by Rowan Teasdale
I have often told friends who don’t live rurally, we don’t have rush hour out here, we have seeding and harvest. It’s a seasonal rather than a daily rhythm. Watching the combines out in the fields, and moving slowly along the roads, grounds me in the importance of seasonality. You can’t decide to harvest whenever you feel like it. You have to wait for the crop to mature and the weather to be right. You can tend to your fields and keep an eye on the forecast, but you can’t make them grow and you can’t force the sun to shine.
Life is like that too. Sometimes ideas don’t come in the right season. They come when the crop is already planted and there’s no ground to put them in. Sometimes a project ripens when the weather is about to turn, and extra hands are needed to bring it in. And sometimes snow comes early, and it cannot be harvested at all. Good harvest or bad, it’s a time for helping neighbours and accepting help yourself.
It has always seemed odd to me how January is called the beginning of the new year, when fall has always felt like the true time of beginnings. After all, it is when students of all ages, children and adults alike, return to school. It’s when community groups and activities start up. It’s the time of pottery classes and music lessons, hockey registration and dance clubs. It’s when you plan for all the things you want to do and try for the next year.
As the weather starts to turn, I find myself more open to change. The riot of colours on the trees feels like a celebration of that change, even as it is a reminder of the long cold of the months to come. It gets me thinking, how do I want to spend my winter? What might I do differently this year to make the long, cold months a bit less dark and lonely? Who is out there seeing the change of seasons as the herald for a time of isolation? What help might I need to get through it and who might need my help?
Following the rhythm of the seasons, it’s a good time to prepare for the coming cold. Provision yourself with friends and neighbours. Check around your community for places where the weatherstripping has gotten worn and the insulation thin and offer to help strengthen those groups and organizations. Keep an eye out for people who might need a cup of tea and a friendly ear to warm them up. And take the time to enjoy the beauty of the season on this land we share.Be sure to kick up a few leaves, just because it’s fun.
To read more on the impact of community connection on mental well being, see Working on the Root System of Social Connections in a Community
