All the flowers and buds are popping out quickly during the week of warmer weather we are having. I think they want to be sure to grasp the opportunity before it might snow again. I like seeing what comes in, because I forget where I planted things. Surprises all over the grounds. My grandmother magnolia tree is gloriously opulent in full bloom for two to three days before the next frost or late snow shower. I’ve learned to appreciate her gift while I can, even if very briefly.
Spring equinox brought beautiful spring weather—right on time. There are four swans in the lake. They stayed even through the below freezing weather we had for the last couple of weeks, so I’m hopeful that we’ll have a couple of swan families to watch this summer. The bird feeders outside my tiny house office windows are hosting the change of seasons as different species of birds begin to arrive. I’ll put out some wool fleece for nest making soon.
Every few years, we get a gift of a mild winter to help us regroup, cozy up, and go inward. I love spending time in the woods with Stitch. We were blessed with a flight of sandhill cranes with their wonderful calling that my neighbor says sounds like aliens landing. And fog makes the woods mysterious and otherworldly. Great time to connect with the Earth.
December is a magical month with many reasons to celebrate. Regardless of your spiritual faith, the return of the light and longer days always seems to trigger new beginnings in our lives. For me, it is a very sparkly time—I enjoy seeing the miniature rainbows on snowflakes and the glitter of the snow in the light of the barn. Clear, bitter cold makes the moon and stars shine brighter and all my senses are alert. Lights everywhere in celebration of the holidays help us all to feel lighter and more joyful. I put fairy lights everywhere this year.
November is a month to focus on gratitude. I think since the pandemic began, gratitude is always with me. I am especially grateful for my animal friends—Stitch, Charlie and Lester. Charlie and Lester are getting on in years and Lester’s sight has gone. Consequently, they spend limited time at the barn and more time nowadays acclimating to being in the house. They’ve done amazingly well for a couple of cats that used to be relatively feral.
My favorite time of year is autumn. In Michigan, so many beautiful colors—I love to watch the becoming, the gradual turn of the leaves that begins at the tips of branches and moves inward to the center. Or those trees that are green one day and bright yellow the next and seem to change overnight, like putting on a different dress.
The Fall Equinox is upon us. As summer unravels, the colors begin to change. The swan family I’ve been watching are getting ready to depart. The cygnets are now as large as the adults and pure white. Egrets and Blue Heron join them each morning. Changes being made very subtly as the color palette shifts, especially when the leaves begin to turn. Lots of winterizing to be done on the farm to make sure the fencing will withstand winter.
An introvert at heart, I am sometimes challenged with visibility with regard to doing my work as a communicator and as a shamanic practitioner. I mean, how does one explain those actions without sounding weird? They used to burn people at the stake for things like that!
I approach my work very practically and in a down-to-earth manner without a lot of drama or woo woo. My clients can trust my authentic communication with their beloved animals or with their own spirits, and miracles happen all the time that no one else knows about.
It takes a lot to run the business end of things. This year, I’ve had some great support in becoming more visible to the world. I’d like to give a shout out to some of this support, and recommend it to those of you who are in ventures where you would like to become more visible, and you need some ideas from patient, compassionate, good people.
Whew! With all the rain and hot weather, we are being overcome with plant life, not all of it where we want it. We never knew how much grass three horses ate until we had to mow the pastures in their absence! The good news is that flowers, herbs and veggies are bursting at the seams. We set up our outdoor “room” in the vine house for dining and chilling at end of day, so we can enjoy the peace of the farm.
Over the years, whenever something began showing up in my work with clients, I always looked for more information to address the issue in a knowledgeable, grounded way. That's how I got into animal communication, that’s also what brought me to Betsy Bergstrom, an expert who has developed unique shamanic training in psychopomp*, curse unraveling and compassionate depossession.
Spring has FINALLY sprung! As is typical in Michigan, we get teased with one nice day at 55 degrees, then several days of cold, wet rain/snow mix with nighttime temps below freezing. Typically, we have cloud cover from October until March, so ANY sunshine is like a miracle. No coats and shorts on some people at 65 degrees!
I spent the past two weeks in Perú, far from the snow and cold of home. While I usually have a small group with me, this trip was just for me, reconnecting with friends and family— I have two goddaughters, Hilayne, 27, whom I have known since she was 7, and Urpi, who is an exuberant 7 year old—the photo is a day of visitation with her family in the high Andes. (I’m the one underneath the pile of kids.) It was also an opportunity to reconnect with the beautiful Andes mountains and the amazing flora and fauna of the Peruvian summer. All photos used in this newsletter edition are from the trip.
Snow days are special. They release us from our usual obligations and force us to slow down, maybe even take a break from our busy lives. I look forward to them, enjoying the peace, stillness and beauty of everything covered in snow. As I write this, we anticipate we’ll get to 10” of snow (drifting 14”) by tomorrow. I feel very cozy inside.
I love winter, and as long as the sun is shining, I don’t care how cold it gets—mostly. We’ve had a taste of below zero temperatures this year, so the barn cats, Charlie and Lester, were brought into the laundry room along with their little house with heated floor. They’ve been really good sports about it. Both seniors, their arthritis is bad in cold, damp weather, so they like not having the pain. And WE like not having to make the 800 yard trip to the barn on the icy driveway, so everyone wins.
We just had our first big snow, about two inches. Beautiful. The rainbow appeared after a shower of sleet, followed by the snow. K’i, our youngest horse, always used to act like it was the first time she had ever seen snow, when the barn door was pulled open to reveal the white stuff. I loved the look of wonder on her face.
Stitch eats the snow as he runs to retrieve his ball. What a clown! He will be a year and a half old in December, and is still such a puppy! He gives us so much joy with his antics.
With cooler weather arriving, we’re finally able to do the gardening without being eaten alive. Preparing to winterize the trees and the tiny house—ladybugs have taken over! We dehydrated apple slices—LOTS of them, and will start on the pears soon. I’m going to plant garlic for the first time this year—can hardly wait to see what happens.
As we feel autumn in the cool air, it is bittersweet. The horses loved the shift, running, playing, and embodying the crispness and relief from the heat. I miss their seasonal energy, finding joy in the memories.
I love fall colors. Now, so many blooms—asters, goldenrod, some phlox fooled by the cooler nights, thistles’ furry heads of brilliant purple. How wonderful to watch the color pallette change across seasons. Time to plant bulbs at the tiny house.
