The cold starkness of winter has arrived far too early for me. My cuddle duds were pulled out of storage in October, and on the days I resist wearing them, find myself standing at the bus stop with goosebumps of regret. When dark and cold descend quickly, I am caught off guard. At first I … Continue reading When Dark and Cold Descend
I love the night sky, especially as we move into the darker months of the year. Constellations, planets, comets; I watch with great awe. Every evening during the cold months, Orion, with dog Sirius at his heels, stands tall in the back yard. Polaris hovers in place, never leaving the side of the Big Dipper. … Continue reading Patterns of the Sky
The match was struck, the candles lit. I rolled out my mat and settled my rather stiff morning body onto the cushion. Headphones on, the music slid through the tired spaces in my brain and I took a deep breathe. As if joining in, various members of the fur family usually take their places around … Continue reading Gratitude and the Cat Food
Recently I was reading an article by Pamela Gayle White called How to Care for Others (Without Exploding into a Thousand Bits). You can read it here: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/burnout/. The title alone caught both my eye and my heart. At some time in life, most of us fall into the category of "care-giver." Whether it is … Continue reading What is Burnout Anyway?
Fall is upon us: cool evenings, changing leaf colors...the fragrance of spent leaves waft up from our path touching our soul. To acknowledge this autumnal threshold and to fend off crisp nights, we light a fire, some big, others small and gather round. Encircling a fire is a favorite practice of fall. The other evening … Continue reading Putting Fires to Bed
The holiday weekend plan was full of guests, food, and events with anticipation of high step numbers on the fitness tracker. Then everything cancelled. Everything. Guests from the south stayed on the sandy shores of their home, sandbagging in defense of Hurricane Dorian. Here in the North, we went from a packed schedule to four … Continue reading Summer Rains and Hurricanes…
Minnesota's glorious North Shore. A gift known by those of us who are blessed to live in this area, and often a hidden gem to those who live elsewhere. Mother Superior is powerful, nurturing and beautiful. And, surprising. She can go from calm to powerful, seemingly peaceful to fitful in a relatively short amount of … Continue reading I Met a Crayfish Along the Way
The fireflies were dancing in the garden last night. This morning the chipmunks stuff their cheeks with seed, the hummer fills his belly with bee balm and hosta nectar, baby birds ravish the berry bushes in search of sweets and worms. The new sun warms the back of my neck; the humidity sits in the … Continue reading Love and Fear
Sometimes the most amazing things happen in the middle of the darkness. Early one morning, stumbling my way to the sliding glass door to let the cat out, I saw the moving shadows in the yard. They moved with grace, beauty and gentleness. Serenity, peace and watchfulness guarded them. Animals in natural environments react to … Continue reading The Realm of the Dark
Earlier this spring, during one of the many storms that passed over our home, a tree came down. It was mature; for me the worse ones to fall. It was actually part of a triad that sat on the bank of our creek, and when my daughter was small it was lovingly named "The Pooh … Continue reading A Bridge of Brokenness
Andrea Tatley 