My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature. – Claude Monet

Here in New England we are having what botanists call a “mast year”. Mast refers to the nuts and berries that provide a core food source for wildlife. A mast year is when the conditions are right to create an overabundance of these food sources which in turn creates more babies. Mast years tend to occur every 5 -10 years, the last one in this region was 2018. It isn’t just nuts that get produced in massive amounts, many flowering trees and shrubs also respond. This year the mountain laurel in our area has bloomed in excess, filling the forest and lining the waterways with pink, fuschia and white blooms that would have thrilled Monet. I have spent the week hiking and kayaking among the laurel (my namesake as a matter of fact) allowing the magic of being immersed in such masses of flowers to renew me after a very difficult winter. Welcoming the Longest Day of the Summer Solstice.

On this Solstice I am also wishing for a “mast year” – I am working and weaving various projects into being in the hopes that they will provide enough sustenance for me to nurture them full time. They are my “babies” and with the right conditions and resources they should grow strong. Strong enough that when the various organizations who dedicate themselves to the care and rehabilitation of wildlife get inundated with orphaned mast year babies (it does happen) I will be able to provide financial support to them and see many of these orphans return to the wild when they are ready. This is the mission of Cú Ruadh and it is time to shift my life to focus on this.

Mast years allow trees to produce enough nuts so that they will not all be consumed and some will take root to create a new generation of trees. I sense myself in a similar moment, where this summer I have an abundance of time to see that my projects take root and create the next chapter of my journey. 

This summer marks my coming into my own time of reflection, creativity and an embracing of what has always been at my core. It looks like I am stepping away, but really I am just stepping out of the chaos in order to take root and grow strong- the acorn to the mighty Oak.

My mast year.

“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”
― Lao Tzu