'Twas the first day in over 2 weeks that i didn't have a nap, and first night i was able to stay up past 10pm. This not having energy thing is so foreign - when thinking about a task, i actually do a quick inventory to see if i'll have enough energy to finish the job. In normal life energy just isn't a factor, it's just a matter of having enough time, and where the task falls on the priorities list. Is this getting tired and not having eternal stores of energy phenomenon what many people consider to be normal?
The energy i do have is going into winter preparation. I feel my body and soul naturally turning to stocking up for the cold season. Chopped wood today, preserved more fruit tonight, will build a front-porch rain shelter for the garage suite tomorrow. Just naturally feels like time to hunker down, do what's needed to keep my family warm and fed in the deep snows. Can't remember feeling this calling in the city; can't remember being so aware of the seasons in a survival way - it was more about what clothes we'd need and what tires on the car. Now I think about light (have lost a lot of morning and evening work hours), moisture (gotta get those fallen trees cut up and dried before they soak over the fall-winter), mud (time to re-seed the grass soon), animals (cows gonna need warmer shelter), garden (time to plant winter food crops and over-winter cover crops to regenerate the soil) and of course food (freezing, canning, pickling, dehydrating everything in sight).
This time last year i was blogging under the stars on chilly fall nights before returning to our tent at the ecovillage. The season meant cold, keeping our kids dry and warm in the tent, borrowing friends' freezer space to have something through the winter. This time around, the season is teaching us lessons about living on our own land through a full year's cycle. I just hope i can get back the energy i need to power through this important and immensely rewarding fall harvest and winter preparation time.
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I can relate a bit to this post. I have a list of canning and other preserving that needs to be done and I do the same mental checklist - what do I actually have enough time and energy for today? I try to knock off something every day, but some days I am reaching deep for the energy. Right now there is a basket full of pears from our tree, calling me to peel, slice, and cook down into butter. But Feast Of Fields calls today so I am moving it to the "to-do-tonight" list (or maybe the to-do-tomorrow-afternoon" list - I am a master of procrastination!)
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We're over in Parksville next weekend and I'm hoping to hit the Cowichan Valley on Sunday. If we make it I may just call Sarah and see if I can finally get a peak at this farm of yours!!
Keep well,
Bonnie