One month into Spring time, and already much has begun to change and grow. I’ve found myself eager to work and plant and move but remain aware of the importance of rest and stillness.

So far, Spring has shown us some valuable lessons:

Birdwatching

Saturday morning, I was using my Merlin Bird App during coffee time on the porch. So many warblers were singing in the woods, and I wondered aloud how to spot them. Do birders have tricks and skills to spotting the birds they can hear? Or do they just wait and hope to see one through their binoculars?

They probably have some tips, I haven’t looked into it yet, but on Saturday morning, I was aimlessly looking into the woods with my binoculars, no rhyme or reason to my direction, and a Blackburnian Warbler flew into my field of vision! He skittered around a bit, and then flew off.

It occurred to me then that presence and patience can create space for beauty and magic. The next opportunity, the next right thing, the next idea: who knows what could happen if I do my part (in this example, hold the binoculars and look through them) and then allow the Universe to do its part by just … waiting?

Feeding the Soil

One of Clive’s top priorities for as long as I’ve known him has been feeding the soil. Compost, wood chips, aeration, Compost Tea. If it fertilizes the soil, he’s into it. I’m so grateful for this passion of his because I understand if the soil is depleted, the vegetables and flowers won’t grow to their potential (if at all) without chemicals. And here on our homestead, we choose not to use those. Instead, our desire is to mimic in our garden what happens in nature as much as possible. Wood chips are our way of doing so.

While adding to the garden beds this week, it got me thinking about nutrition and care. We care for these garden beds the best way we know how, and they produce food and beauty for us and the critters of this land. Are we that much different than soil? Than a garden? Good, nutritious foods. Movement. Water. Sunlight. Laughter and connection with loved ones. Joy. If we care for ourselves in body, mind, and spirit, than we, too, can provide goodness for ourselves and others from a place of fullness, as opposed to a place of depletion. Which leads me to …

Line dancing!

Twenty years ago, when I was in college, my friends and I would drive two hours north, to Butler, to go line dancing at a place called Ghostriders, which is no longer there. Before you ask, no, I don’t know how to line dance. What I do know how to do is try to follow along and pick up some steps for the duration of a song. My entire life, I’ve wanted to dance and move freely with joy to music, but I’ve always felt like a 2×4 when attempting to dance. But not so with line dancing. If you tell me where to put my feet and when to turn, I can move along with the crowd and feel the rhythm of the song. But where is that an option around here? I didn’t even think there was a place to line dance, and have not done so in years (with the exception of 15 minutes at a music festival last year).

As if the Universe itself provided, last month Foggy Mountain Lodge hosted a line dancing night with instructor Karen Zima! I could not contain my excitement. With high hopes, Clive and I showed up, and I was not disappointed! It was exactly what my heart has been desiring for so long; a place to line dance. That night, I learned Karen hosts line dances all throughout the area, and she has a following of people who know how to do it! Oh my goodness. Prayers answered.

Hobbies are so important for me. I think for a long while now, I’ve avoided them because they didn’t “produce” anything: food or income, mostly. But for me, having something to be excited about that is not tied to profit or productivity is crucial to my well-being. Line dancing is a direct line to joy through music, movement, learning, and connection with others. Because I participate in that for myself, for the pure joy of it, I have already been showing up more wholeheartedly than in previous years. Gosh, am I excited about line dancing, excited to have something fun to do, just for the sake of fun.

So far, this Spring …

… has provided many gifts. There’s still a cold spell coming through, but the days are getting warmer and longer, the trees are slowly budding out, and we’re awakening to the new rhythms of this year. We’ve planted seeds in the ground and have seeded our intentions for ourselves and our life here on the homestead. Intentions of growth and joy and openness to expansion and possibility. Already, the rewards for accepting responsibility for these intentions have been great: seedlings, well-fed garden beds, laughter, love, and line dancing.