I’m spending Mabon literally in the middle of an orchard. I’m in Italy and all around me they are harvesting apples and pears (the peaches were last week, melons the week before). The house we are staying in is 100s of years old and has been in the same family all of that time. There is a pomegranate tree in the garden, and I’m delighted to see one ‘in the wild’ because it’s so entirely new for me. When we aren’t cooking for ourselves, my husband and I venture uot to one of many local places where we are often the only Americans, if not the only ones speaking something other than Italian. We do our best to expand our vocabulary and laugh when they switch to English because we just aren’t very good at it.

I’m looking back on 50 years of life and reflecting on the hard work that brought me to this place. My story is no different from anyone else’s, not really. The details are different, the decisions my own. I am an ordinary person.

Being ordinary means:

• sexy
• intelligent
• gracious
• empathetic
• ethical

It also means (in my case):

• socially awkward
• shy
• introverted
• carrying ‘baggage’

and occasionally:

• confused
• tired
• sad
• angry
• depressed

Our past shapes us, our present is where we make all the decisions that make us who we are/ will be in the future. Knowing our past is important, depending on it is limiting. It can be a well from which to draw, our past can also be the trap that binds and restricts us.

Mabon marks the second harvest, the one in which we take time to celebrate that which we have achieved over the past year. This year I move into the second half of my life along with the harvest and so I am especially reflective and celebratory.

What has the year brought to you?
What will you take with you into the new year?

Blessed Harvest!