Issue #6 The Miscellaneous Adventures Digest

Solstice blessings, leaving the land, what next for MA and signing off for Christmas...

Happy Solstice! There is something so joyous about the winter solstice, marking a shift away from darkness and into light. Of course it also marks the start of the true winter season; although the days will gradually start to grow longer, there is still much cold and gloom to endure until we get to spring. It is both the beginning and the end. Normally, we would have a fire in the woods and cook outdoors to celebrate the solstice, but this year is different and we didn’t think of a new ritual in time, not helped by the dull and gloomy weather. Next year hopefully we’ll be better prepared and head up high to watch the sunrise. We did however stick to one tradition of recent years with Benji and read The Shortest Day, written by Susan Cooper and beautifully illustrated by one of our favourite illustrators, Carson Ellis. Please do share your favourite solstice rituals…

It’s my last week at work and I’m feeling a bit all over the place about it. When we left the woods nearly a year ago, one of the consolations was that I was going to become custodian of another piece of land; that I would have a new place to connect to and to  perhaps become part of. After such a short time, I’m nowhere near as intertwined with the woods here as I was in Sussex, but there is still a sense of severance. I will no longer have a singular place that is under my care and that’s a strange feeling. But, I will still be working in woods and with trees in the new year and who knows what new connections there are to be made. If anyone would like to donate a large sum of money so we can buy our own patch of land to be good stewards to then obviously give us a shout. I say goodbye with a touch of sadness coupled with disappointment that things didn’t work out as well as they should have, but with relief to be leaving behind the bad bits and with hope and enthusiasm for what lays ahead.

As one chapter ends, so another begins and we’re making plans for what comes next. Miscellaneous Adventures has been ticking over in the background but has been neglected a little whilst we’ve been busy trying our hand at real jobs. I’ll be woodworking, taking photos and working in conservation, all of which currently come under the Misc. Adventures banner but I wonder if the name itself actually fits with those things. Perhaps it’s time to reinvent ourselves (again) and come up with something that better reflects what we do. We do spend a lot of time sharing tales of our small adventures but that’s not what our work is really about so perhaps something relating more directly to woods or trees or nature would be better. The trouble is we have been Misc. Adventures for such a long time that it’s sort of who we are and it would feel weird to abandon it completely. Perhaps it’s totally fine, if a little annoying to spell. Please send thoughts!

This will be our first Christmas here in the Lake District. We are happy to be spending Christmas Day, just the three of us in our new home and plan to feast heartily and perhaps head to the top of something or go for an icy dip. This time last year Christmas was tinged with melancholy; our last one in the woods, but this one has no such sadness as we look back on a year well spent, content and settled in this rugged landscape. With that said, this is us signing off for the festive season. Whatever you do and however you celebrate we wish you much warmth and light with hope for joyous, adventurous times ahead.

Andrew, Emma and Benji

x

PS: Our podcast is now available on Spotify! We plan to record a new conversation in January to mark one year since leaving the woods so be sure to subscribe or follow or whatever you need to do to keep up to date.