January 10, 2025

Good morning!

It’s Friday, and I am proud to report that we made it nine days into the new year before I bumped us back to 2024. Could this be a new record? Possibly. But today we are firmly planted back in the here and now, and the year is, indeed, 2025.

We were coming back from the ocean yesterday when we came across something almost as humbling as Monday’s animal path: a gentle reminder that I am not the first to walk these woods, nor will I be the last.

This heap of rocks is the work of humans. Why here? Were they clearing land for pasture, or a garden, or even a house that’s since been gobbled up by the forest? Whatever the reason, we pause and honor their work—and then continue moving forward in ours.

“We have the power those who came before us have given us, to move beyond the place where they were standing.”

—Audre Lorde

Respiteers, won’t you join me this afternoon at 2pm EST? As always, check your inbox right before the hour.

Onwards we go,

Clara