It’s late, as I write this… and yet – there is still a golden glow in the tops of the trees and the air smells of summer… Erica and Calluna vulgaris have painted patches of purple heather on the land once the spring’s yellows faded.
June was warm and dry – the warmest and driest in many places in the UK. Warm here too – but we only had to water newly planted trees once. July and early August were wet, but not continuously so – we still had some decent spells of sunshine – here on the Findhorn peninsular. Often I would see the rain coming down in Forres, yet here the sun was still shining. Lots of rainbows… And of course it was perfect growing weather for our young trees. Every week a few little oaks were peaking above their spiral tubes, asking to be housed in the larger tubes before the deer would find their tender tips. And even though it was a damper summer than usual – I noticed that our fungi were taking their time, being cautioned by the dry June.
A lot of the work this summer so far was either ‘tree-care’ – helping the young trees to grow, or gorse cutting on tracks and paths and on some of our ‘species rich grasslands’. And then there was the integration of human needs and the needs of the rest of nature. Keeping clear paths open channels human traffic and prevents the many feet walking across lichen beds. Offering designated camping pads keeps people off places where a tent would be quite destructive to the myriad little creatures we barely notice. Having designated fire-places reduces the risks of wildfires.
We also had quite a few celebrations at the shelter at the Green Burial Ground, and a constant flow of campers coming and going. Every Friday morning the ’Findhorn fledglings’ and their parents are at the picnic table… As I write this 10 participants of a ‘Vision Quest’ group are tucked away somewhere on the land for their four days ‘solo time’. We are hoping that this group (‘Eschwege Institut’ from Germany) will conduct their whole programme here next summer. And here it is – the word ‘hope’…
Of course the Findhorn Hinterland Trust is part of the Findhorn Eco-village community and most of you would have heard about the radical changes we are going through as a community. All of us here in ‘The Park’ are affected. It’s both scary and exciting. Whenever things are in flux and the future uncertain we take refuge in ‘trust’ and ‘hope’. It’s not just a new chapter of this community which is about to be written – it’s more like a ‘sequel’. A new book which continues the story of the first. And we, the FHT, will have a role to play in this new adventure.
Whenever the turmoil around me becomes too confusing, I choose to go out onto the land… sit under a tree… and become still… still enough to hear the low murmur of the forest. Or when a beautiful sunset beckons – I sit on a dune and let my eyes go far across the sea… The sea and the trees remind me of something within and around them which is so much bigger than the ups and downs of our human endeavours. Something which is also within and around me – and clearly felt when I become still enough…
Maybe that’s why people do ‘Vision Quests’ – to re-member and find the essence of tree and sea within themselves …
Blessed be, blessed be…
Kajedo, August ‘23
News from the (Hinter) land – Summer 2023
It’s late, as I write this… and yet – there is still a golden glow in the tops of the trees and the air smells of summer… Erica and Calluna vulgaris have painted patches of purple heather on the land once the spring’s yellows faded.
June was warm and dry – the warmest and driest in many places in the UK. Warm here too – but we only had to water newly planted trees once. July and early August were wet, but not continuously so – we still had some decent spells of sunshine – here on the Findhorn peninsular. Often I would see the rain coming down in Forres, yet here the sun was still shining. Lots of rainbows… And of course it was perfect growing weather for our young trees. Every week a few little oaks were peaking above their spiral tubes, asking to be housed in the larger tubes before the deer would find their tender tips. And even though it was a damper summer than usual – I noticed that our fungi were taking their time, being cautioned by the dry June.
A lot of the work this summer so far was either ‘tree-care’ – helping the young trees to grow, or gorse cutting on tracks and paths and on some of our ‘species rich grasslands’. And then there was the integration of human needs and the needs of the rest of nature. Keeping clear paths open channels human traffic and prevents the many feet walking across lichen beds. Offering designated camping pads keeps people off places where a tent would be quite destructive to the myriad little creatures we barely notice. Having designated fire-places reduces the risks of wildfires.
We also had quite a few celebrations at the shelter at the Green Burial Ground, and a constant flow of campers coming and going. Every Friday morning the ’Findhorn fledglings’ and their parents are at the picnic table… As I write this 10 participants of a ‘Vision Quest’ group are tucked away somewhere on the land for their four days ‘solo time’. We are hoping that this group (‘Eschwege Institut’ from Germany) will conduct their whole programme here next summer. And here it is – the word ‘hope’…
Of course the Findhorn Hinterland Trust is part of the Findhorn Eco-village community and most of you would have heard about the radical changes we are going through as a community. All of us here in ‘The Park’ are affected. It’s both scary and exciting. Whenever things are in flux and the future uncertain we take refuge in ‘trust’ and ‘hope’. It’s not just a new chapter of this community which is about to be written – it’s more like a ‘sequel’. A new book which continues the story of the first. And we, the FHT, will have a role to play in this new adventure.
Whenever the turmoil around me becomes too confusing, I choose to go out onto the land… sit under a tree… and become still… still enough to hear the low murmur of the forest. Or when a beautiful sunset beckons – I sit on a dune and let my eyes go far across the sea… The sea and the trees remind me of something within and around them which is so much bigger than the ups and downs of our human endeavours. Something which is also within and around me – and clearly felt when I become still enough…
Maybe that’s why people do ‘Vision Quests’ – to re-member and find the essence of tree and sea within themselves …
Blessed be, blessed be…
Kajedo, August ‘23