the end of a season

by Rain Trueax
 

Equinoxes and Solstices aren't the only way the year can be divided. Most people are familiar with religious holidays but maybe less so of those from our more agrarian past when humans lived closer to the seasonal changes.

Samhain is what we just went through, an ancient Celtic festival, recognizing the end  of the harvest season and entering into the season of darkness. In the Pagan traditions, this can be experienced by a bonfire, burning offerings, putting out gifts for the woods creatures like hazelnuts and apple pieces.

Dressing up for Halloween came from this festival where it is believed the barrier between the living and the dead is thinnest. If the dead could come to us, maybe scare us, how do we protect ourselves? Dress up as ghosts to make them think we are one of them. 
  
For those of us, who don't worry about ghosts, it's also a good season to be sure our own harvest has been secured and will keep us through the winter. Okay, today that's not a big deal either, but it used to be.

In our home, Ranch Boss bought more hay just to be sure we'd have enough for the cattle and sheep, who don't worry about such things. 

He's also been keeping the food dryer going with plums, pears, apples, and walnuts. This is the first year we actually dried our walnuts (we didn't realize what you had to do until a friend told us about the best way to keep them through the winter). It makes that walnut tree seem of more value. Since it kills trees near it that it doesn't like, it's good it justifies its existence by more than shade for the sheep.

The other thing is we did a trade with our friends-- two of her paintings (Diane Widler Wenzel) for part of a beef and lamb. They like the healthy meat, and we got to redo our living room with these beautiful paintings. It took some doing to get it all right, but I am very much enjoying both paintings along with the other changes we made.

The following photos are part of the living room as it is now. This is such a mix of places we've been, gifts from friends, and memories, a ton of memories that each item is about more than decorating as such. The room is about energy. That's a good thing at the beginning of the dark season.

Owyhee Spring by Diane Widler Wenzel

Waterloo Park by Diane Widler Wenzel

These are both plein air paintings, which Diane often finishes in her studio. They are also in Oregon. I have one other she painted in Oregon -- of me some years back. The rest of our Wenzel paintings are from other states. I like it that our living room now has Oregon paintings-- representing Eastern and Western Oregon. 

And don't forget for those in the US-- Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday.