Now We Exhale...
Summer Solstice marks the ending of a cycle and the beginning of another.
The grasses bloom and rise after a day of steady and light rain on the hillside. The mushroom season continues on as the golden oyster mushrooms bloom on the old, dead ash tree. The chive blossoms begin to fade in the dampness, and the peonies replace them with their soft opening, pillowy blooms. The song of summer has begun to sing on the winds coming from the southwest after the rain. We await with anxiousness for the milkweed to open its structural blossoms that speak of pattern and design that we struggle to fully fathom.
I cannot sometimes absorb these days enough. As the earth exhales into bloom and growth, all I hope to do is inhale it all. I find it to be this unspoken thing we are doing when we wander through nature. I wander through pockets of my land or the land of my clients and breathe in the scent the earth is releasing in every direction. No candle or incense can capture it, but it must be experienced.
Wandering through the pollen-filled pine forests, my hands turn yellow as they touch the edges of the cones, even though it burns and irritates my eyes and makes me sneeze, there is something magical even in this moment of this season. There is no inhaling it all enough. Something that only the hush of the colder months can really offer me is the ability to find the true mystical and powerful feeling of the earth opening in this way.
I don’t know really how to describe what I have been feeling lately while working out here with the soil and the trees, other than feeling that overall beauty in what it is to exhale. When we exhale as humans, we feel safe, we feel more relaxed, and it is a massive release. It also allows us to push something out. In labor, women exhale low and slow to ground themselves through the pushing of the baby out. In working out and lifting weights, you exhale when you push the weight up and away. It takes trust to let that air away into the atmosphere. It takes comfort that more will come back to you once again. The exhale is the point of release and effort. It is the force of what is created.
Watching the mushrooms on our old ash grow almost overnight in size, I feel it is a visual of a true exhale of the earth. Seeing how the plants rise overnight, almost after a seeding in fresh soil.
With summer beginning officially this weekend, it feels like a major marker of the year. I see this time of year as being so critical. As critical as the winter solstice. It is the major turning point from upward to downward in the seasons. Our plants have been endlessly working towards this moment of long days and rising. There is this grand pulling upward that I find to be more and more tangible and evident to me as I become more attuned to the rhythms year over year. I find it awe-inspiring to watch it all unfold so calmly and rapidly at the same time.
Summer’s official arrival feels exciting and also brings a sense of sadness on its coattails. Knowing that this longest day means now days will only shorten now feels hard to swallow. Knowing that by the end of August, we will feel the shortening of the days quite literally. We will feel the shift, and it will also mean harvest is imminent. I love the excitement leading up to these longer days. The arrival of the birds from migration. The new fawn. The first blooms. The smell of the soil is awakening. It all feels like the early stages of falling in love. Then, as we descend we watch as we see the final blooms, the final harvest, the final moments of the work we did with the earth to bring something into fruition.
Summer solstice will come and go just as easily as the exhale we make now. It will pass along with the shortest night as easily as inhaling without notice. Yet, this moment marks something larger. It begins the shift. The time marks the turn of the year. Even if slow and less rapid as night falls in our day, even on the longest days of the year. I find it critical to celebrate this moment. Inhale all the earth is pushing out and watch it keenly for how it shifts. Allowing us to hear and see just how the same happens in us at every moment of the day.
Every season, I make a new playlist, and with the beginning of spring comes a playlist as well. I love taking time to make these lists and pull together new sounds for your season, and selfishly, I love it for myself, too. I hope it brings a good background sound to your season ahead.
A Case for “Weeds” in the Garden
As the season progresses. In the garden, the weeds become just as confident and in control as the plants we intentionally have planted. I have found, though this can be a gift within reason. The daunting task of heavy weeding certain beds isn’t easy to keep up with as a solo tender to a garden in a life with other demands. This is why I place “‘weeds” in quotes. I have come to believe that weeds are a gift if we allow them to be. I instead am now making more and more cases for letting beds get a little bit unruly. For letting plants reveal themselves to us and then assessing what may need a little rearranging, thinning, and reshaping. In nature, plants will fill every gap because the earth doesn’t like bare soil. It wants it covered, whether with dead, decaying material or plants growing. It will do one or the other, so we can choose which one we will either create or let nature do for us. I have come to love the wild nature of our garden beds. I let nature fill in on its own. In the wake of the chaos of it I have garnered nursing some beautiful native plants brought in from birds and more that otherwise never would have arrived. I also allow many reseeding perennials and biennials to create a haven for themselves as well, which allows me to move them into other places in the garden where I do want them.
