Seasons And Letting Go

 (Fire Update:  No specific update.  The fire has continued to grow but again, mostly in the opposite direction.  An unseasonable rain is expected this weekend, which is actually about one month early from what we usually see.  There is some hope that this will be significant enough to be a real boon to the fire fighting attempt).

Friend of this blog Leigh Tate at Five Acres and Dream has written eloquently and often about the traditional concept of the Agricultural Year - different than our traditional Western Julian Calendar or even the Asian Lunar Calendar - that follows the seasons rather than the dates on the calendar (her most recent writing on the subject is here).  To anyone that follows a more "traditional" lifestyle, there is a lot of sense to this - after all, life advances at the speed of Nature and its seasons, not the other way around.  This was a concept that Masanobu Fukuoka was also a great proponent of in his book One Straw Revolution - in fact, he has designed a whole calendar which allowed one to eat local foods all year based on their ripening and availability.

When I had commented on Leigh's post last week, I had noted that in New Home, it did not at all feel like Autumn was coming - it was still hot and humid.  This week, I am not so sure.

The gauging of seasons in Old Home and At The Ranch is somewhat more straightforward: Summer slowly winds down in September, followed by a brief return (usually) right at the end of September.  October cools and if one does not have one's garden in by the end of October, it is a gamble if one can get it in at all, as the rains start in October and the ground will rapidly become too wet.  From there, it is typically wet and cold with rain/snow through the end of February to early March.

Here in New Home, our Summer just sort of lingers - or the heat does, anyway - until sometime in late October or early November, at which point we will get the most glorious sort of enjoyable weather - for about two weeks.  Then, we roll right on into either the Arctic or mild weather that makes us the envy of everyone North of us.  That said, my garden will need to be ready about the same time, although certain things - sweet potatoes, for example - may well be harvested through the end of November or until the killing frost returns.

The odd thing this year - and the reason that Leigh's post gave me more than my usual pause and agreement - is that it feels like my own seasons are changing as well.

Part of it is the way of life, I suppose:  Nighean Gheal, the oldest, is about 3 weeks away from actually starting her adult life in The Big Big City - the sort of start where visits home are just that - visits - not longer stays.  Nighean Bhan will finish her college degree and work while applying to graduate school.  Nighean Dhonn is in her senior year of high school; next year she will likely be away as well.  

It is not quite an empty next, but it is clearing out quickly.

But even for myself, I can feel the change.

It is not a physical thing (well, mostly not - although my body has its own set of seemingly new complaints) as it is a mental thing.  My interest in a great many issues has waned in the last few years, much more quickly than I had anticipated.  The need to "be out" is almost completely gone, although the few times I do it makes it all the more enjoyable.  I find myself much preparing for a Winter that I do not quite understand what it will look like, other than the sense that I will come out on the other side of it into Spring.

It is odd, this almost sudden letting go of things into the wind where before they were clung to so tightly.  Perhaps in some small way, this is what the trees feel when they cast their leaves away:  no pain or regret, just a gentle release knowing that Spring is coming.