Play in the Leaves

It's Stick Season. Go play in the leaves! 

Whether you are jumping into piles of them, or playing in the brown hued shadows, take a moment to listen as they flutter down the street or rustle in a yard.

And remember to spy some tough little leaves that have withstood the first round of hard frosts, freezing rain and snow. Stick Season holds color in mysterious places. 

Holding Space for Rituals: Tea and Friends

Tea Time. Tea Ceremonies. Tea Sipping. Tea Sharing. Tea Caring. 

Hot liquids in the summer are not enticing. But come Stick Season when the days are cold and darkness takes over earlier and earlier, Tea Time comes back in full style. I LOVE Tea Time. 

My mom was kind enough to include me in an abbreviated Tea Time, or Green Tea Ceremony that the Chinese still use today when drinking Green Tea. Sacred Green Tea! 

To get the detailed steps of the Green Tea Ceremony, please click the link above. 

The Green Tea Ceremony does include preheating the little tea cups with hot water, soaking the Green Tea leaves in hot, but not boiling water in an unglazed clay pot, sniffing the Green Tea after it has been poured into your little tea cup three times (which is said to help improve and promote respiratory health), and then finally, sipping the tea in three gulps. 

It is a lovely, albeit time consuming way to drink tea. Make time for it. Sharing experiences like these are the lines inbetween...

Try it with friends. Try it with partners. Make a ritual of sharing warmth and healthy, hot liquids.  We are lucky enough to have a tea house in Burlington, VT that carries a variety of Green Teas. Have a Tea Ceremony with a friend at Dobra Tea. Celebrate Stick Season!

Hot and Cold

Wood stove sauna's are perfect for Stick Season! Or any sauna for that matter!

Thanks to Jaime and Kraig's Wedding at Sleepy Hallow, we had a women's celebration the night before "the big day, which included a wood stove sauna, a jump in a frigid pond, and a champagne toast to the soon to be bride.

The ingenious design of this sauna is that the opening of the wood stove was outside...so you could get it nice and hot without going in and out every time you added wood during the "prep" time.

The lack of electricity created warm, soft candle-light hues on the event...which was good if you were feeling a little bashful in your birthday suit! 

And finally after a near hypothermic dip in the pond, we made a Champagne toast to one of the most amazing females I know. Keep on keeping on, Jaime Sunshine! 

Celebrating Stick Season

Although I am a "duely" - duel citizen of Canada and the United States, moving to Virginia at age 5 left me clueless about the "far north."

Growing up I kept the family tradition of playing hockey...just field hockey instead of ice-hockey since southeastern Virginia isn't exactly known for snow or ice.

So, here I am, in northwestern Vermont, in the midst of my 5st Stick Season. The leaves are gone. Shades of gray and brown are the dominant colors on  the ground and horizon. It is cold, generally windy, and often "blah."

This week, my theme is Celebrating Stick Season. It's a time to focus on the small changes on the inside and out.

Hiking during Stick Season allows for awesome changes in a short elevation change. On this specific day, it was warm and sunny at the base of Camel's Hump, while the ghost frost and wind swept the Northern side of the last half mile to the summit. It was a breathtaking hike.

Hurray for the nuances and magic of seasons. Hurray for celebrating with friends. 

Hampton Beach, NH

It was time to go to the ocean.

It was time to: (no, I didn't write this in the sand, we came upon it during a walk)

After a three hour road trip with Miss Adrienne as chauffeur, we relaxed in the sun before devouring our picnic lunch. 

The shoulder seasons are great for exploring touristy places...without so many of the cheesy touristy attractions going on. 

Just the beach, the ocean, multiple walks, long talks, long silences...

Happiness. 

The blue sky and intense sun slowly turned the air cool as the blanket of clouds crawled into position. 

And still, we relaxed. 

Hampton Beach, we'll see you soon. Thank you Adrienne for making this happen.

Perspective

In order to see one, you must be able to see the other. 

Perspective. 

Many of us can't see the forest for the trees. And many of us forget that each tree is different, full of mystery. Each one has a story of its own...you just have to remember to listen in order to hear it, to ask to hear it, to be able to hear it. 

It's up to us to remember to see both priceless, one of a kind, and powerful perspectives.  

In my experience, getting stuck in one, leads to frustration, unhappiness and teeters on craziness. 

Let's all help each other to see both the bristly needles on a tree, as well as dancing horizons full of clouds and mountains, water and trees. 

Peace.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow...

One of the various reasons I love Burlington, VT:

One minute it is raining, another, it's so gorgeous out I have to remember to watch where I'm going as my gaze is fixated on the galloping clouds above. 

Outdoor seating with a view like this: 

Come and visit if you haven't!