On October 1st, I posted a photo much like these. October is full of mornings when we can catch a few minutes of absolute magic. The opportunity to catch it lasts a few short minutes. Look away and it’s gone. As the sun rises over the ridge to our east, the sunlight shines on the hills on the ridge on our west, causing other-worldly color and light.
On the way down the hill, cloudy days make the golden leaves left hanging on the trees dazzle. The wind sails the russet leaves across the road and into funnels along the edges of the ditches. The evergreens stand bold next to the bare tree branches and the brilliant beeches and tawny oaks. The ferns are bent on their stems, tucked into the underbrush. Milkweed tassels float until they are caught on barbed wire strung along pasture lines. Squirrel and bird nests can be spotted up in the bare branches, silhouetted against the sky.
Fog settles into the valleys and sometimes sweeps past our house on currents that swirl around the apple orchard. Blessed rain returns to the land and we put on raincoats as if they are sacred garments. The wind picks up and howls, making the door on the woodshed bang if someone forgets to latch it. The world becomes luminous. There are portals everywhere…between now and then, between here and there.
I pull a Tarot card for Samhain and am delighted for what it stirs in me. Something I’ve felt a bit more urgency about lately. Confirmation of a renewed direction.
And I remember loved ones. I say aloud, “To those who came before me. I see you. I honor you. I carry your strength.”
And I remember my dad, who loved Halloween most of all. And I listen to Night on Bald Mountain in his honor.
Treasures to share…
For hope. Check out the 2025 MacArthur Fellows, here.
For courage. Check out a fellow Earlhamite doing good things in Vermont that spills into the wider world, here.
For inspiration. I finally splurged on Anna Brones’ Advent Calendar, 24 Days of Making, Doing, and Being. You can see one here.
For a sweet and quick read (recommended by blog reader and friend Stacy). Patchwork, a sewist’s diary, by Maddie Ballard, here.
For clever outwitting. Read about Louise Penny and a certain Vermont library’s collaboration, here.
About my commonplace book. I purchased mine at a small indie art supply store in Middlebury, VT. Sparrow Art Supply sells bullet journals made by Leuchtturm. BUT SERIOUSLY, any notebook will do, even a deck of index cards. Keep it simple and fun.
For Building community here at sewandsowlife. A few readers left a quote or two in the comments on my last post. What a delightful way to share inspiration. Please do leave a quote or two this time around as well. It would be such fun to see what others find useful and helpful in navigating these tough times. Such a simple way for even the shyest of readers to hop in! Drop a note, too, if you marched in a “no kings” event. How did it feel?
As ever, I send love, light and hope to you, dearest readers.
Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
:-)