Bins Full
Oct 08, 2024
A Year of Abundance
I was just out standing on the edge of the forest chatting with Chris about the new wooden yurt we're building.
Ironing out the thousands of tiny details that come along with making a round house out of flat and square materials. As we were standing in this grove of towering sugar maples, laughing at how ridiculous it is to build a seven foot tall, 500lb circular "hobbit door" I was hit with a wave of gratitude.
Maybe it was with the golden leaves raining down in suspended animation. Or the sunshine showing its face in blue skies for the first time in 5 days. Or just the comradery of good people to spend the day working with.
Whatever it was, it felt good to be alive. Damn good.
This season has graced us with many gifts. Newborn lambs and snow white calves. Newborn babies (the human type) and new friends joining our team. And, a wildly abundant apple crop.
After a year of frozen apple blossoms and crop loss last year, the trees are now pushing back full force, as if to make up for lost time. Apples trees like to make apple seeds. And if they miss a year of seed making they return with gusto. An energy to live. An energy that surprises me every year I see it. To set seeds that will sing the songs that are yet to come.
The weather continues to be good to us and has given us incredible abundance to share with you this year. Sunlight and soil literally transformed into fruit and meat and tanks full of golden cider to preserve the harvest. Good people, working and sweating to make good things. Alchemy at its finest.
Not all years are like this. There will be down years and rough weather. Hard times and lean harvests ahead.
It reminds me of this piece of writing that I keep as a bit of a mantra in my life. That despite all the loss, past and future, life is already an awe inspiring altar. Maybe even because of the hardship.
But maybe standing out in the woods with Chris for a minute this afternoon, I was just remembering that we've already done it. We've already won the lottery. Just by being alive in this fascinating and wild world.
Whatever comes next is icing. Or gravy. Or rainbow sprinkles. (or whatever you like to end a good meal with)
Garrett and the Cider House Crew
