.....harvest

Yogis,
Each morning I walk out the front door, and each morning there is a little pile of dirt next to the potted plant on the steps. I sweep it up and scoop it back into the planter. I can barely see the walnut that has been buried there.

The flagstone path leading to the driveway is littered with acorns from the old oak above. They crunch as I walk. I startle the mother deer and her two little ones resting in the front grass. I imagine they ate so many nuts overnight that they have an acorn hangover and had decided it was easier to sleep where they were then to stagger home.

Chipmunks scurry across the yard with cheeks filled. Oblivious to my footsteps as their focus has shifted to food storage. Collect and unload. Collect and unload. Newly flocking birds land in the trees creating a raucous as they feast. They all know.

It is harvest season. Seeds, fruits, nuts.  A bounty literally falling on us from above.

My garden knows it too. The herbs are experiencing their last blast of growth and asking to be used. This week I will make my herbed salts with the now dense sage and aromatic rosemary. It’s time to dry some oregano and put thyme in vinegar. I take seeds from the drying flowers and scatter them in other parts of the yard.

Using this time of harvest to prepare for winter.

My CSA veggie share is moving back into dark greens, eggplant, squash, garlic and potatoes. Foods that nourish. I had my first acorn squash of the season for dinner the other night. Amazing. No additions needed.

This harvest season reminds me each year of the magnificent abundance of our world. That we are all already rich.

I wrote this while sitting on the front porch. The entire time I was surrounded by the sounds of various critters scampering through dried leaves…..which will later be used to reinforce their nests. All reveling in the gifts that have been bestowed.

Grateful for the bounty,
SARAH