Our April newsletter is hot off the press! Here is an excerpt below – follow the link at the bottom to view the full version, including upcoming events, photos, interviews, and more. Want to subscribe? Fill out of the form on the right!
Two weeks ago I wrote this entry: It’s a beautiful sight today – a light dusting of snow on the eastern hills, layers of fog drifting in and out of the pines; a mystical backdrop behind the flowering cherry tree, smiling at me from outside the cabin. This is spring! The arrowleaf balasm, wonderous yellow flowers of joy, have been reaching their sunny faces to the sky. Carpets of delicate spring beauty flowers abide under the shade of towering firs; a few days ago I saw the first signs of the lupines emerging from their slumber. ~ Now, nearing the end of April we are having days in the 80s and it seems like winter’s mantle has been thrown off once again…
We are in the throes of spring energy – cleaning, revitalizing, planting, and growing. The hoop house is now the home of many vibrant seedlings, awaiting the go-ahead from nature for their final planting. The melting of winter’s snow has revealed fallen trees, fir and pine; dry sunny days find us gratefully processing and stacking wood, knowing it will provide much warmth for us and our guests come the colder months. We’ve been hanging new prayer flags, sewing new peace flags, re-stacking rock cairns that tumbled over the winter, and renewing the inside of the lodge for another magical summer season.
The air is filled with songs and buzzing, humming, and chirping. Many migratory songbirds have returned to their summer abodes; since the creek opened up, the frogs have held chorus by the pond – reveling in the seasonal rushing waters. Dawn and dusk are the hours of concert, the sounds soothing to the soul and enlivening to the spirit.
Talk about uplifting – the arrowleaf balsam is a sight to behold, adorning the hills with a golden hue. The sunshine they bring to us is a kind of inner luminescence, welling forth from the earth. Many medicinal plants are thriving in the warm weather – lomatium is covering the hillside next to the lodge; we have collected the spring buds from aspen and cottonwood to make the Balm of Gilead for sore muscles, aches and pains; juniper berries are ready for picking after many many frigid winter days and nights; first year mullein rosettes are ready to send up their flowering stalk; yarrow is easily found in most places on the property – always happy to help us with accidental cuts and scrapes, staunching the flow of blood and easing the sting; and sage – the noble and powerful aromatic, that cleanses and uplifts our spirits and surroundings. So much wild medicine is available right our our front door (and back door!), in the future newsletters we look forward to featuring more about our green neighbors and allies.
There are a lot of exciting events coming up this late spring and summer and we hope that you will join us here on the land!
To see the full version, follow this link: Skalitude | From the Pines – April 2016