The Autumn World Shimmers in Gold
Inside of us, there’s a continual autumn. Our leaves fall and are blown out over the water. ~ Rumi
This morning I opened the door to greet the day and could hear a symphony of birds. This is the time of year where they make their way south. They had chosen our field to rest in for a while. I didn't get any pictures, sometimes I just get swept up in the moment and needs to soak it all in - no distractions.
We've been working hard in a pre-winter frenzy. Once the snow falls, life changes markedly on our homestead. There's a lot to be done before this happens. The kind of work I am doing allows for a lot of time to reflect and think. There really aren't any distractions. Preserving food, gathering and stacking firewood, cleaning up the yard, sorting seeds and all of those pre-winter tasks don't require a great deal of focus for us. We often find ourselves in a productive, silent meditation of sorts. With all this meditation under my belt I should be a lot wiser than I am! :)
I am learning to stop and take time for myself each day to stretch, to soak in the shimmering golden leaves and changing season. It is quite beautiful right now. Here's what our little corner of the world looks like.
Firewood! We've got five cords of wood stacked and there is more fallen wood we need to cut up and drag from the forest. Living in a cold climate takes up a lot of resources just to stay warm and alive.
Mischa patrolling the front yard. We've had some moose come through the yard sending Mischa into a frenzy. I wish I had photos of them but she always barks and scares them away.
The cabin from the road. The trees in the front of the house are all quite young. One corner of our land had been completely cleared and the rest is all natural forest. An evergreen plantation has been planted to re-forest a good portion of this front corner so eventually the cabin will be completely hidden from the road.
There is a pet cemetery right across the road from our house. It is in the middle of nowhere and such a strange location.
A view of Woodstock, New Brunswick our nearest town. This is the Saint John River that runs through the province.
Driving home to our house. New Brunswick is mostly wooded and a lot of small communities are scattered everywhere. This is quite a common scene as you drive though the province.
I think this is the prettiest time of year. It is such a delight to see this every day.
Well, I am going to get back to those apples, we are making apple cider this morning along with wine and vinegar.
Building a greener, more beautiful world one seed at a time.
Homesteading | Gardening | Frugal Living | Preserving Food| From Scratch
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Beautiful!!
I love autumn! One of the things I miss most about living up north is the cool, crisp autumn days and the beautiful foliage. :)
Thanks @squishysquid! It really is such a lovely time of year.
this was such a beautiful post dear walkerland! you enraptured my heart from the first paragraph. your words reminded me of a mary oliver poem... waking early and walking, being kept up in the moment, no space to think about taking photos. ah <3 moments that fill us up.
i cannot believe you need 5 cords of wood! wow!! you must have a cold, long winter ahead... no wonder you're working so hard and diligently to get it all settled so you can just rest and enjoy the winter months ... and dream and reflect and soak up all that wisdom ;) this was lovely and i'm happy to see more of where you live! that is a crazy location for a pet cemetery?! lol! XOXO
Of course you would understand where I was coming from with this! I have not read Mary Oliver but it sounds like I should. I always love when you mention an author because you've got excellent taste and I am always enriched in some way when I read a book you've mentioned. I hope to get a stack of books from the library and settle in for some R&R once we've finished all this work.
aah, 6 cords actually! My husband just corrected me. We've still got a massive pile to stack but it is pouring rain. We are running out of places to stack it all. It is such a lot of wood and when you think of all the people that need heating - it is quite mind boggling to think of all the resources we consume just for heat. Last year was really bad. We had a super long and cold winter and ran out of wood. We were burning wet wood that we'd scrounged up. Hopefully we wont need all of this wood but at least we wont be worrying. xx
We have been out twice in the last week, on long drives and I have been reveling in the gorgeous light! I have special slides taken by my grand aunt in the late 50's and early 60's that are just stunning, and I am realizing this is the kind of light she sought out. It's just such a delight to the senses when the weather is nice and the sunlight is perfect. :))