of the August sun, yet sometimes a conveyance is best left to its purest 'n' simplest guise. Besides, so much is shifting in the seasonal climate expressions that the transformational heat of the August sun is an increasingly complex concept and reality.

In any event, I shall do my best to keep cool as summer heats up this month. I shall continue to spar with our collective broiling addiction to fossil fuels in my own small ways, and in other ways. I invite you to do the same. That said, if you're in the (increasingly rare) position to divest from that industry, and haven't already, I invite you to do so. And to my way of thinking, divesting is more than striping a 401K or other financial investments of all things fossil fuel. If you're wondering what I mean, ask. And while I'm taunting you may I add that if you're in a position to help out someone in need, please do so. Oh, how I could ramble on. But...

As August arrives, the pace of the season shifts, the verve fires up, and with it my sense of urgency quickens. I hope yours does too. For this month. This year. This life. For our collective future. May you hear the call of Gaia's urgency. 

Lammas blessings.

Peace. 🕊