Happy New Year

Is it time to hibernate or spring into action? Do we force ourselves to bloom early or hibernate longer? Even the cows know when to birth their calves.

It's the end of another year and another holiday season. Later this week, I'll clean up and store Christmas in the garage. Jeff and I will tip a glass of bubbly to our good fortune, health, and to new adventures in 2025. I also may say a silent prayer.

Despite the craziness around us, Jeff and I try to focus on the positive. And a bunch of blooming tulips this time of year is a particularly unexpected bit of gardening magic that has brightened our home.

If all goes well and I don't mistreat these beauties, perhaps next summer, they'll blossom once again in a flowerpot on the patio. Actually, I don't care if they take a year or two to rest, as long as they don't die.

These flowers do bring the promise of good things to come when the days are short and dark and all I want to do is hibernate. At least, Jeff and I can enjoy the snowy scene around us, thanking the gods we're not being buried by the stuff any more. And those folks now renting the Hobbit House in Truckee are probably "really stoked," if such slang is still exists, about the mountains of snow growing up the sides of the house.

These tulips have been forced to bloom out of season. Such is life sometimes. There's always someone out there who's going to force us to do something that just doesn't suit our personal timing. Maybe that's not as bad as it sounds, as though someone is cracking a whip. Sometimes, in the lethargy of January, we need a kick in the rear to motivate ourselves to actually keep those silly resolutions. Maybe they are actually the kick we need, regardless of tradition. Making a to-do list, after all, is a resolution on a daily basis to organize our thoughts and motivate us to use our time wisely. It's time to tackle those stalled projects or dispel the lethargy that has built up during our holiday distractions.

While other cultures celebrate the New Year in October or March or some sunnier time of year, tradition insists that the New Year comes on the darkest, sleepiest day. Why? Even cows wait until the end of February to drop their calves. There's even a huge celebration of this process here in Carson Valley with the Eagles and Ag Festival. https://visitcarsonvalley.org/eagles-and-agriculture/

Apparently, bald eagles migrate through this area just as the calves are being born. The eagles graciously clean up the umbilical sacs and other birthing debris as a hearty snack before they resume their migration. Humans stop by the roadside, aiming binoculars and zoom lenses to catch a glimpse of these regal birds.

Photo by Ingo Doerrie on Unsplash

Still, who wants to be born in a snow-bound pasture, dropped into a steaming heap, then expected to stand up and find dinner? Even in Montana, the cowboys bring in the cows to birth their calves inside a stall lined with fresh straw. Granted the cowboy pulls the poor wee calf out by tying chains to its hocks, but at least it has a soft, warm landing. I can certainly relate!

Anyway you look at it, though, it's still hard to emerge in the cold and dark when you're not really ready to face the cold and dark. Thus, these tulips, as well as the baby cows and the bald eagles, are a particularly beautiful miracle that reminds us that not all is dead. They're a testament to the way living things prevail during the hard times only to thrive and grow in the lush times. The cycles of life and fortune go around and up and down in mysterious cycles. Nature rests and rejuvenates at this time, but within a couples of months, stirs to full-on activity. We can too.

So, tip a glass of bubbly to the tulips, the calves and eagles, and to better and brighter times to come. Even in this jacked-up wacko era, hope springs eternal, right?

Happy New Year, everyone.

While we're tipping the bubbly, let's raise one to Fran Gardner, of Becoming, who is celebrating her 75th birthday today, a Diamond Jubilee. In her most recent post, she shares a list of 75 things to do during such a long span of life. It was fun to read and ponder our victories and desires. Happy birthday, Fran.

I wrote this poem in February when we were still living in Truckee. That late in the season, we needed a break from the heaviness of living in a snowbound mountain town. Even devout skiers get bored by then. We drove "off the hill" to Carson Valley, a warmer climate away from the hubbub of ski resorts and tourist frenzy. One such journey inspired this poem:

Interlude

I walk along the highway
while my husband naps in the Jeep
my legs stretch with each step 
wakening the blood
winter sunshine beats 
down warm through cold air
it glares off mountain ice fields
dares bunches of grass to shoot up green at my feet.
Cows watch me from across the road
traffic roars by all day 
but a solitary walker unnerves them 
you never know what I’ll do....
their faces glow in the sunshine, 
watching me as I stop
taunt them for their silliness 
walk away stretching my legs.
Water gurgles from inside a copse of willows
Canada geese call in the distance
I soak in the waxing glow 
bottle it’s warmth inside me
for the return to our home 
still buried in snow
I pivot toward the Jeep
cows, one by one, spin in alarm
run in their rocking ponderous gait
one swings around with a high hop
loping to a stop to check my advance
not knowing what amusement feeds
my winter-worn soul
she watches me 
walking
stretching my legs.

All photos by Sue Cauhape unless otherwise credited.

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to explore other writings in the Ring Around the Basin Archive. I also love to read your comments, so please share your thoughts. Let’s start a conversation. And if you wish to support my writings, please consider subscribing or upgrading to a paid subscription. It’s now only $50/year. Even better, I would appreciate it if you could share Ring Around the Basin with your friends. Thank you!

All my books, Paradise Ridge, When the Horses Come and Go, and Ghost in the Forest are currently available on Kindle. Ghost in the Forest, is also available in paperback. Paradise Ridge is out-of-print, but the Kindle version is re-edited and better quality.

Book Review of Ghost in the Forest:

E.R. Flynn, Illustrator, Cartoonist, Storyteller and Creator of "Escape from Clowntown Comics" here on Substack.

"Ghost in The Forest' is a great read! Take note People. If you love stories about environmentalism and nature, its clash with urban mindsets, as well as personal transformation, this is the book for you!

"Ghost in The Forest" is a quick 126-page read. It's the story of Dori, a woman trapped in a mix of grief over parental loss and refusing to accept how her hometown and her friends have changed over the years. Because of this, Dori has become a recluse and a self-imposed misanthrope who finds more comfort amongst the hiking trails around her hometown of Morristown than in her dealings with the raw reality of other humans.

The book, in some ways, resembled Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire” in that the story follows a protagonist's love of nature and angst about humans encroaching on it. In this case, it’s how Morristown is transforming into a mountain biking destination where cyclists run rampant on trails and nature.

However, a tragedy involving said mountain biking becomes a major pivot point for Dori, leading to a series of events that eventually bring about personal evolution and discovery.

If you're a nature lover, this book is a must-read. It beautifully portrays the clash between environmentalism and urban mindsets and the journey of personal transformation. The book's vivid descriptions of nature and the protagonist's love for it will surely intrigue you.

Paradise Ridge Review by western author D. B. Jackson:

If you draw circle roughly around an area that includes northern Nevada, southern Oregon, and southern Idaho, within that circle exists a culture and people who live a lifestyle largely untouched by modern values. These are the "buckaroos" and Basque characters author Sue Cauhape brings to life in her literary novel, "Paradise Ridge".

Leandro, the illegitimate seventh son of patriarch Xavier Arriaga and his mistress, Gisela, is at the center of this intriguing story that travels exceedingly successfully at both the personal level of the characters, as well as the compelling level where the story is told.

Cauhape writes in a literary style that reminds me of Annie Poulx. Paradise Ridge, on the surface, appears to be an upscale Western novel...once inside the pages, you will soon discover a potential classic waiting to be discovered.

I rated this book a 5...because that's all the stars there were.