The Grace of Aspens

G R E E T I N G S

Good morning Subscriber First Name,

Fall contains a particular nostalgia for me—a reminder of seasons past, tinged with awareness of the season to come. This season, I am taking inspiration from the aspen tree, whose leaves change in phases.

Driving towards Yellowstone this weekend, I noticed an aspen tree with a singular cluster of amber leaves that quivered in the wind, though the remaining green leaves hung still. Fall is a reminder that we change in stages.

The experience reminded me of the first lines of a poem I wrote this time last year:

behold the grace of aspens
waving away their leaves
releasing that which was not
meant to last more than a season…

With all of its bittersweet, fall can be a hopeful season, if only we open to the possibility of release. If only we are patient with the season ahead, and let ourselves change in our own time, though we quiver and quake.

With gratitude,

P R O M P T

What is in transition in your life right now? What can you wave to even as you release it? What would it look like to accept where you are now, knowing the change is not complete?

I N T E N T I O N S + A F F I R M A T I O N S

May I open to the possibility of release.
May I be present to this season of change.
May I release that which is no longer mine to hold.

MORE INTENTIONS + AFFIRMATIONS

Aspens in Grand Teton National Park, Fall 2020.

H A P P E N I N G S

R E F L E C T I O N S

GRATITUDE PRACTICE

Today I’m grateful for rivers and creeks; the smell of the candle on my desk; puppy snuggles; teachers—in this moment, writers whose books I can return to over and over again; and family, of origin and of our choosing. For more on gratitude as a practice, check out this post.

Q U O T A T I O N S

WONDER AND BELONGING

“When I walk out into the world, well away from phones,
i-gadgets, Internet, radio, television, or newsprint, and walk on the earth and breathe the open air, I begin to recollect myself and come back to the earth. I gradually become a humble, humorous, earthy human being again, who belongs here as thoroughly as every natural thing I can find around me. This may be easier in the green and flowing world that lies beyond the nearly perfect human trance we call a city, but even in the city the earth is always in reach; and when the earth is in reach, wonder is in spitting distance.”

—Susan Murphy, in her essay “The Koan of the Earth” in Spiritual Ecology

C U R I O S I T I E S

DID YOU KNOW?

On a hike up the Bridgers this summer, we stumbled across this spiky friend. Scientific name lophocampa maculata, these caterpillars are more commonly known as the spotted tussock moth, or mottled tiger. Their larval stage lasts from July to September, during which the larvae feed on the leaves of poplar and willow, as well as alder, birch, maple and oak.

U P C O M I N G

WONDER WALKS

I plan to lead several more Wonder Walks this fall. I’d love to have you join us! Sign up through the link below to receive scheduling emails for future walks.

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