Beautiful: December 2019

2019 Anno Domini

Twelve full moons have waxed and waned. The first three were a trifecta of super moons. I had my eyes on the moon, marking the wax and wane of days.

The first full moon of January 21^stwas an ominous super, blood Wolf Moon hidden from view by a blanket of thick cloud over the Trout Lake valley floor. But Marshal caught its un-shadowed luminescent light as it slipped down in the west at dawn. The blood moon coincided with the New Year of the Trees in Israel, the festival of first fruits offering.

The February super Snow Moon was a fitting name, alluding to late winter snowstorms that had us shoveling snow to unbury the clinic for two days. We had 48 inches of snow in 48 hours.

The third super moon was the Worm Moon , marking the Spring Equinox and Purim on March 21^st. Flocks of robins by the hundreds were come to catch the spring worms in the thawing soil. Was the trifecta the beginning of months or the end of months? April Fools adhering to the Julian calendar would say the trifecta finished a year. Along with the Hebrew calendar, the New Year begins in the spring.

April brought the full moon of Passover and Easter in tandem. The bulbs and blossoms of springtime burst from dormancy like renewed hope in our hearts as we gathered with my local sibling families at Seth and Janelle’s newly renovated home and beautiful permaculture gardens in The Dalles, OR.

Shanea’s parents were in Arizona, escaping frozen landscapes, and Dad recuperating from shoulder replacement surgery until the new moon of May. Mom and daughters reunited gathered on the lawn for Mother’s Day, straddled between the new moon and the full moon. The full moon rose on the 19^thof May, a 2^ndPassover observance, and 239^thanniversary of the mysterious Dark Day of 1780, when the sun was darkened at noonday in New England.

June 3^rd, new moon, marked Marshal’s and my 19^thanniversary. We took the kids on a spontaneous overnight adventure by Amtrak train to Spokane and brought home a used Toyota Tacoma on the preceding weekend. The moon was waxing to the Father’s Day full moon above my family of 40, gathered in one beach house at Rockaway, Oregon. We spent a weekend of fellowship and feasting, honoring and celebrating my parents’ 50^thanniversary.

July’s new moon coincided with our America’s 4^thof July, starting with a bang early in the day, a 6.4 earthquake in Southern California, kicking off a nonstop series of tremors. We enjoyed 4^thof July picnic at Meg and Jesse’s farmhouse and spectacular fireworks at Jonah Camp in the dark. The full moon was Marshal’s 49^thBirthday, the beginning of his 50^thyear! He caught up with me again, my birthday in March. And oh yes, his Kune Kune sow gave birth to piglets that morning. Saphy, our adolescent livestock guardian dog, “saved” one piglet from being flattened like a pancake from its mama. Flower has grown up to be the cutest little pig that gives Marshal a chuckle every time he throws her an apple.

July, we received 501(c)(3) Nonprofit approval for Trout Lake Clinic. Marshal had submitted an extensive application at the close of 2018. This opens up new opportunities for volunteerism, donations, sponsorship, and charitable services.

August new moon was a full weekend of participating in the 54^thannual Trout Lake Fair and Marshal’s mom’s family reunion at Lewis River Falls deep in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest between Trout Lake and Amboy, where we grew up. It was the most successful reunion of Marshal’s mom’s family ever, cousins reunited that hadn’t seen each other since childhood. We even got to host a cousin with family, caught by nightfall en route, in our Tiny House.

The summer moons brought discussions, plans, and purchase of a Trout Lake property close to THE lake for Marshal’s parents! We are so excited to have his parents close. Ruth continued to come twice a month to volunteer at the clinic, bring us garden produce, and spend time with us. Marshal has dreams of Mom and Dad living close. House plans are in the works.

September came and went with a new moon on the 1^stand 30^th: 1^stof September was the 1^stof Elul (2^ndAnniversary of August 21^steclipse) and 30^thSeptember was Tishri 1, Feast of Trumpets. Marshal was coaching Trout Lake High School Cross-Country, the season in full swing. Gabe and Lydia participated with grit and grind to run with Dad.

October, Gabe turned 18. He was racing at Sun Fair in Yakima that first Saturday of October. I took him to the DOL before his race to pick up his Driver’s License. Hurray! Grandma baked him a banana and pudding filled angel food cake to share with the team, and we ended the day with Miner’s “big as your face” burger at the 70 year old, Union Gap Drive-In.

In between the new moon and full moon of October, I sat in the shelter in the middle of the pasture all night with Saphy’s head in my lap, as she labored and birthed puppies. By the next afternoon of the 8^thof October, she had birthed 12 pups. The first one had been born on the 7^thand died on the 9^th. It was the Day of Atonement, as I held Saphy’s firstborn’s perfect, tiny body with the breath gone, so still in my hand. Saphy was a fine mama dog, although a big learning curve, raising 11 pups in the hub of the pasture.

October 23^rd, Lydia ran a 3.1 mile time of 23:23 at the Big Cross track in Pasco District race. She placed 7^thand helped her team WIN Districts. Gabe and his teammates won the boys’ District race as well. The new moon 30^th, they were both racing in Moses Lake at Regionals. Grandpa and Grandma came. This was Lydia’s 16^thBirthday! Both she and Gabe placed in the top 20 runners. Both boys and girls teams placed second and all qualified for the State Meet! Grandma brought a cake on that clear but frigid day. Lydia got her Driver’s License too, a few days later! She had taken traffic safety classes in the spring and passed her final drive with a perfect score!

10 days later, 11/9/19, they had a perfect sun break over Trout Lake Mustang races, at the WA State Championship, to run their best times yet. Everyone ran a personal record or season best! The girls came in 7^thbut only 9 pts away from 4^th. The Boys took 3^rdat State! Subsequently, Marshal has been chosen as Washington State XC Coach of the Year! He will be recognized in January.

New moon of November 29^thwas the birthday of my Montana nephews who welcomed a new baby sister into the world 10 days before. I haven’t met my youngest niece yet, Antonia Jo!

Now we are to the end of the last waning moon of December. 12 months have come and gone. We end the year with our own nativity scene in the barn. Ginger, the milk cow, has a newborn red heifer with a white ¾ belt. Marshal woos me out of bed every morning to capture her warm milk with thick foam to share among us all on the farm. A St Croix ewe has a male lamb in the next paddock. Two last gorgeous and sweet pups wait for their new home. Badger and Pippin, the remaining kittens of three litters that Lydia raised and sold this summer bound around Marshal’s feet as he does the chores. Christmas, celebrating the first advent of Christ, the Light of the World and Hanukkah, Feast of Dedication, Festival of Lights: both are testaments of the same Father of Lights who gives good gifts to His children.

The last waning moon did not extinguish its light without a rare spectacle. The 4^thday Hanukkah was December 26th. The shadow of the darkened moon eclipsed the sun. The moon at its farthest distance did not fully eclipse the sun; It was an annular eclipse, a ring of fire at the maximum stage with the sun’s outer visible edge.

Ring of Fire.....