Season of the Crone

Today’s weather is perfection. Really. Often in Virginia, rain comes through and there is no respite from the heat after the rain dissipates. But last night, it poured and today is perfect. Today is Harry’s 11-month birthday and to commemorate the occasion, he waded into the river from the steep shore and took himself for a swim. Pulling himself out of the water was more difficult than jumping into the water because the dock is quite high. I coaxed him over to the kayak launch and boosted his soggy hindquarters out of the water which meant I got soggy. Georgie decided that swimming looked fun but he is much less chill than Harry so he panicked but managed to listen and I was able to hoist him out as well. Then we drove ourselves and our smelly dogs home to Richmond.

Last Sunday, I attended a Tinctures, Ciders, & Oils class presented by Regina’s Connection over Zoom. Regina owns a shop in the Massachusetts town we used to live in. I felt this was the perfect course to take at the perfect time - September on the doorstep and me, entering what I am choosing to embrace, full on, as my crone season. If you’re familiar with archetypes, the crone is often referred to as the Sage or wise woman. Right now, before I fully step into that season, I’m reading a lot about herbs and natural remedies. I’ve never grown anything in my life but I’ve been reading which herbs are possible to grow in zone 7, which is the zone we live in here in Richmond. It turns out that you can grow quite a lot of the things I’d want to grow in zone 7, such as garlic, lavender (which I just learned is toxic to pets), chamomile, yarrow, elderberry, calendula….. I even have the spots for this out in the back yard. I recently saw Martha Stewart promoting a masterclass, stating she didn’t start her business until she was 50 & I thought, “Yasss, queen. I can be a witchy version of Martha.”

I am good at HR, fixing resumes, and turning around messes in HR. But I don’t know if that’s how I want to spend my time off - doing more HR stuff. Wouldn’t it be more fun to put together tinctures, teas, ciders, natural stuff to repel bugs, etc? Yes. It would.