Stability in springtime
A tui is singing, persistently from the top of the flame tree. It's one of those bird calls that proclaims 'all is well.' It's a reassuring message in this wild and changeable spring. After weeks of rain and wind, suddenly it seemed as if summer...
Kiss of spring
Does your garden talk to you? Reach out to touch you, even? I was weeding and removing dying leaves from the spring bulbs that were well past their best. Only a few weeks ago the freesias were bursting with fragrance and blossom. Now the flowers were gone and...
How to grow again
Sometimes the rhythm of a different season takes over. I've been resting after surgery for an injury to my knee. This slides me back into a kind of winter quiet, even as the outer season is bursting with activity and new growth. The enforced rest gives...
Equinox across the world
I walked into a wind that was so strong it took all my strength to go forward. To my left, the sea was whipping up white horses. When I finally turned, it was a relief to feel the hand of the wind in the small of my back, helping me home. A black cloud...
Fresh start
Spring is here—Te Koanga—and with it, the chance to make a fresh start. Is there a fresh start calling you? Maybe you’d like to freshen up your home, or a special relationship. Maybe you need to revive your energy and enthusiasm for life. What...
Seasons of Creativity
After the shift of the sun at First Light, and the beginning of warmer weather, I've been drawn outside to make nature art again. I found myself making little nests from pohutukawa leaves, and placing white stones into them. Often it's only after working...
Do trees sleep?
What do trees and grizzly bears have in common? According to forester Peter Wohlleben, who wrote The Hidden Life of Trees, bears prepare for hibernation by eating and eating to grow fat and sustain themselves for months of sleep with no food. And would you...
Winter words
Caught I found a poem caught in a tree fluttering like a leaf, struggling to fly free Oh kite of many colours, You strayed into the season of stark You must wait now for the season of flight when the light...
Matariki today
As I've been walking the shoreline, clearing dead tomato stems from my garden, and gathering firewood in the bush, I've been pondering on this question: Why is Matariki is the first Maori festival to be celebrated with enthusiasm by Pakeha and Maori...
Preparing for winter
Does the idea of preparing for winter seem an odd concept to you? If it does, let me remind you that you may know more about this than you think. People have always prepared for winter through the acts of harvest, storage and containment. ...
Two faces of autumn
Are you ready to enter the nurturing dark of winter? We have just passed southern hemisphere Samhain, Last Light, the threshold to Winter. This year it's only recently that autumn has beguiled us with its golden time, that gift of a second summer. Before...
Nature pilgrimage
How do you know when your soul is thirsty? I'm talking about that deeper level of thirst, that you may not even recognise until it is satisfied. At the end of February I received an invitation to meet with friends and stay in a simple tramper's lodge on...
Outer to inner
Here in Aotearoa the autumn rains have fallen — without a doubt — and the season has shifted abruptly. What is your response? I breathed a sigh of relief when the autumn rains first began (not knowing at that stage just how torrential and persistent...
Ripening and Assimilating
Has summer made you tired? Have you had 'too much of a good thing'? Maybe you are all too ready to kick summer out the door? But don't be too hasty! Because there's an important seasonal task to be completed. And a good time to do it is in...
Return to wonder
Does this picture make you smile? Well I certainly smiled when I came across this scene on the small beach near my home. Someone had been playing with shells and stones, finding different ways to place them all over the pohutukawa tree that sprawled down to the...
Be sustained
Have you drawn closer to nature over summer? I certainly have, and I'm aware of what a beneficial effect this has had on my health and wellbeing in these troubled times. During January I've been posting a series called 'Wonder in Nature' on my Facebook...
Fresh perspectives 2017
How was your holiday? Has it relaxed and opened you up to new levels of wellbeing? Have you returned with fresh perspectives? It’s a big transition, taking a holiday. And also returning from one. You may be finding some of this challenging. I’ve...
A ritual for new year 2017
As New Year's day approaches, I feel inspired to send you a bonus. Here is my offering of a ritual which you might like to do at new year, either with your family, community, friends, or in the quietness of your own company. It may be done whether you are in...
Be refreshed (2)
Do you find that summer draws you closer to water? For many of you it will be the sea, but it could also be a stream, waterfall or lake. Being close to water brings about a special kind of renewal. The waters of childhood As a child I spent my...
Time for Trees (2)
Have you ever sat in silence in a forest? If so, you may have noticed how full of change it is. The moment to come is different from the moment just passed. Wind stirs the air and shakes the leaves, creating sounds that shift and change....