Greetings! With warm and open hearts, we reach out to you during this time of long dark nights. We send you Winter greetings with a deep trust that the light will come again.
One of the most potent experiences of the Vision Fast is the waiting just moments before the first light of day appears over the horizon. Fasters are encouraged to stay up all night on the final day of their solo time, so they can see the sun rise and take in the nourishing light, warmth and satisfaction of a new day. The long days of struggle and discomfort come to an end and in the light of morning with a sense of triumph, fasters return to food, comfort and the warm embrace of friends.
Many of us have suffered greatly over the last several months. Much has been lost and we have been brought to the edges of our resilience. The pandemic has been an initiation of sorts. And, like any initiatory experience, its end will bring with it lessons and insights. Let us find ways of sharing what we are learning from the uncertainty, the isolation, and the loss.
As we cross into Winter, may the Solstice bring hope and optimism that better times are ahead. May the increasing light reveal to you the wonder of the world we live in. There is so much waiting for us if we can just find our way to it. Even in the midst of suffering the natural beauty around us can inspire wonder, awe and gratitude. May you be blessed by time out on the land to walk, sit or rest in the embrace of our Mother Earth.
We wish you continued health and happiness throughout the Winter season.
With deep appreciation,
The Guides of Earthways LLC
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Betwixt and Between
Betwixt and between: "Neither one thing, nor another."
So much in-between:
Wintertime is upon us: it's neither 2020, at least not for much longer; nor 2021, at least not yet.
The presidential transition: neither this president, not for much longer anyway; nor the next.
Another COVID lockdown: not the end of the scourge, and though a promised end in sight, not for months to come.
A big EarthWays transition: no longer who we were a year or two ago, but not quite yet into our "new way".
So much in-between and, therefore, so much uncertainty. Winter during a pandemic? The Biden presidency? Outdoor gatherings again possible? The new shape and schedule and website that will come out of EarthWays' dawning new vision?
We at EarthWays have decided to turn into all of this uncertainty-full on.
Winter is usually an off-season for us, with few if any programs. But this year we're planning to use this dark, quiet time to dream a new website, dream a new 2021 schedule of programs, dream a new relationship between ourselves and our community. In our next newsletter - around the Spring Equinox - we hope to offer a major update for you all, our community.
Watch for it!
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This is the solstice, the still point
of the sun, its cusp and midnight,
the year's threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go of and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath, the door
of a vanished house left ajar.
- Margaret Atwood
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With Fewer than 2,000 Butterflies Counted So Far, Western Monarch Takes an Astonishing Step Closer to Extinction
Update, Dec. 15, 2020: The US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that after a four-year assessment it has found the monarch butterfly deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act, but that listing is not a priority right now. The monarchs will not receive any protection for the moment, and the agency will review the decision again next year. "We must focus resources on our higher-priority listing actions," USFWS Director Aurelia Skipwith said in a press release.
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Recommended Reading
Migrations
by Charlotte McConaghy
Leaving behind everything but her research gear, Franny Stone arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny's history begins to unspool-a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime-it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds. When Franny's dark secrets catch up with her, how much is she willing to risk for one more chance at redemption?
Epic and intimate, heartbreaking and galvanizing, Charlotte McConaghy's Migrations is an ode to a disappearing world and a breathtaking page-turner about the possibility of hope against all odds.
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"Kiss the Ground" Tackles Climate Change in Hopeful, Must-Watch Documentary
Narrated and featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground is an inspiring and groundbreaking film that reveals the first viable solution to our climate crisis.
Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world's soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth's climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle.
This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible - to solve humanity's greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future.
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How We Survive Winter
Dec. 20, 2020 in New York Times
For generations, as the days darkened and the blizzards came, the Anishinaabe people warned of the Windigo.
He is the monster of winter, dripping with ice and white with snow, and he is starving, said Robin Wall Kimmerer, a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, as she remembered the story of her ancestors. He is a human turned cannibal. His hunger is never satiated, and it endangers everyone around him. He thinks only of himself.
In winter, a time of scarcity, she went on, he is a cautionary tale to remember the good of the community, beyond the self.
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Light
by Rabindrath Tagore
Light, my light, the world-filling light,
the eye-kissing light,
heart-sweetening light!
Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the center of my life;
the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love;
the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.
The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light.
Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.
The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling,
and it scatters gems in profusion.
Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling,
and gladness without measure.
The heaven's river has drowned its banks
and the flood of joy is abroad.
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