dark night and dreams

/ barnraised / 13 Comments

 

Well the actual solstice came quietly at the barn. The pre-party however did not. Here at the “barn” we hosted our little homeschool community’s solstice yule party a bit early (due to everyone’s schedules and having a gorgeous full moon). Complete with bonfire!

About a week prior we all got together to make yule logs wrapped with wishes and intentions for the new year. One of our mom’s told a beautiful story-about how we need the dark as much as the light, the quiet as much as the fun, the sad as much as the joy and how the Universe balances and assures us that if we let go, it will be okay. She told it in such a lovely way that it felt just right for the kiddos but us parents felt the “heavy” as we contemplated this time of year. All the kids threw their yule logs into the fire in an unusually quiet moment towards the end of the wild child-ness. Each child lit a candle and walked the solstice/advent path upon leaving. For those of you familiar with this waldorf tradition, yes we did a path rather than the traditional spiral for several reasons. It was a nice transition though from the bonfire party to the quieting down, going within and carrying light into the dark night home.

Wishing you all sweet solstice dreams…

a simple moment of thanks

/ barnraised / 3 Comments

 

Gratitude for the week. Not because it’s Thanksgiving but because Thanksgiving reminded me to crawl out of my quiet shell. If I can find all of this buried on my phone camera in just this week or two, then I am willing to say what a blessed life this is underneath and above it all. Even tucked away in that metaphorical shell.

1.  the beauty of autumn, the waning light, the quiet retreating, the magic

2.  that beautiful girl, those sweet goats, Nancy Drew, the pleasure of a good book, a child that fully knows the pleasure of a good book shared with sweet goats in the fresh crisp air

3.  that moon that caused me to pull over on a side road and reminded me to breathe… even at the tail end of a long, long drive home from a horse show

4. baby pumpkins picked that didn’t have the time to mature because we planted WAY too late but taught us that we CAN do this. 2017…barnraised pumpkin patch…! I think they’re cute.

5.  oh, those horses

6.  the sweet friendships my daughter has… the fun of a sleepover and the quiet captured moment after sleep comes

7.  more good books, evening family holiday read-alouds by lantern light in a warm living room on a cold rainy night

8.  re-energizing our gratitude jar which became far too complacent in recent months, the joy of homeschooling, creativity and letting my girl know how grateful I am for her

9.  finding eggs in the coop still warm to my touch and then mixing them fresh into pancakes and pumpkin bread, thank you chickens -still producing even with these long chilly nights

10.  that moon again. takes my breath away.

11. speaking of that moon… a moonlight ride with my girl and our horses. saddled up under the super-moon, bundled up in warm clothing and wool socks, rode to our hearts content. I felt like a kid again, free under that super-charged moonlight.

12.  no words needed here, just read the words in the picture.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU….