Decking the Halls.......

Contemplation of our lives comes easily at this dark and insular time of year. Warm lights, candles and fires comfort us when darkness comes in the afternoon. I am looking around the house and wondering about decorating for the holidays.

I have always loved the lights of the Christmas tree and can remember as a small child falling asleep under the spreading branches of a heavily scented pine or fir. Now considering that we lived in Saskatchewan at the time, I am sure the tree wasn't quite as majestic as my child-mind remembers it, but for me it was magical. The twittering lights blinking, the angel winking at the top. We even had a stuffed Santa doll (which I found about a week ago sorting through my Mom's decoration boxes) to cuddle and dream with.

This year will be quite different. Mom is gone. That is a big enough hole but one that isn't as raw as it was last year. Both of the kids will be spending the 25th with different families as they grow up and away. So it will be Gerry and me on the day, and to be honest, I am looking forward to it. I don't mind the peace of an empty house and we have both been so busy for so long that it will be lovely just to spend some time with him.

In the meantime, I have been tasked with managing the holly sales for the farm where we keep some of our beehives. It has been fascinating work! Long a closet farmer, I am getting a real (albeit safe) taste of what the farming life is like with its uncertain weather, uncertain markets, uncertain schedules, and uncertain crops. How amazingly determined true farmers are to carry on in the wake of all that.

My work began late....beginning of November, and I have been scrambling to organize pickers, set up shipping schedules, learn all about the flower auction system in Burnaby, market the product to various local and wholesale distributors, and ultimately learn about the harvesting from the amazing woman who has been doing it for 19 years! Watching her and the other pickers work has been the greatest of educations.But doing all this amongst 14 acres of holly got me wondering about its history as a symbol of many midwinter holidays and festivals, so a trip down google-lane confirmed what I thought--holly is midwinter's sacred plant.

Long associated with rituals and celebrations, holly has an ancient history. Druids wore holly around their heads when heading into the forests at winter solstice as it symbolized death and rebirth. Ancient Romans used it to celebrate Saturn during Saturnalia, and for early Christians, holly was thought to have the power to drive away evil spirits. The Green Knight of Arthurian legend was described as not having a sword but carrying a solitary branch of holly as his weapon.

In flower essence literature, holly is said to be one of two most primary of essences. good to "heal the inner being and stimulate the basic loving nature of the human soul" (http://us.flowersociety.org/heart_healer.htm). Holly has also been used as a Celtic sleep spell and a bag of holly leaves and berries were thought to increase the ability of men to attract women.


So if you are in the stores, gathering up treasures to pass on to loved ones over the holidays, take a close look at the holly and wonder. Wonder about its history and stories, wonder where it comes from, wonder who it was who picked it. Then buy some and pass it along. Read or re-read the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- make it one more tradition for a child to remember while falling asleep under the tree. Then tuck up close and enjoy the love of family and friends. The holly will be there to remind us that out of darkness comes life.

Chris

Summer wrap up

 Well, it's been a while since I blogged. Summer evaporated in a flurry of gardening, work and ultimately a wedding! Many nights I'd slump exhausted onto the couch after gardening or canning or just a hectic day at work and think "I really should blog that!" But it didn't happen. Oh well.

Our bees have buzzed along all summer, swarming a couple of times due to our over management. We captured all the swarms (beginners luck!) and went quickly from two strong and one weak hive, to five moderately strong hives. The weather this year meant poor nectar output from flowers so none off the beeks we know will have extra honey for sale. For our bees it means that we will feed them sugar water for the next four or so weeks to build up their stores in the hive in hopes they can survive the winter.

We have learned a lot from the bees this year. First of all, read everything you can about beekeeping but be aware that bees will do their own thing -- apparently they haven't read any of the books on how they should behave. Second, there are a lot of opinions out there about how to keep bees. Figure out which one works for you and your goals then stick to it if it seems to be working for the bees.Third, and most importantly, bees are an amazing way to unplug oneself from the hectic computer world and just get grounded again. Gerry has taken to coffee breaks amongst the bees and I try to sit watching them when I get home from work for at least a while. I can feel my pulse slowing as the bees come and go from the hive, some with huge pollen nuggets in neon yellow and green, sometimes grey depending on the source. Some standing guard against the ever pesky wasps and ants, others just out for their evening ablutions flight. Every one of them has a purpose. Every one of them is secure in their place in the hive and that the tasks they perform are vital for the survival of their hive. I can almost feel myself rooting to the spot as one or two investigate me to see if I am a threat and that sense of connection brings me a calm joy.

We have learned a lot from the garden as well this year. As all years, it started out with tremendous hope and excitement. Which seeds do we choose? How do we best fill the small raised beds we had constructed early in the season? Which foods do we most want stored in our cellar for the long winter ahead?

I spent a few days and many evenings tending the small seedlings then bigger plants. Interplanting heritage tomatoes with beans, carrots, beets, a tomatillo and multiple varieties of greens. Weeding was a breeze with the raised beds and healthy soil with which we filled them. Seeing it fenced and fed, I was happy with my garden's progress. We had many early summer meals full of collard greens, bok choi and swiss chard. The Kale grew steadily awaiting the first frost for its true elegance to emerge. The tomatoes were almost as tall as I, with small but plumping paste, red pear, yellow pear and german tomatoes growing. We ate beets, sweet and oozing and had just started collecting the pole beans that had been so promising all season. But there were dangers lurking.

We went away for the long September weekend, happy to visit Gerry's parents in the north of BC. A long lovely drive through the Cariboo and Chilcotin country sides, a couple days of family vists, left us feeling quite refreshed and happy. This week of wedding visiting ended late Sunday evening before Labour Day when we arrived home tired but rejuvenated. The morning broke with Gerry meeting me in the hall...breaking some bad news. The deer in our neighbourhood, always a pest but mostly controlled during the summer, had taken our absence as opportunity. Breaking down the chicken wire fence that surrounded the garden, they proceeded to use all my labour and love as a salad bar. The results were devastating. Everything destroyed. Well the Tomatillo remained untouched (I guess deer don't fancy salsa verde) but otherwise a complete write-off. I felt like crying and to be honest I have only been out there once since it happened.

The garden taught me not to take anything for granted. That life is tenuous even in a subdivision but it is also strong.  I am reminded of a quote from Jeff Goldblum's character in Jurassic Park: "Life will find a way". And all life finds a way, any way, to survive.

The summer is quickly coming to an end. You can feel it in the coolness of the night air, in the dewy mornings that quickly evaporate into warm languid afternoons. Next week we will mark one year without my mom. We will mark a year of sadness, a year of construction, a year of hope, of change, of destruction, of love and of family. As I write, our cellar is full of last years pickles, this years jams, jellies and preserves. We are now empty nesters with kids in college. We are now newlyweds with all the hope and joy that brings. We are now a larger family after our wedding, strong in its commitment to each other. All in all, for our family, Life did find a way. And for that I am eternally grateful. Now if someone could just do something about those deer!

Chris