The Wind is Playing the Trees Tonight
It starts with a low moan then picks up to a wailing whine. Suddenly a swift gust comes near, whistling and flapping. Every tree has its own voice. In the distance together they make a bass oak hum. As the wind strengthens the hum grows to a lion’s roar. The nearer trees, the hawthorn and hazel, sing like tenors, their notes rising with the strong breeze, falling as the wind pauses. Some of closest trees, like that splendid eucalyptus, are soloists, their individual timbre and tone standing out above the rest. The lashing rain adds its hiss and splatter. Nearby gutters, windows and doors are like a drum kit, adding tinkle and rattle, banging and crash. The forest is a choir, an orchestra. Its maestro is the wind.
The wind is blowing the land tonight.
But yesterday, the Spring Equinox, was so bright. The clouds were moving, the sky was blue, the sun shone. It was warm. Like spring. Like summer even. Except without leaves on the trees. So, summer in winter. Working outside soon the jackets and jumpers came off. Even the shirts. This was balmy, bird-sung delight. Feeling quickened by spring’s rising sap, being charged up by Nature’s renewal. Along with the thrushes and the foxes it’s time to make nests and dens and… camps. Time to prepare for the future. Time to make the future.
Yes, yesterday was a shining day. Yet tonight the storm is back, singing.
That’s the Equinox for you. One moment this, the next moment equally that. One moment tempest, the next… heatwave. Kind of balanced. For these exact days, this week, the two forces are equal in strength. Day and night; winter and summer; inner and outer… all equal. But after that moment of delicate equality the cosmos tilts in favour of the light. In the coming days it overbalances the dark. The centre of gravity shifts toward the summer solstice. Nature responds by ‘dressing up’!
I’ve recently realised that during this current equinoctial moment I’ve moved firmly from a reflective inner focus on writing memoirs and dreaming up the coming year, to an active outer focus on making things happen in the physical world. Suddenly I’m in the realm of project management, materials purveyor and site foreman. I’m juggling innumerable practical balls in the air, weaving my way through a series of complex, delicate and testing challenges. Many of these are, of course, to do with developments at Cae Mabon.
Peter has been building a sculpture studio where he can continue making wooden goddesses and other beautiful things. It’s all done bar the cladding. He will also soon be moving into a new ‘log cabin’ (prefabricated so we might call it ‘Ty Fab’) on the site where Ken’s caravan was. We’ve recently had a digger in to enlarge the terrace and are now making the foundation for the cabin. When Peter moves to his new abode we’ll be up-cycling the Bunkhouse into a community hub for our beautiful resident clan, Charlie, Samina, Jodie and Luke… plus friends.
Also we’ll soon be upgrading our main kitchen washing up area with stainless steel sinks and drainers; and finishing off the Tree Nest so it’s a comfy place to sleep and hang out. There are more than dozen other smaller jobs. Many of these spring-cleaning and beautifying tasks will be done in the coming work parties. This week we have the Shambala Festival core group families coming to help, then, after Easter, our usual Spring Working Party. We also have intentions to improve the track this year. And, after thinking about it for three decades, the time has finally come to install a micro-hydro power generator on the river and thereby provide all our electricity needs and more. So, lots to think about. And that’s before attending to the long-awaited house renovation and central heating installation.
Practical balls in the air.
Whereas a few weeks ago I was happily ensconced in my winter retreat down in the Barn and couldn’t possibly have countenanced doing any of this, now that the equinox has come and gone I’m powered up by Nature and the Light and ready to shift rock and roll out the barrel.
Have fun everyone. It’s time to make the future!
