It is with some trepidation and a lot of hope that I welcome the new year of 2022. As I look out my window, the world is awash in gray: skies, winter bark on maple trees, relentless rain which forms puddles in every hollow, and the gray-winged birds which flock to our feeders. The world is seeming to pause, somehow, as if waiting for what will happen next. As I wait too, wondering if I am ready for whatever comes next.
It’s been a long year, folks. The pandemic did not go away with vaccinations as most of us hoped. We have had to soldier on through surge after surge. Masking has become commonplace in our household, as is testing to make sure we are not passing COVID on to our loved ones before any gathering. Severe weather events are becoming more common. The climate summit in Glasgow did not accomplish much. Politicians are still fighting. You know all this stuff. It gets OLD. I long to see a new change, while realizing that the only change that can and indeed must occur is change within myself. So at the turning of the year, I have a lot of reflecting to do. Do you?
I do not wish to recreate my old list of resolutions, which begin in hope only to get ditched about three weeks in. This year I hope to live in more grateful awareness of what is already around me, and inside me. I would like to focus on abundance rather than lack. I would like to notice the smallest of precious moments. I would like to hold them as candles in these dark winter days to illuminate what is good in my small world.
I present to you a few bright moments, beginning with this example: ( my husband noticed this first – he is my best teacher) I did not bother to put a quilt around the base of our live Christmas tree as has been my habit in years past. Be it pure laziness, it did lead our cat, Thomasina, to use the water in the tree stand as a personal fountain. Each day she goes to the tree stand and daintily dips her paws into the water (this is the coon part of her Maine coon heritage) to wash her face. If I had covered the base she would not have had access to the water.
The chickens are some of my greatest teachers, as you might well know. I daily admire the courage and tenacity of our oldest hen, Buffy, as she hangs on to her place in the flock despite suffering injury from one of our more aggressive hens. Buffy shows up every day to forage, dust bathe, and nibble at treats. She waits in the evening until the other seven are ensconced on the roost upstairs. She slowly makes her way up the rather steep ramp, speaking softly to them all the while, and then settles herself at the top of the ramp as guardian of the flock.
I am blessed every day by our newest four hens, the Dream Team. They have never had a pecking order squabble. They hang together and help each other out. As a bonus, they present us with beautiful brown eggs every day without fail. They patiently wait their turn at any treats I provide and snuggle together each night on about one foot of space on the roost. I wish the whole world could get along like the Dream Team.
What about so many other small and large treasures? The new calendars hung, full of possibility, the Christmas cards gathered on the side of our fridge waiting to be taken down and wreathed in a whispered blessing for the thoughtfulness of friends and family, the anticipation of a new cup of tea, a warm bath in glowing candlelight, a brilliant sunset seen especially vividly through the bare branches of trees, the garden, now dormant, resting under its blanket of compost and leaves, the fact that even though I am rather isolated by the pandemic I still have my meditation companions, my life companion (no small treasure, but a HUGE one), our golden retrievers who are the best at cuddles and companionship, the marvel of children and grandchildren who finally get to visit and the fact that I play some small part in their lives and abilities. Wow. Just wow. May the actions I take this year serve to nurture, and protect these small and large treasures.
It is my hope that in reading this, you are perhaps reminded of the treasures large and small that your life holds. The most wondrous gift of all is the light and life inside each one of us. May we nurture our light and extend it in love and compassion to the rest of the world.
Please comment below if you have a thought or a treasure to share!
Under A Hen's Wing 