Current Enjoyments
I’m a big proponent and personal practitioner of acknowledging & appreciating small wins and simple things. I also believe in the power and good medicine of sharing openly about these things. So here are a few of our many current enjoyments (in no particular order).
Huckleberries. In a 25-minute drive from where we here live in the woods, an abundance of huckleberries grow. It’s a short window of time in the summer when they are ripe & ready and the time is now. Both Mike & I find the activity of picking hucks to be a really good time.
Outdoor living is easy. It’s August and I am aware that soon fall will start setting in (typically the end of August marks the end of summer here in western Montana), which will then turn into a long winter. But right now, the living is easy. We can store all of our water outside without it freezing and our solar panels get enough sun to meet all of our electricity needs, both of which can happen for only part of the year. Our outdoor shower house is super comfortable, outdoor temperature wise, and I can wash dishes outside with ease.
Birds & blooms. The delight of song birds & soaring birds and wildflowers & garden-grown flowers is plentiful, and often a daily source of upliftment.
Campfires. Right now, as I am typing this blog post, I am seated next to an early morning campfire I started in our outdoor fire pit. Campfires are good medicine for the spirit and also make for really good company. Any day that starts with a campfire is a good day.
Friends & family. Since it’s summertime and the living is easy, friends & family have been swinging by for either an afternoon visit or to stay overnight. We’ve been blessed with a number of loved ones who’ve stayed one night, three nights, one-week and, in the case of our son Jaden, as long as three-weeks.
The river. Wonderfully, there is a long-winding & lovely river 2.5 miles down the canyon from Empty Mountain. This time of year we visit it often. Dipping, sitting & swimming in the river, especially when it’s hot out, is a great luxury and pleasure.
Other goodnesses to report. We’ve hosted three days of mindfulness this year and we have our third annual camping retreat weekend coming up soon. Our newest building project, the guest hut, has been getting good use, and our next building project is underway, the wood-fired sauna house. Our health is good and our spirits are pretty good too. We are surrounded by a green sangha of fir & pine trees and we have the gift of often experiencing long periods of time when it is incredibly still & quiet & nourishingly peaceful (when the loggers & the close by construction crew building the house next door aren’t working). We are making ongoing slow & steady progress here at EM, and also sometimes in what feels pretty quick.