Finding Home

I am more at home here now. With heightened Senses, I ponder the delicate nature of what it means to create Home and Community. It took 32 years to weave that lovely fabric on the Northern Plains, a distance of 800 miles from this place, sometimes a Foreign Land compared to these parts. We wove that fabric with each action at the Loom of Life.

I watch with interest the creation of Home and Community here, like: finding familiarity among the New, establishing routines for my Day, establishing basic services, making Paths, knowing who to call and when, knowing the Earth that lies beneath my feet.

We moved here a short and fast 19 months ago. I laugh when I think we are at the Toddler Stage. We are moving about with greater ease but we still find awkwardness to our steps. Weaving a Home and Community takes Intention, Time and Energy, while being open to the flow of Energy in the New Place.

Upon our arrival, those things that gave me comfort in my former Home were tossed into the Air on their way to a new Settling. I do not expect to find that Former Home here, yet there are aspects of it which are essential for my Groundedness.

The enormity of transition defies description or understanding. I seem to be experiencing a re-orienting of Compass Points, Senses, Cells. The order of things has shifted in more ways than I can know.

I have a heightened awareness of the New. It is perhaps most noticeable in my relationship to the Earth. My Flatland orientation has been reconfigured into Rolling Hills. My comfort of Straight Roads with Wide Shoulders has been rearranged along Narrow Ribbony Roads which drop into Steep Ditches and Ravines.

My open and expansive view of the Earth now includes the lush growth of Forests which reach out to embrace me. The Soft Browns have changed into a myriad of shades of Green.

The Sun Rises and Sets in new ways. I watch His Progression along the Horizon. At Sunrise, He moves from far to the Northeast at the Height of Summer to far to the Southeast on that Day of the Darkest Night of Winter which is coming soon. I watch the new patterns of light and shadow across the Seasons outside and within my Little Home. They are not new to my Little Home, but they are new to me.

My Seasons now include 2-3 months more spread across Spring, Summer, and Fall. My increase in Gardening Season is also shown in my shift from Gardening Zone 4 to Zone 5. That means I can grow more things: Sweet Potatoes, Peanuts, Peaches, Apricots, Roses, Peonies. That also means more things grow here of which I have no clue.

Winters are shorter, warmer and decidedly less severe. When Winters have settled in, I (with my North Dakota Brain) automatically shift into serious Winter Wear and Alertness. Such things were essential for survival upon the Northern Plains. I did leave my Winter Coat in North Dakota, as my Puffy Coat which I wore in the Spring and Fall more than suffices here. Those 2 Heavy Wool Sweaters are lovely but may be overkill.

The Winters ebb and flow with teasers from Fall and Spring. The Locals say the Winter was severe last year. I found it decidedly balmy and had no complaints. But underneath and through it all, I wondered where on Earth I was.

I ponder the lovely interweaving of my Human Community that is unfolding. Our Families reached out with loving arms to support us upon our arrival and in our transition. It had been many years since we were interwoven into their Daily Lives. We are finding a new and comforting pattern.

I know where to go when I need routine services. Those paths are more familiar to me.

Two themes resound in the creation of Community here. One is reclaiming heritage and honoring traditions of the past essential to our transitional times. I smile when I think of the abundance of such things here in a County where our families have roots back to 1843 and 1851. Secondly, we were interwoven into a community in the Northland where we could interact with many who had a similar Ethic of Earth Care. In our new Home, we are finding those Folks all around. An Earth Friendly Orientation is a Luxury for some in our time but a Necessity in the Creation of a Foundation Here. The Cornerstones are now in place.

I smile when I think about the surprises here. Like many young people making their way in the world, we had moved to North Dakota, a place where we had no family ties at the time. In Adair County which is our new and returning home, we are finding Faces and Stories deeply familiar to us. We have reconnected with Folks whom we knew in those growing up years. Fast forward 4 decades: they are older and so are we. Reconnection brings a kind of comfort not unlike a favored blanket or pair of worn shoes.

We still maintain connection with our Family on the Northern Plains. Those Folks and that Lovely Place upon this Earth will always be a home for us. It will always be a part of the Weaving of who we are.

The Fabric here is strengthening now. All these things provide a Gentle Flowing Hammock of Support for these next stages of our Being.