This just occurred, my dog RoZie sniffing out a pristine specimen of Aminita Muscaria. Great finds like this make our hearts leap, causing mini feelings of amazement, and are usually followed with a text to Tony, my mycology buddy a couple posts down. What a gorgeous Fall and outstanding October retreat month we just enjoyed, with our Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat (NMSR), Ceremonial Overnight weekend and private visits for established clients, not quite making it to the blog to record several huge victories. Speaking of wins, couple our own with those of our beloved Detroit Tigers, who made an amazing late-season playoff run to be October Ready for the first time in a decade. We were blessed to balance our work with play and took in the best game at Comerica Park in over ten years, the Tigs beating the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 in Game 3 of the best-of-five American League Division Series. Safe to say that we made it all the way around the bases last month, with many a yarn to weave and good story to tell. I woke up one morning and had the thought that my writer’s hands were holding a royal flush, maybe two, one for each hand, tight to my chest, but with our own retreat season and Winter Break looming, we’ll be playing those creative cards soon.
Watch for upcoming, off-season stories on being struck by lightning during the October Silent Retreat, what we see in the stars above during our Dark Sky Events, my friend Tinker — a real, live poet, writer and Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Elder — as well as an article on our town’s own Libery Hyde Bailey, Jr., the Son of South Haven and talented horticulturist who inspired a new land ethic for God’s Holy Earth. But before we’re laying low like farmers during the Winter serene season, there’s still a few opportunities to come out this Fall, with our new Zen Walk , a workshop for experienced meditators to deepen their established practice, and our final Ceremonial Way of the Contrary, in which we take all the fear, stress, grief, abuse, heartache, and loss of the material world and turn it all around in a beautiful, Ceremonial, spiritual purification sort of way. We’re also making good on the evolution of our Holiday Aho-Ho-Ho down, with a Silent Night/Holy Night and a Winter Solstice/Advent Event in the works inspired by the Christianity and writings of poet Reiner Maria Rilke, with Tony cooking up a wild feast.
While RoZ and I have enjoyed the crunch of a month spent living amongst a sea of leaves, the magic and healings that occur here feel like a stark, calm contrast to all those endlessly annoying political texts and the insanity around America’s election occurring this week. We’re happily extending the ten-year anniversary of living on our land that occurred October 31st with a special Saturday, November 9th Celebration of Michigan Farmers, of whom we are a part, at friend and fellow farmer Julian Lauzzana’s Earthen Heart, right up the road. We’re not big collaborators, as our land is Sacred Ground, and for ten years we’ve been on our own as moss grows fat on a rolling stone (sung to the tune), having beaten back all the folks who wanted us to host their music festivals. That said, we caught an outstanding act at Julian’s this summer, a performance by the powerful West African singer/musician/storyteller Zondo. We wanted to invite that dude down for a celebration show, and so, only ten days later and 1.4 miles around the corner at 6431 107th ave, South Haven, home of the old Macintosh Winery, you can come out and enjoy the potluck, art, agricultural conversations, and Zondo’s 5pm show. Check out www.earthenheart.com, watch for our love letters from the road, more information on our Holiday Happenings, and our 2025 schedule up through summer soon.