Time of Change- Rosh Hashana

Just Thinkin'

Paul and I just celebrated the Jewish High Holy Days with our beloved spiritual community in Toronto. The ‘Days of Awe’ were truly awesome as I focussed on those special gathering times and concentrated on prayer and introspection and holiness. It is a time to reconsider, re-settle and re-establish in anticipation for a year a head. It is a time of transition and adjustment. It is evidenced everywhere.

Full moon drumming

I notice it in the autumn moon as it has moved into a different place across the night sky. Shifting its way further north, in its fullness I need no lantern as I wonder outside. It is an unfamiliar stream of light for me, now shining on the back of our yurt. In the middle of the night the air is still cool, not cold, and the quiet of the woods fools me into believing it could actually be summer.

The morning brings change too. The Japanese maple tree on our neighbour’s drive has completely changed into a bright red, the leaves reacting to the coming cold. The fallen leaves create a colourful blanket on the bicycle path I ride each day.

The coffee brews and I am excited about the day! The potatoes in our garden need to be dug up. Potatoes don’t get ‘picked’ like other vegetables. They are like gold, hiding themselves under and between. I’m going to find them today in preparation for meals for the next few days.

A place of beauty

I am putting the garden to sleep. I pull finished plants and mix the soil with manure from the island horse farms. When I still lived in Toronto I learned how to ‘lasagne’ the garden by placing cardboard and newspaper over the entire ground. That allows it to decompose into the soil. Our garden on Whalley Road will benefit from that too.

Nature provides space for change. As I prepare for the winter months I notice the absence of birds and the increase of squirrel activity. We too are readying ourselves for the change of temperature and the coming of rain. “We can do this,” I think to myself.

The rains are pouring. It is our first autumn on Gabriola living in a yurt. How wonderful to have this beautiful structure to rest in. It’s warm, thanks to the blazing fire we maintain in the wood stove. We have no shortage of fine wood to contribute to the fire. And the round frame of our abode is solid and secure.

The rain pounds on the canvas. At times it is thunderous…a gentle thunder that reminds me how lucky we are to have this protection.

Feeling 'ready'

Sunday morning brings a calm to my life. Coffee, Yoga, chatting with friends and family. I am still connected to the outside world! And I reflect upon the strong connection I have with self. The change, for me, is noticeable.

The slugs occupy my toothbrush holder in our washing basin again. Spiders carefully construct their webs under our hand-made roofs, providing more protection than would have been available before. I carefully remove my sugar bowl from the shelf to avoid destroying the intricate web.

Change is good. The New Year comes upon me with wonder and a rejuvenated anticipation of what lies ahead. It certainly feels like a Shana Tova!