Tag: winter

Full Wolf Moon Missive | A Winter Letter from Home

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January, somewhere in early twenty twenty three.

Hello old friends. I’ve been lying fallow, much like this winter season, mostly in bed resting from illness, and I am seeing clearly now what a gift I have been given, to restore my body + mind in this way. It has allowed me to sink deep into the gestation of this new year’s arrival, and reflect on the past year gone by. I told a friend almost one year ago that I felt like I was caught between corridors- that I could clearly see both behind + in front of me, but was unable to pass through. I can’t say that I don’t still feel like the horizon has a thick fog of not knowing, but I do know now that it isn’t fear that has me approaching slowly; rather the clarity of intention gently holding my hand. It’s taken an immeasurable amount of destruction to let the pieces of what I thought were important in this life fall away to make room for the creation of those that truly are. I recently came across a book whose words have been reverberating in the very crevices of my heart.

“Silence is a practice of emptying, of letting go. It is a process of hollowing ourselves out so we can open to what is emerging. Our work is to make ourselves receptive. The organ of receiving is the human heart, and it is here that we feel the deep ache of loss, the bittersweet reminders of all that we loved, the piercing artifacts of betrayal, and the sheer truth of impermanence. Love and loss, as we know so well, forever entwined.” | Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief

So, I am here, emptying, and choosing very intentionally the ways in which I caretake to foster emergence. Many, many trips to the library to find silence in reading, sunrise hikes to explore the beauty of the world before it wakes, pressing my ear to the hive to feel + hear the life the honeybees are vigorously keeping inside, gathering for “Tea Parties” with my motherhood community, playing in the snow and out on the frozen pond, watching kingfishers + eagles hunt along the banks of the river, daydreaming of florals, and inhaling each day of this precious, simple life. It’s been quite grey here this week, but we’ll step out tonight to howl up at this Full Wolf Moon, and maybe you will too.

If you are also feeling deeply into the regenerative nature of this season upon us and inviting creation + inspiration in, I’d love to share a few of the things that have been bringing me peace + warmth these days.

Books: The Wild Edge of Sorrow, Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief by Francis Weller, Wintering, the Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May, Sacred Instructions, Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit Based Change by Sherri L Mitchell, 10 Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier

Podcasts: For the Wild: Tricia Hersey on Deprogramming from Grind Culture, Poetry Unbound S6 E21 Victoria Adukwei Bulley- Not Quiet as In Quiet But, Once Upon A Goddess- Kali- The Hindu Warrior, 70 Over 70 “We Need to Make Time” with Alice Waters

Recipes: Creamy White Beans and Greens from Amy Chaplin’s Whole Food Cooking Everyday, Savory Herbal Biscuits from Gardening for Everyone by Julia Watkins, Instant Pot Spicy White Bean Beef Stew from Half Baked Harvest

I also want to share that it has brought me so much joy to connect with some of you via text messaging and even tea time FaceTime dates. If you’d like to connect through e-mail or snail mail or any of these more analog ways, please do! Happy Wintering, folks. I wish you restorative rest, warmth, and joy in your days.

In gratitude,

Holly

Indoor Floral Bulbs / A Growing Ritual for the Winter Months

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To Know the Dark by Wendell Berry

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

The autumn is fading and we have begun our descent into the darkest months of the year, a time when we embrace a slumber of restorative rest. The children have declared it cocoa season as they bustle from outdoor play to indoor handwork like rolling beeswax candles and wool felting. And while we are missing simple rituals such as gathering by the hearth, we are dreaming + designing the coziest spaces for our future home while we continue traditions like planting paperwhite bulbs to coax indoors for a winter solstice bloom. By now, the garden beds have been put to rest and we miss the work of growing + tending, so this is a beautiful way to get our hands in the dirt. This year we’ve opted for the Ariel Narcissus, a variety of paperwhite, which you should readily be able to find at your local garden center. This tutorial is for starting indoor bulbs in soil, though you can also grow in water, in which case you’ll want to add rocks to the bottom of your jar for the bulb to rest on. There are several other bulb options such as amaryllis or hyacinth if you’d like, too. We love to pick up extra bulbs to plant in recycled jars as gifts for teachers, mail carriers, or neighbors + friends.

So I brewed the children and I a pot of chamomile tea, laid our soil and bulbs out across the table, and dug in. As we nestled bulbs into their places, crowding them ever so slightly for a truly spectacular show, we whisper spells of sunshine filled days in the windowsill until we wake one late December morning to the scent of musky floral blooms. A magic which happens nearly overnight. And we will be reminded that while the winter world sleeps, the light is beginning to return, and we too will awaken with the pulse of the earth. (Paperwhites will bloom about four to six weeks from being planted.) As we embark on the journey into the winter season, I am wishing you introspection + rest, folks. I hope you enjoy this simple winter ritual as much as we do!

In gratitude + kindredness,

Holly

What You’ll Need:

  • Indoor Bulbs
  • Container that will allow root growth at least 3-4 inches deep, preferably with drainage
  • Potting Soil
  • Water

Planting Instructions:

Fill container with potting soil at least 3-4 inches deep. Nestle the bulb(s) snuggly and fill with additional soil need be, so the top one third of the bulb is exposed. Water soil to keep moist, but not wet. Place in a location with plenty of sunlight.