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Work is a relative term. We all work, every day, all day, unless we are lucky enough to be coddled some how. I finished work last Friday (contractually selling my time), but have worked more, harder, and longer days since I stopped working. Wood piles grew, various small multi hour projects have been put to bed, parts ordered to put a few more down as historical.

My timing was not the wisest; accepting work from May through August. Sometimes we do what we enjoy, catches our interest, or feels right at the time. There is much catching up to do here. Much winter preparation now that the change is in the air. Three aspens are now yellowing, an act that seemingly occurred overnight.

Today is another full day. The countertop is scattered with post it notes. I do not feel it is a sign of aging, but perhaps it is. I find it a not only a helpful list of tasks to choose from, there is much satisfaction in removing a note, crumbling it up and tossing it away – the task, the chore, the work, complete. Done, finished, and time for the next one.

There is a connectedness to living your day this way versus the four months I stared at a screen, joined meetings, and got paid to tell people what I thought. (Any wonder I’m single?) A strange shift it is, but I would rather use my body, touch my house, my tools, think through physical issues now having a life with thirty five years making money screen-based. I shall leave the screen now and enjoy a day of physical labor. Enjoy yours, whatever it may be.

The ability to look back, self check, self correct, adjust, is an important aspect of a developing consciousness. If the goal of the man is to shift himself, ground himself, alter an aspect of his nature, we must be able to realize not only where we are, but where we were.

Much has changed in the last year. Within and without. This long standing community has embraced me. I have done my best to be a good member in kind. I am allowed to practice with grace and dignity. I am surrounded by a myriad of personalities, drives, motivations and goals. But life offers lessons if we choose to look, reflect, compare.

It has indeed been a good year. A settling year. A learning experience wrapped up in nature, adaptation, and at times, raw survival. It has shifted, centered and allowed aspects to develop in healthier more valuable ways.

A year in the life…. some cycles are returning. Firewood, vehicle maintenance, winter preparations, but happily, some cycles have been put to bed, to rest, and shifted in a healthier way. I hope your reflections offer you the sense of peace within your own skin.

I awoke this morning with a sense of celebration in my heart. Last August 26 was a momentous day for this man. It was the day he landed upon the ranch. Sometimes timing is everything. Being in the right place at the right time. Not being somewhere. Finding or losing something. We put rationale behind things, but some things just are.

Year two begins today. A year in this wilderness under my belt. I have spent the last 365 nights here, never venturing out for more than the day. The gates are a comfort for me now. Removing myself from the vehicle, moving the truck, removing myself from the vehicle, and locking the gate. It is comforting. It is normal. And it now feels like mine too. I still have eight miles to get home, from either gate, but the community is here. The environment. The solitude and stillness begins when the gate gets locked.

Take a moment today and reflect upon your own sense of self. Where you are today versus a short (or long) year ago. A year in the life… I hope yours was as valuable to you as mine was to me.

My best year upon planet Earth. That is what the last year was to me.

I had company for the weekend. Some might call it a gathering. It turns out event might be an apropos term to describe such a varying collection of souls that normally wander about the ranch but all happened to congregate here for the night.

After much preparation, there was a lovely calm before the storm in the mid-afternoon. An hour, myself alone on the deck, music playing, everything tended, a somewhat settled man at peace with his surroundings and at peace at what was about to unfold. My friendly, helpful co-hosts showed up, we chatted and laughed, but all was still quiet for a spell.

The gift of my view is not only the vastness of what is visible, but some of our little roads are in sight as well. All at once…. movement! A side by side came up Schierl immediately followed by a pick up truck. Two more side by sides were traveling from the east, down Spangle, up Brophy. A third now coming down Spangle. Within ten minutes the household filled from us few to over a dozen. Within an hour, that number too had doubled.

It was a lovely evening. Plenty of conversation, much laughter, and lots and lots of food. It was a mix of the old and new; some folks had been here thirty years or so. Some of us less than a year thus far. Ages ranged from low thirties to mid seventies, but age doesn’t matter here. Where you came from doesn’t matter here. What matters is that we love it here. We are a community, and we shared ourselves with each other for the night.

For this man, my favorite moment was one alone in quiet reflection, just listening to all the spirits, the energies, the voices inside my new home, sharing time with me, with us all. Thank you all for coming. It was my favorite night in the ranch thus far.

This weekend I enter the anniversary weekend of a year in my new home. A year in my new life. A year in my new community. It is a moment to be celebrated, not only for having chosen a path that feels right for me, but for the knowingness it took to arrive. Why I came. What I needed to do. How I wanted to shift, explore, discover, heal, grow, and become a better man. Sometimes life that does that to you; shows you who you are versus who you think you are. If we do not reflect when reflection is proffered, it is at our own demise.

Reflecting upon where one is versus where one was is also helpful at times. This week I shall do just that. Reflect on the man that arrived, busy, hurried, rushed, not only settling for winter, but for being the man he was living the life he lived.

This place settles you. Slows you. Reconnects the man to the fundamentals of nature, altering his body clock back to that of the real world, one devoid of what minute does what happen, when must this occur, when must we solve such and such. Time is real here. It moves as does the Earth, and we are only along for the ride.

Enjoy the ride; it might be the only one we get.

I have company planned for the coming weekend as well as I am finishing up a consulting contract. As a result I find myself outside soon after daylight these mornings, both to get tasks done, but also to enjoy the calm, cool, sunless sky that feels so nice this time of year. It was chilly here this morning in particular so a fleece was my accompaniment to wander about and ward off the morning chill.

This fleece is a variant of red, but I thought nothing of it. I wore it last winter to no notable events. Hummingbirds, however, decided my fleece is quite flower-esque indeed. Tending the chores, and buzz, buzz, study, study, and then deciding I’m not food. Out to the wood pile, buzz, buzz. Raking the lawn, buzz, buzz. Walking the dog, buzz, buzz, buzz!

There are six fresh feeders upon my deck during this time, but I too see the appeal; I must have appeared to be a gigantic flower – imagine the prize within!