Candles are Back

Candles. Unless it's cold and dark outside, candles don't glow their full vigor. As Stick Season shows it's grey face, I excitedly pull out the candles, finger the dust off the wax, and find the matches. 

If you haven't pulled the candles out, it's time. Past time. I have to admit that every morning as I get dressed in the semi-dark, I light a candle and head down stairs. It might not be light outside yet, but that warm glow does amazing things to my psyche...it's as if I am simulating a fake sunrise in my own living room. Oh, candles! 

Let their glow shed the way for the lightness and coziness of winter snow to come. Hurray for Candle Season! 

Car Prep for Snow Season

Prepping the car for Snow Season. Now, some of you might get frustrated or annoyed or bothered by the cumbersome transformation of your summer car to your winter car...putting on your snow tires, winter windshield wipers, antifreeze, checking the fluids, making sure the heat is up to par and the adequate scrapers are at the ready. Well, find a sunny day, and I have to admit I love the process. 

This year, I turned my '95 Subaru into a Subarari. That's right, the buffer came out and I gave new life to those yellow, pathetic lights that barely spewed any light on the road.  

Stick Season. It's perfect for tinkering, home and car improvement projects outside, and yard work (aka raking leaves or putting your garden to bed). Go ahead and enjoy it! Why not? 

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.