And yes, our celebration was two days late, the actual Spring Equinox (when day and night are of equal length, day ascending) occurred on Monday, March 20.

We started an hour earlier than usual. Actually, we started earlier than that, when Helen, a newcomer and new permaculture graduate, arrived 20 minutes early, closely followed by maybe a dozen other people, many of whom are first-timers! All together there were upwards of 40 people participating in last night’s celebration,

including around ten children from two to sixteen, and a number of folks from other neighborhood associations, two of whom had come to our Green Acres Village presentation at the local library on February 7. (BTW: podmate Logan has now established a youtube channel for GAV, so that show will soon be up there.)

Before dinner, we trouped over to the new (third, still empty) house and sat in a circle on the beautiful big new/old oriental rug that housemate Brie had purchased from Good Will and then hauled home (on foot!). Village member Mariella presided over the ceremony, introducing us to the way Andean villagers in her native Peru honor the Earth and her gifts at Spring Equinox. Each of us made a tiny bundle with various Earth offerings (seeds, shells, leaves, twigs), all of which represent her gifts that we actually hold inside us. Our instructions are to either burn or bury our bundle. I’m going to bury mine, and so savor  its slow decomposition. I do need to balance my usual tendency to burn, fast, through any encounter with the wild, the divine or the mundane!

I took no pictures during this wonderful ceremony that felt spirited, joyful, and marvelously energizing.

Meanwhile, the kids were all over the place, inside and outside, playing the way wild children do, with both abandon and full expression. So wonderful, to have children drum up Earth’s new spring energy for us older folks who tend towards stasis, habits, routines . . . all good, and all needing their own kind of balance.

Remember, a meditation on balance is key at the Equinox. Let us learn to balance and integrate the two poles of all oppositions, starting with day and night.

The food was, as usual, extraordinary —

— including two curries with rice, all sorts of veggies and chicken, and, the piece de resistance: persimmon pudding, with lemon sauce and whipped cream, “The way my grandma used to make it!” says Sydney, who came to us again, after a long absence. Here she is with my son Colin, of the Garden Tower Project, who attended for the very first time. (Also, he was here to pick up puppy Shadow during my coming four-day trip to Madison Wisconsin.)

I discovered that Sydney and Colin are old friends. Had no idea! Wonder what they talked about.

Onwards!