Autumn is here

With the recent rains and cooler temperatures it is clear that autumn has arrived. Though I lament the passing of yet another abundant summer, my body yearns for a break in the work. My soul is ready for re-awakening and refreshing. Something about this season is my coming back presently into the world. Perhaps it is ancestral calling that celebrates a long tradition of celebrating the new year during this time.

I never had a summer "break". This will mark the first time in a very long time where I wasn't able to expand completely into the nothingness that leads to creativity and fun adventures and projects. That said, I DID have time to write and to get into the brain creativity that I have long since nurtured... so perhaps my break looked different than in previous years.

Everything is great. I am so thankful for all of the abundance, love, and support in my life. I am happy to share my abundance, love, and support as well. From weddings to plants, the past summer was one of richness and growth, of meaningful connections to people, earth, place.

If you are reading this and felt that I have wronged you in any way in the past year, I am sorry and I hope that you may forgive me. Please connect with me so that I can do this work in a more heartfelt way.

Today is the half-way-ish point for Michelle... in another 5 months there will be another human being in our home :) Her business is expanding; she'll be in a new office at the end of the month which will bring that adventure into a new realm of expansion, success, and fun. My work is taking shape as well; once the grant funding is secured, my role as a director and dreamer will unfurl like the fiddleheads in late spring. Hopefully the funding stays around for a while :)

The gardens are slowing down; we have collected ample harvest. Strawberries, tomatoes, basil, radishes, and beets all rocked this year. Carrots, leafy greens, beans were unfortunately mowed down by rabbits and slugs. Blueberries didn't fare so well either. Asparagus is growing, maybe we are only one more year out from eating some. Pears were less abundant though plums were remarkably prolific. In a recent trade, we passed of plums for bunches of green beans and a dozen eggs.

We have done the usual late summer flurry of activities... the dehydrator hummed for weeks, and the canning pot steamed for hours. (Fortunately the new stove and hood made for a tidier experience!)

Two weeks ago, we enjoyed a first-of-the-year Coho salmon which was just gorgeous. The scales were shimmering silver and the flesh was that of a powerful animal. It always pains me slightly to eat these fish, because I have to process them. It keeps me humble and cognizant of the life force running through all animals when I have to cut open an animal that I am to eat and to serve to my family. This particular Coho was carrying eggs that she was ready to deliver to the creek of her birth. I am sorry that this mission was interrupted by the fisherman who caught her and sold her to me. But I am thankful for the salmon's story and to her relatives who continue the life-chain up the Nooksack River. At the same time, I processed a King Salmon too. First time I have ever worked with this salmon. He was quite an incredible animal too. He is in the freezer until February when we hope to have a big celebration.

Life is so fleeting; it can end in a moment. It is so incredible, a moment can last a lifetime. I have been very tired recently, but I am trying to make the most of every moment. It's a fun task and one worth living. How fortunate and grateful I feel that I can pursue this meaning of life.