Over the past few days I have slowly and carefully moved our winter’s supply of wood from one shelter to another. The roof of the first shelter is in dire need of repair and could crash down on my head at any time. That is not conducive to mindfulness. My exploits were witnessed at times by Jake, keeping a safe distance and feigning interest – he only wants a meal. Jake is our adopted cat, he was here when we moved in. I suppose it is more accurate to say that he has adopted us.
Each piece of wood has been placed mindfully and with care. It was good for me to have the physical exercise and to enjoy the fresh air. However, there were times when I found it a bit too much and the only thing on my mind was a nice cold beer.
I estimate that we have about 3 cubic metres of firewood in this shelter, and there are other piles dotted around to supplement this, including several boxes of kindling that I prepared last year and large pieces of timber that need some serious sawing. With the ready prepared stuff, we probably have enough to see us half way through the winter.
Today we have lit our first fire of the season. It is not particularly cold, we did it mostly for symbolic and psychological reasons, but the weather has become stormy and quite chilly. In some ways, it is better than the relentless heat we had throughout the summer. Autumn here is beautiful, the leaves on the trees are starting to turn, and the streets in our nearby town (Beloslav) are strewn with conkers. We collected some to have a little autumn display at home.
The little pumpkin is of course a nod to the approach of Halloween.
Psychologist on the Move 