Gathering the Harvest for Winter

Hello Dear Ones!

In our home, we’ve been talking about what the animals are doing outside: preparing for winter.  The animals have been collecting soft fibers for making cozy homes, and gathering food to fill hungry bellies throughout the winter. They have been busy for some time now, preparing for their own wellbeing.

As we talk about this at home, I realize that we are actually just the same, at least those of us who live in climates with winter. We are wired to gather, to collect, to tidy and organize… all in preparation for the cold and dark months ahead. We are wired to tend ourselves, our kin, and to prepare our homes.  I can feel this like a living heartbeat within me.  I am hardwired for this, just as I am hardwired for growing food in the soil during the warm months.

Here at home, we have been busy too.  All summer we made pesto, storing it in glass jars with careful labels.  We picked and froze quarts of berries. We have roasted and jarred tomatoes, and we made batches of spicy tomato jam.  Last weekend we went apple picking, and now have bags of apples in storage.  In our basement we have a chest freezer filled with food from the harvest on our land, filled with locally raised chickens. We often order beautiful salmon from Alaska to add to this frozen collection.  We also have a cabinet next to the freezer, filled with the apples, garlic and potatoes from our garden, and onions from my mother.  And.  Oh my gosh. And we have jars and jars of culinary and medicinal herbs that I slowly collected and dried all summer. In our mudroom we have a variety of corn that is used to make popcorn (our first somewhat successful foray into growing corn). It is hanging, drying, before we collect the kernels into jars.

My mother taught me to split wood this summer.  As you probably remember, living by the warmth of our woodstove is central to our wintertime experience. Having a full woodshed is like gold.  It is true wealth.  In past years I have had others split the wood for me. This year Mom and I are splitting it ourselves. I have come to find wood-splitting beyond fulfilling.  It’s a “high” unlike anything else.  It’s a time to attune to oneself, to the elements around, and to deeply read the wood.  It’s a time of raw personal power, and great satisfaction when the wood splits like magic in front of you.

We’ve now got the fire wood beautifully stacked in the woodshed, and it’s also stacked on our porch ready to burn. We found a fallen birch tree, and spent an afternoon collecting baskets of kindling for starting our fires.

So- we’ve been just like the squirrels and chipmunks and bears…. Preparing for winter.  And my gosh it feels so good.

I remember, in the years of living in Alaska, I felt this deep hard-wired pull to stock up. In those days, I had a small garden, and an even smaller harvest. I had a furnace, no woodstove.  I did have access to INCREDIBLE seafood, and I delighted in filleting and smoking local salmon. At that time, salmon was the gold, the true wealth in my freezer. And.  Honestly, Costco was a method for stocking up.  Aside from what is available locally, in forests, in the sea, and from the land… stocking up at the grocery store counts too.

All of this readying is truly a love-letter to yourself. It is a listening to (and honoring of) your true wiring.  Your body and soul are saying:

Take care of yourself and your kin.  Prepare yourself well. 

Think ahead of the needs to come.  Love yourself through preparation.

I wonder how this wiring lives within you.  My examples may or may not resonate with you. That’s fine. The question is:  What does resonate with you? What does your wiring beckon you to do now, as you prepare for the winter? Some of you may already be in winter.  There was snow in Alaska last week.  Many of you are living in winter now.  What kind of pull are you feeling to take care of yourself in this season? How can you respond to it in ways that are appealing and possible given the life you are leading today?

Think about this for your own life. Stocking up feeds us primally, and it adds a particularly meaningful depth to life.  And a certain calm. Try it and see. You might just feel deeply fulfilled.

In deep gratitude for everything in this sweet life,

Rebecca

* Disclaimer: This likely goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: Everything I write is for educational purposes only. Nothing I write or share can be deemed diagnostic or medical advice. Nothing I write or share can replace your own healthcare providers or your own internal knowing and wisdom. Period. Please seek tailored medical care and advice via your skilled healthcare team whenever you need it.