Welcome back and thanks for joining me in celebrating the season of light. On the heel of my last post entitled, “Unplugging the Christmas Machine,” all about my desire to create a simpler yuletide, I want to share a few things we’ve been doing to slow down and smell the roses,…..
or rather the pine trees.
Last week was busy as per usual but on Wednesday, when we don’t have any after school activities, I picked the kids up at 2:30 pm and asked them if they wanted to go on an adventure. I knew it would have to be quick too since we had to pick Grace up from the high school at 3 pm, but my three youngest all perked up over the idea of a spontaneous excursion.
With excited eyes, the kids and I quickly drove to a large park in our area, however, at the entrance there was a sign warning of a bear sighting in the park. Do I take the kids and chance a visit with a sleepy bear I wondered?
We decided to risk it.
Our feet crunched on the gravel path as we ventured forward. Our lungs filled with the oxygen rich air. The sun was getting very low in the sky and in the 30 minutes we were there, the temperature dropped noticeably. As we walked briskly on the path, the children told me about their day with animated voices, laughing easily over the days events.
Why didn’t we do this more often I thought.
We could have continued on that path until we reached the look out over the lake but knowing Grace would be waiting for us, we turned around and headed back. It was halfway back that the kids spied piles of pine cones under one of the biggest pine trees in the park. Victoria, a natural artist, started talking about how cool it would be to make something with the pine cones. As we gathered a pile of them, choosing the biggest, most symmetrical cones, we talked about things we could do with them.
William remembered the gnome his cello teacher had given him made from a pine cone and he thought that would be fun to make. Kathryn and Victoria, always thinking of the welfare of animals, thought it would be great to spread the pine cones with peanut butter and roll them in bird seed to feed the many birds who winter over in our area. I was thinking about fragrant pine cones decorating our Christmas tree and table tops. Thankfully, I had a cloth bag in my pocket, which we quickly filled with our treasures.
Our time was up though and with a bulging bag we started running, taking turns carrying our “Canada bag” full of nature’s magic. Although I never said anything to the children, the whole time I was warily keeping watch for any signs of a bear. I casually drop the stick I had carried when we hit the red gate, signalling the parking lot ahead.
Whew!
Thankfully we never saw any signs of a bear and when we finally made it back to our car we carried with us a lovely late Autumn memory and a bag full of fall’s bounty.
(Above, William, Victoria and Kathryn showing their pine cone treasures…notice the bear warning on the gate)
That short foray into nature gave us all the energy we needed to get through the rest of our week. It was busy too with two music concerts. One at our children’s school and another at the Music school where our three youngest take lessons and are involved with the youth orchestra.
Then to herald in December, both William and Grace sang in their respective school choirs at our little communities outdoor Christmas light up event. It had been a hectic week but that thirty minutes in the woods mid week restored us and kept us going for the rest of the week too. Imagine how much energy we would have if we allowed nature to lay roots in our soul every day?
Between all of the week’s activities I started to decorate our house for the holidays. I will share a few of the projects with you in my upcoming posts but last week was all about pine cones. First, I soaked them in my large laundry room sink and then in batches, I dried them in the oven at 200 degrees F for a few hours. As they dried, they filled our house with the most intoxicating scent of pine.
Once dried, they opened up beautifully and were lovely and big. I sprinkled some cinnamon essential oils on the bulk of them and added them to the greenery I had collected from our yard the week before. (I saved some for the craft projects and bird cone feeders that the children want to make)
In addition to the pine cones, I dried some slices of orange and when both the pine cones and oranges were dried I had fun decorating our house with the greenery, pine cones, dried oranges and birch branches, from our dead birch tree at the bottom of our property.
Such simple things bring us the greatest joy and they don’t cost anything or take up much time to create. Also, being outside with those we love are the BEST winter memories!
Well, that is the “Pine Cone” portion of my post but when I was bundling up our little girls to play outside on the weekend, seeing their bright red gloves reminded me of an acronym for winter well being that I had read recently. I’ve altered it a bit.
GLOVES!
