Dark Repose

Photo by Rachel Medanic

In the moist and dark of January, I treasure walks outside in the hard rain while the sun is down. Glasses off, the sidewalk and houses around me are bundled up in fuzzy gloom. It's the wet season here. It's a time of repose in complete contrast to the sunny skies and mild temperatures we know the other 8-9 months of the year (Karl the Fog permitting, we love him).

In wet is where amazing seeds grow, stretch and await their burst of energy fueled by the sunlight. 

Farm Fresh to You, Us, Me

Every 3 weeks I hear from Farmer Thaddeus about the farm in the Capay Valley. His newsletter reveals how the bounty of the Capay Valley is doing, including the changes in the land and weather that help (or hurt) the farm's production of organic edibles that make their way out to grocery stores, farmer's markets and farm boxes across the Bay.

He contrasts the rushing water of the nearly not there streams of the dry season, to the "patient to wait to be harvested" winter vegetables. The kale will stay looking and tasting great for whenever it appears in my box (I'm a Lacinto kale and I woke up like this!) In the Farm Fresh to You office however, he writes of the planning commotion to prep for the tomatoes and melons and logistics for summer's "just in time" fruits that must get harvested when they need to (they'll have no patience like the kale and leeks have for human attention in winter).

In my own life I see the same slow yet fast pace; there is a sense of mystery- so much about to culminate. Things aren't quite in motion as they should be, but there is a stirring underneath.

Shining All Around You

Along a route of a weekly driving route I take, my daughter and I noticed and were so grateful for the gas lamp. It's a colored lamp in front of a house in Oakland we'd so hope would be lit leading up to Christmas. It was dark all December. And so for that early January night when we happily found it lit, alternating among shades of lavender, green and teal colors slowly, we were delighted to see its return.&nbsp

Whether you feel it or not, there is likely no one else in the world who will leave footprints like you in just the way you would. Persevere, even in these dark times. Transmitted through all of us, the light will return. 

May 2019 be a year when you leave tracks others remember and a year where you take risks and follow a path that's been yearning to come to light for a long time. 

Photo by Rachel Medanic

About the lead photo:  These mushroom beauties are growing underneath an elevated deck. No doubt with all the rich nutrients caught in the wood, the climate is ideal.