A Quiet Walk
It’s been a while since I’ve written! Apple harvest wiped us out – when it was finally all said and done, my husband and I (and everyone else who was in the thick of it!) did not want to lay eyes on an apple for a long time! We expected life to slow down after those last apples were picked and while it definitely wasn’t HARVEST busy, we were still really busy! Between meetings and workshops for my job at extension, dance classes on top of dance classes for our daughters (our oldest performed in a local production of Nutcracker last weekend!), end of season reporting, and just regular old life tasks, we were still going going going!
Then came Thanksgiving and all it’s glory – it really is one of my favorite holidays, all you have to do is be grateful and EAT! But after Thanksgiving, the end of the year came fast as every week was packed. Birthdays, concerts, holiday parties, more meetings! And while it was all fun, it didn’t leave much room for downtime. This past week I’ve felt the crunch even more as we prepare to celebrate the holidays with friends and family. We are so lucky to be able to do so, and luckier still that the holidays bring us joy and fun – I know that’s not necessarily the case for everyone. But regardless of how we celebrate or how we feel about those celebrations (or lack thereof), I think we all can get caught up in the frenzy of it all. I have been operating at high speed for so long that it feels odd to sit down to write this.
Today was our holiday party for the farm, and when I arrived, I noticed the gate to the Upick orchard was open. I hadn’t really been out there since Upick closed for the season. I pulled on my gloves, zipped up my coat, and took a little stroll. And it was quiet. And calm. And so very peaceful. As I walked the rows of apple trees that not that long ago had been bustling with energy – happy families picking apples, Darrel’s tractor making its rounds, wagons full of harvested apples clunkily wheeling back to the pavilion- I was struck by how good it felt to simply walk quietly. With no agenda or list, no boxes to check. The trees looked so naked, the foliage all gone, revealing silvery bark and fat little buds. I took a closer look at those buds. In just a few short months, those buds will burst from their fuzzy protective coats, becoming flowers, leaves or branches. When the time is right, the tree will sense cues from the environment and begin again the process of flowering, photosynthesizing, fruiting, and then winding down. But for now, the tree rests in dormancy. Clocking in those chill hours (it’s a scientific term, I swear) to get to the sweet spot needed for dormancy hormones to breakdown and for flowering to occur. You see, apple trees NEED those cold temperatures, those stretches of dormancy. Without them, the buds wouldn’t bloom properly, and we wouldn’t have apples at all.
And as I was out in that cold, quiet orchard today, I realized that actually most living beings need that downtime. Most living things have moments or periods of rest – to reset, to recharge. I felt it briefly today during my little walk in our little Upick orchard. Just those few minutes of unscheduled time, where I was simply walking, breathing, observing, they really re-energized me so that I finished the rest of my day with a little more bounce in my step. So, as this year winds down, as so many of us look forward to a week full of get-togethers and celebrations, I hope you all find a moment for rest, as well. I wish you all peace, comfort and a little bit of downtime to close out the year.
All my best,
Katie