solstice – The Hermits' Rest

In the Woods, Always

When are you most happy?

I like this question, because it ties in with what fun I’ve been having lately, including last night. In the past year or so since we started camping and I got in the habit of going outside to do some of my meditation, it’s become very clear to me that the woods bring me great joy.

The old willow tree by the spring in our woods.

I’ve had so many fantastic experiences in the woods these past months, where I find myself all alone with my heart swelling and a huge smile on my face. Yesterday when I heard the huge murmuration taking flight, when I found a nightjar sitting in a tree, gazing at the huge oaks and elms, watching deer and armadillo grazing with no fear. Ah.

I loved watching this doe earlier this year

Last night I had another magical woodland experience. I attended a solstice party at a home in the middle of a dense woods. I felt so at peace there from all the good energy and loamy scents.

Just a glimpse into the nighttime woods.

We wandered beautifully designed paths through the trees near the house, where there was gurgling water and other animal and bird habitat.

This may look like mud, but it’s part of the gurgling water that keeps our woodland happy.

We enjoyed a huge bonfire and honored the return of the light by gazing at the moon surrounded by a halo. It was wonderful to be in the woods with friends, since I’m usually alone. By the time the evening was over, I was practically oozing contentment. I’m glad I got a nice big dose of forest energy. I left with much more holiday spirits than when I arrived.

Nothing better than a good solstice fire.

When are you most happy?

Yuletide blessings to all of you readers! Here are some bonus pictures for you!

Solstice Murmuration

The Winter Solstice in this hemisphere is upon us at last. I will be so glad to have more daylight in upcoming days. The fewer horse lessons in the dark, the better for me! To celebrate, I went out in the woods on my morning walk and received a wonderful surprise.

Lots of woodpecker holes in this dead tree.

In addition to recording my first purple finch on Merlin, I got to watch a huge flock of starlings, red-winged blackbirds, and brown cowbirds feeding in the lower pasture from which the cattle were just removed. Wow, was that spectacular!

I was so close to the murmuration (love that word) that the wings were almost deafening when they took off and swooped over to a different part of the pasture. I got a few short videos of them flying.

3 seconds

32 seconds

It was so much fun to feel like I was in the middle of the birds’ world. This longer video lets you hear what I hear many mornings when I go out to greet the birds. These are white-throated sparrows, white-crowned sparrows, Harris’s sparrows, and perhaps song sparrows, vesper sparrows, chickadees and tufted titmice. What a glorious cacophony! My friend Jen just told me it’s the “dawn chorus” in birding terms. Great name!

I’ve really enjoyed the birds lately. There was even a Canada goose or two today. And yesterday’s observations at Tarrin’s were a lot of fun, too, because she has slightly different sets of birds. I’m looking forward to going out of town for a couple of days soon to see what’s south of Austin. Thank goodness I have help with Apache for the next few days. Things at home may be getting back to what passes for normal.

Yuletide Musings

Hi everyone,

I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much lately, but there hasn’t been much going on except rain, mud, and cold. But what do you expect this time of year? I understand why ancient folks in the northern hemisphere lit lots of fires and tried to make things look cheery at the winter solstice. It can be bleak, and it has been for many of my friends and family. So, bright, warm hugs to all!

We have been focusing on just getting by every day, feeding animals who need to be fed and dealing with things that have broken. It’s fine, just not terribly bloggable.

The biggest excitement around here is those winter bird visitors. Two of my absolute favorites have been here for a couple of days, a pair of hooded merganser ducks. These are among the most unusual ducks, at least in appearance. They have excellent head feather arrangements that make them unmistakeable, even from a distance. That’s good, since they will not let me get close enough to take a good photo.

They are having a nice time hanging around with the egrets and catching the chilly little fish in the back pond.

This is a better photo (c) peterselmayr from iNaturalist.

As I was watching the ducks and shivering, I heard a distinctive cry, followed by much zooming and swooping. It was a common yellowlegs trying to decide whether to land in the pond or not. The decision was not to land, so all I got were some photographic blurs, which I confirmed since I know what they sound like and know they like it here in the winter. Enjoy my pond bird buddies:

As I write, I’m listening to the Ukrainian President speak. You know, that’s a brave and reasonable guy. And he reminds me things could be much worse, and we need to be sure our fellow citizens are all safe and secure. We need to be able to celebrate the seasons in our personal traditions and feel safe. After all, we live under the same sky. Peace. It can happen.

More Painting, but Mostly Indoors

The guys finished trimming out the shipping containers today. There were a few clouds in the sky, which helped.

Vlassic and Lee approved.

I, too, painted. Kathleen set up a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Foundation today, sponsored by our personal assistance service, Hearts, Homes, and Hands. For a donation (small) participants got to paint either a seashell or a dolphin.

This was the kind of stuff we’d hoped to do before the pandemic. There was a great mix of clients, caregivers and their families in attendance. All the paintings were fun and individualistic. I enjoyed doing mine, with all those techniques I learned painting my weird turtles.

Kathleen says we’re going to do more of these in the future. I love to have fun for a good cause. I’m proud of the team at HHH. Our new admin, Toni, is doing great. I’m enjoying being the silent partner and cheering our company on. It’s three years old now. Time flies when a virus attacks.

Meanwhile, I’m using up that leftover yarn.

I spent most of today working like crazy, which helped me not think about some family health scares. When not working, I crocheted. I think Drew understands that it was just too hot on this summer solstice to work together. I’ll try to get up early to work with him!