So often we want to keep everything in the exact place we intended for them to be, but through the years, I love seeing the garden as a conversation with nature itself. I like to see what comes and goes, and what can move or what never wanted to be there. I am finding that once again this year, and I am reminding you to take time to let the weeds come in a bit. Learn them. Make a relationship with them. Then, from there, decide how much space you will allow them and maybe where their next place would best be suited.
On my mind this week
Just some things happening and that I am thinking of lately:
Biodynamics in the Garden: I took a class on biodynamic practices from Dave Bos at Bos Wines here in Nomi through Green Door Folk School, and since then, I have been deep diving into this. I picked up this book from his recommendation, and then also nabbed this one while in England. I have been reading a ton, and I am planning to use these practices this year in the garden and in life.
Land Lines?!?! Literally looking into one in order to create stronger independence in our kids, being in touch with friends, and being more personal with their interactions. I have a few other mom-friends debating this as well. Has anyone else thought about this?!
Reaching Out to Friends When You Think of Them: As much as we can hate on our phones being attached to us and maybe some saying they disconnect us, I have found that being away from social media, they actually have let me remain connected to friends in great ways. I will regularly send texts to friends to just reach out and let them know they are on my mind. I think social can make us believe we are connected, but I find it is so nice to just text or voice message a friend to check in directly, and low and behold, you can make someone feel special and seen in your life even more so. So send more random texts to people you like keeping in your life, even if it is a busy season. Don’t let social media make you think you are connected.
Chacos, Blundstones, Camper, and Birks: This spring, my over 10-year-old Blundstones busted, and the entire sole is shot. Worst thing ever, but as I went hunting for another boot, I realized I have 4 companies I trust for shoes. I don’t stray much other than Adidas for sports and sneaker options. Everything else isn’t for me. I love these brands, though! For an update, I couldn’t stomach spending on another boot right now, so I am taking my “nice” Blundstones and using them for work instead. Maybe I will pick up another “nice” ones, but for now, my sandals and sneakers will be my “nice” shoes.
Ticks: I get asked a lot about these little guys. Working with land means, for better or worse, you are tossed into the things that can be dangerous out there as well as the good things. There is a lot of info out there about safe protocol, but I will say this one recommendation I have found helpful is if you have pets, these collars from Wondercide I believe do work as we have seen the tick pressure coming in on the dog lower to nearly nothing despite her activity in tick areas still being part of life. We change them more frequently than they suggest, because we find that as the strength dwindles, the pressure increases. So right now we are changing it every month and a half or so. I highly suggest that you have pets. We also place cedarwood oil on all of our dryer balls, use cedar laundry soap, cedar oil scented shampoos, and bar soap as well. Why? Because Cedar, Lavender, peppermint, and a few other scents are strongly disliked by ticks.
A Case for Boredom: I have been contemplating our discomfort with boredom that has developed in our kids and as individuals. How we struggle to sit and just be with ourselves, or be uncomfortable with not knowing what to do with ourselves. I heard somewhere that boredom is the beginning of creativity, and since then, I am committing to embracing boredom with less resistance and encouraging the same for the kids.
Currently Reading: John Muir’s Wilderness Essays: I have committed with all my driving to listening to more books instead of podcasts or other things. I have a list I am working through right now, and they are all nonfiction pieces. I am currently listening to John Muir, and wow, I am shocked by how things have changed in our country’s landscape, as well as some of his profound observations of how nature changes human thinking.
THE SUMMER GUIDE IS HERE! It is for our paid subscribers so if you aren’t one yet, you can get a discount below to join and get access to a new guide every season. I have big updates coming to the summer one so sign up now.
I have contemplated getting a landline for ourselves countless times just to get away from my cell phone - I haven’t taken the plunge since I’ve decided to make a dedicated spot for my cell when I am home but I can see with kids how it would be a good idea!