G stands for “gratitude.” Counting our blessings and realizing everything we need is already abundantly ours, is the corner stone to our sense of well being. I’ll never forget watching the movie, “The Shift,” with Dr. Wayne Dyer. As he rose in the wee hours of the morning to write, the first thing he would say was, “Thank you.” He was a strong spiritual mentor for me and now that he is gone, I like to continue greeting the morning with those precious two words. If you want to read more on the effects of gratitude on the brain click this link. And that reminds me of another shift in perspective Dr. Dyer left me and that was his quote, “change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change. ” Thank you Dr. D!
L stands for “love.” When we remember that we are connected to all things and people on this earth and each of us can make a difference by spreading love around, then we will start to feel a humming vibration of peace. At the end of last week, both my sister C and my best friend T, took time out of their busy lives to send me inspirational messages. C sent me several emails and a picture of a flock of swans swimming in the icy river below their house. Seeing them reminded me of gracefully moving with the flow of life. (All hope for a healthy planet is not lost C…thanks for reminding me of that)
Then a snail mail package (remember those?) arrived the same day from my dear friend T. She had updated me since we last saw one another on my birthday the month before but mostly the package was full of love.
Little did my sister C or T know that when they were reaching out to me that it would send ripples out into the world and keep me going too. I got through the week and we all had energy to give love to a stray cat who showed up on our door step. She won’t come in but she is grateful for the food we leave out for her. Love for all sentient beings changes the vibration on our earth. (p.s. our kids haven’t given up on the idea of her joining our family…or at least rigging up a warm place for her to sleep outside)
O stands for “organic.” This applies to everything in our life from food that comes as close to nature (without the use of toxins) to natural clothing. If we take steps in surrounding ourselves also with an organic lifestyle, we will find our spirit is restored. Something as simple as decorating our house with pine cones can be the seeds for our well being in an organic way.
V stands for “Vegetables.” Our mothers were wise when they told us to eat our veggies. We are always looking for the magic pill; to make us healthier, make us younger, give us more energy, give us glowing skin and hair. It’s really simple. I have a secret to tell you, “Eat your veggies.”
E stands for “Exercise.” Anything that gets your heart pumping and your blood flowing is great but the best kind of exercise is the kind that happens when you don’t realize you are doing it. So get out and take your dog for a run, ask a friend to join you cross country skiing, or head out with the kids and the toboggans once it snows. (Pick a steep hill so your hamstrings get a work out on the way back up.) Years ago, when I was a part time fitness instructor, I used to think that my daily exercise practise was my path to my spirit but in fact it was the feeling of well being that I would achieve when exercising that connected me to my soul energy. Our bodies crave that connection.
And the last letter in Gloves is S. S stands for “Sleep.” Most of us don’t get enough but we need it to restore and reset our energy so we can live our best life. At the end of day to help your body unwind, light a candle, have a bath, crawl into a comfy bed and allow your body to slow down. Turn off all electronics and tune in to the natural rhythm of your breath. In and out, in and out, allow it to bring peace at the end of your day. Quiet your mind. Say your prayers. Drift into a deep, restful sleep. This is the time of year for us to hibernate along with the bears.
And if that picture got you yawning and you think you might be ready for some sleep, I thought I would end this post with a link to a YouTube video that my oldest daughter Alyssa recently found for me/us. When she was a baby I used to play a tape with ocean waves, sea gulls and classical music. Everyday at nap time I would tell her, “settle down and take a rest, sometimes quiet time is best.” Then I would press play on her tape machine and she would drift off into a blissful slumber. She was always a good sleeper and I often think that tape inspired her to play the piano and also live near the ocean where she says she feels most at home. I have to agree.
So the next time you want some quiet time, grab a quilt and play this video.
The video is called, “The Musical Sea of Tranquility.” I hope it brings a piece of well being into your life this winter.
Thank you! for visiting with me today. A few of my upcoming posts will continue on the theme of celebrating the holiday season with simple ideas, reminding us all once again to slow down and nourish our body and our soul.
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope