Welcoming the Geese

If you are one of the two or three people who read my stuff, you'll know already that I don't find calendar dates to be particularly useful for anything besides making sure folks are on the same page to do stuff.  As far as the natural world, and the spirituality I find there, I prefer to let nature tell me stuff.  

Of course, if I had the time to devote the equivalent of a full-time job to studying these things, I wouldn't need to avail myself of Googling stuff, although I definitely appreciate the astrology website I use.  (Really wish I paid attention in geometry class...if I'd have only known...)

The solstice and equinoxes, moon going from dark to full and back again.... none of that cares about the date on a page.   BUT, the cross quarter days are a little harder, so I look to my land.

We haven't had much of a midwinter thaw. We got lots of cold and snow around Yule, and then we've been somewhat consistently in the 40s-ish.  MAYBE we dipped down a bit last week but over all...it's not yet been super 'wintery.'  It's almost like we've had nothing but midwinter thaw.

The midwinter thaw usually gives me opportunity to get some early planting in, and I think that's what my ancestors might have done also, at least for things that are cold-hardy. I also try to start the seeds for the warmer weather "crops" as well.  Unfortunately, my seeds for this year, haven't arrived yet.  But when they do, check out my other blog, but don't judge how infrequent I post.  I hope to do better like I have with this one.

One of my friends got some of hers planted and started, and another's had lambs born at her family farm.  Technically, Imbolc means "in the belly" referring to the lambs, kids, and calves not yet born but clearly obvious, but I'm going to take it as another indicator. 

And then there's these guys...

Photo by Styves Exantus: https://www.pexels.com/photo/canada-goose-by-the-lake-7848722/

I love these guys!  Sure, they poop everywhere, and they sort of just amble across the road in the epitome of IDGAF-ness.  In fact, I think that is WHY I like them (well, except for the poop stuff).  

AND I have noticed that I start seeing them return right around now.  Actually this year, I saw the first pair about three weeks ago, which I thought was very early. Then the next week I saw a small gaggle at one of the side streets.  I don't know that I've heard them overhead just yet though. Some folks suggested they never left, which is sad about the climate, really.  Another said that these may be ones that normally live further north, and this is their winter home.

I don't know about any of that. All I know is around this time of year, the geese start to come back.  So if the weather is weird, and my seeds aren't here yet.... 

It seems I'm not alone. In the notes for géadh (goose), they state the arrival and departure of migrating geese were recognized by the Druids as the harbinger of the seasonal change.