18-year Blogiversary Honor

Today, December 29th, marks the day I started to blog back on the edge of 2004. For reasons I don't really understand, I pause most every year on this day to honor the original intentions, reevaluate them, and assess my current 'n' forward intentions as I settle in with the fresh roots of winter. It's one of those odd days in which I give credence to the linear count of time. An odd day that also offers attention to the impending calendar flip, the march of linear time. Anyhoo...

Today - this 18-year blogiversary - feels akin to a spiral intersecting itself. I've been getting a bit of that feel lately. As I retire my business, yet continue the work that has always claimed me, I've considered returning to a regular blogging practice, a practice that may well replace the newsletter that has been a monthly ritual since - at least - 2013, the year I turned my attentions away from blogging. I consider this, and the meaning in the words I shared in my first blog post all those years ago...

"...this practice may simply allow me to organically explore the diversity of life, healing, spirit and energies that make up my being and offer me the experiences and opportunities that I am able to share with others - in the hopes to nurture holistic wellness and growth."

Not my best structured sentence, but the meaning rings through.

I'll be sitting with Nona Gaia, and with these words 'n' their meaning, words that still fill me, that still hold value, and that inspire me to feel as if I'm returning to a familiar, loving home that nourishes and sustains me, still... a home with deep roots, a home that holds a key part of the spiral of my being, my life, my journeys.

Stay tuned.

Peace. 🕊

Medicine, Furry Medicine

An unadorned cardboard box in a warm, safe space... seems so, so appreciated by this sweet little guy.

This cat was seen on occasion in November. We figured he was a local resident. But then, later in November, we saw him more frequently, and notice he had no collar. We would try to cajole him toward us, but he would scurry off. As November progressed, he'd come onto our deck as sunset approached, and would gaze through the sliding door window. We'd open the door, and off he would scurry. Finally, on a lovely, sunny late afternoon, late in November he came close to us, outdoors, rubbed against our legs as kitties do, and I was able to pick him up just long enough to discern that he was light as a feather, so skinny he felt fragile, before he squirmed out of my embrace and ran off yet again.

But he returned to the door, most every evening... looking in the window. At first, when we'd open the slider he'd sniff at the interior, but not enter. Then, during the last week of November, he'd enter. We'd give him water, which he imbibed with (what I perceived as a sense of) satisfaction. We gave him some of our home-canned fish - premium stuff - that he'd barely nibble. We gave him pets 'n' lovin' which he accepted until such time as he was ready to leave. We'd open the door, and off he'd go, disappearing into the night. I wondered if he had been abandoned, and suspect he was, for he was - tentatively so - accustomed to two-leggeds, bowls, and kindness. This continued until the evening of December 1st, when he came through that slider to shun the open door, and - it seems - to stay to make us his.

The 1st priority of December 2nd was all about getting food and litter. He knew the sound of the food bag, from which we rationed small amounts to this furry bag of bones. The following morning he peed, not in the litter box, but in the basket lined with one of my old shawls. The next day he peed in the litter box, and - finally - pooped, not in the box, but on the bedroom floor where he hard peed the day before. Thank the gods for hardwood floors. We put the poo in the litter box, which he was using for the liquid stuff, and around day five he relented, and is now using the litter box for all manner of waste.

He's an early riser. That first morning it was 3:30ish. We're early risers too, but anything before 4:00 am is too early, even for us. I explained this to him, and now he holds off his morning antics to 4:00/4:30, which is acceptable to us. 

His ears were a mess, and causing him discomfort, pain even, and I've been forced to man-handle him to address that. It's hard because he's so skinny (but finally filling in a bit) that he feels delicate, and I feel like I might break him. It's been slow-going, and I'm still at it, but we're making progress even as he shuns and runs away from me after every treatment. I tell him, "One day, you'll thank me."   

My spouse has declared his name as Sammy. I call him Zamee, SamZam, StinkyPoo, and a host of variations (much as I do with our hens). He responds to none of it. He's settling in, and has no interest in any open door. To me, he feels heavens' sent (much like our last dog, Halley Josephine). I am grateful that he found us, claimed us. We shall be Medicine to one another. ::nods:: 

 Peace. 🕊

December Blessings

As I sit here this morning with a sunrise dusting of snow on the earth, leaning into this month of December, the final month of our shared conventional calendar, I reflect on the challenges that November offered me, and project on the challenges 'n' delights that await me this month, as well as when December passes. 

November offered me mighty, holistic challenges; challenges of intellect 'n' intuition, will 'n' ego, heart, body, and spirit. Some of these challenges will be carried into the equanimity of winter, with its waxing daylight offered at the solstice, light that shall support me in seeing what needs to be seen ever more clearly. This feels fitting as I retire the business we call Walk in the Woods, LLC. 

While I'll continue doing what I do - teaching 'n' sharing what I can, throwing cards, chatting with the plants, and with you - I'll eventually have a fresh tempo of time 'n' space in which I'll invest in activities that may add greater value, support, and love to you, to all of us, and to all that nourishes 'n' sustains. While I anticipate a deep hush from me until spring, I'll still be here for you, and I invite you to reach out to me if need be... as I, likewise, invite you to respect this vital spell of hush. 

As I balance on this impending precipice, I recognize what a major life change this is for me. This realization holds out to me a synchronous verve of tension and harmony. You see, I've been Walk in the Woods since the early 1980s, first as a sole proprietorship, and 15 years later as an LLC. And as I reflect on that, I recall how I was doing what do, as a hobby, before any business entity made manifest... and here I am preparing to return to that transposable space. It is a spiral that conveys a sense of fulfillment, and it feels good and right.

So wish me well, as I wish you well as we traverse through the holidays of this season and head into the linear new year of 2024. And while you may not hear from me soon... you will... so stay tuned to join me in whatever comes next.

And, hey... mighty thanks to so many of you for the years of support and motivation. May it continue in the next chapter.

Peace. 🕊