Summer 2022 Video Update

Don and his wife Alison spent a lot of time with us filming in 2022. See the results on our YouTube channel

Hydrotherapy

Are you a swimmer? I love to swim. This isn't me by the way, it's my daughter, Michelle. At the present moment she is working in Jamaica and starts her mornings with a swim.

At the present moment I am in Northern Michigan and I am not starting my days off swimming but maybe I should. Have you ever participated in a polar plunge? This is a fundraiser for Special Olympics. Plungemi.com if you're interested.

Why would anyone want to jump in the lake in the winter? Or take a cold shower? At this time of year my body is sluggish. Digestion is slow, the sun isn't here, SADD starts to take over. I would be happy spending the next month under warm blankets, lounging on the couch and drinking hot tisanes while reading books or binging something on the TV.

But I won't.

It's time to start waking up from this winter slumber. Think of a cold shower or a dip in cold water as a shock to your system to get things inside moving again. I need to get moving again, I need to get moving again. Maybe I'll place sticky notes around the house that say "get moving again".

Or maybe I should look at flights to Jamaica and take morning swims with my daughter.

Self Assessment

I'm writing this during the first new moon of 2023, now at 1.7%. Not only is it that time of the year to focus on what goals I may have for the future, but it is also the moon time to set intentions for the upcoming month. Should I write them down? Sometimes I just think of them, and then maybe I remember them, or just forget when I get caught up with the activity of the full moon by the time it comes around.

I am currently enrolled in The Science & Art of Herbalism, and now I'm at the end of the course where I need to create my personal health profile. I started this home study course in February 2020. Even though I consider myself a home herbalist, I wanted to learn more. Who better to learn from than the Grandmother of Herbalism, Rosemary Gladstar. I was given three years to complete it. Not a problem I thought.

My husband and I took a vacation to Sedona, AZ for two weeks shortly after I signed up for the course. We stayed in a house on the river right downtown. We hiked the red rocks, and experienced both types of vortex's and never thought we would climb to the top of some of the mountains that we did. It was such a rejuvenating, and restful vacation, which we both needed. On a rainy day we stayed in, and I started the herbalism course with Lesson 1, The Nervous System. I calculated and wrote down a goal to have this course completed in two years. I figured that I could get some lessons done prior to the growing season, be able to grow more plants during the summer to study, then finish lessons the next winter, while wrapping up with plants the following year. Well, that was before I knew that a pandemic was starting to happen. Over the next 6 months or more, I didn't have all of the extra time that a lot of people had to stay home and find new activities or things to do. Not complaining, just had to work a lot and grow more plants. I also opened up the farm to visitors for classes and plant pick up. This was the first year I held the Herb Farmer Apprenticeship too. I added additional growing space, and couldn't keep up with orders. A lot of changes for all of us.

Back to the self assessment part. I can see that my 2020 goals that I wrote down didn't work, I can't remember what my 2021 or 2022 goals were, but I do know that for 2023, my physical strength and mental health are the most important areas for me to focus on. I turned 60 in 2022, and I feel really good, but I want to continue to feel good! Organize and simplify in all areas of my life will be the way to begin to tackle this. I have been cleaning and organizing my house for months! This is the first time I have been able to do this since 2020. Now that I can see through the clutter, and I have comfortable spaces for meditation, working, medicine making, food preparation, and creative spaces, I'm excited to be able to spend more time this year with PEOPLE. Yes, the farm and growing plants is still my full time gig, but taking time for fun, socializing, and ceremony are better than work, even if you enjoy your work wouldn't you agree?

For this upcoming month, it is my intention to reconnect with friends and spending some in person time with them. I also need to finish my course. I could come up with some elaborate plan for the year, but I have found that focusing on the present is where I would prefer to be. What are you up to this next moon cycle?