A Winter's Night

Oh, what a magical night! The air is perfectly still as tiny snowflakes drift silently to the ground and a hush has fallen over the woods surrounding the property. The soulful cry of a lone coyote reverberates through the darkened timberland from the north end of the pond. Joining in from the northeast, a Great Horned Owl begins calling and yet another answers faintly, some distance away. As if that wasn’t enough to fill my heart, somewhere close by in the snow-covered branches of the pine trees comes the soft trilling of a Screech Owl. All of Mother Nature is awake and reveling in the flawless beauty of a winter’s night.

We’re nearing the end of Winter Solstice now and I’m surprised to find that I’m rather reluctant to let it go. Normally, winter can’t go by fast enough, but surprisingly, this year I’ve found a sort of tranquility and sense of relief in the slowing down and I’ve luxuriated in the implied permission to hibernate.

Of course, this may well have a lot to do with the fact that I’m an introvert. It may also be influenced by the paltry amount of snow we’ve had to deal with, and surely some of my current pleasure with this season comes from the lack of demands from the garden …although I’m already thinking about what plants I’d like to grow from seed and when I’ll start them.

Lest you think of me as a complete sloth, I have been working quietly behind the scenes in my art business. I’ve recently added two collections to the online shop… Spiral Medicine and Spirit Messenger pendants… which can be found here.

I also had fun last weekend making two small journals with sketch paper inside. I belong to The Handmade Book Club where I get to enjoy playing with mixed media techniques and making handmade journals that are just for fun or for gifting. These covers are made with paper I decorated in other classes.. the turquoise is dyed paper, the other is Gelli printed. It’s extremely gratifying to make things just for the fun of it.

The Spring solstice will be upon us soon enough… just a little over three short weeks away… and friends have already noted spring bulbs beginning to appear. The chipmunks have emerged from their burrows and Red-winged Blackbirds and Yellow-rumped Warblers are frequenting the feeders. For now, I’m going to continue to enjoy this slower pace, savor these last few weeks of “official” winter and slip happily back into my burrow.