Yesterday I brewed a batch of the White House Honey Porter Ale made famous by the resident chef during the Obama administration. It went without a hitch, and I really remember now how much I enjoyed it. The long boil is the part I should get bored with, but that is where I was able to just set timers and respond whenever I needed to add a new dose of hops. I could keep an eye on it and go about my business because it was right there in plain view the whole time.
That was also the Lughnasahd holiday, so that activity fit in perfectly with the grain harvest theme. I am kinda glad the season of summer is retiring now, and as we move into the autumn we get into my favorite time of the year. I was never much one to embrace field work in the summer, but the aftermath of putting up and canning things back in the shed or kitchen is where I love to be.
My spiritual work has grown by leaps and bounds as I have been reading more, finding pathways that interest me, and forging a practice that resonates with my own sense of divinity and devotions. My Book of Shadows journal is really a strong practice for me. I was not planning to have it be so much of a personal journal, but it has been more therapeutic than I expected. There are so many topics that I had superficial perceptions about that writing the entries allowed me to explore in-depth and in ways that are relevant to me. I still intend to have more things in there than just reflections, but I think placing all of the things I intended to compile into that book are better hanging out in a three-ring notebook that will allow me to develop and formulate my thinking and associations much more organically is probably the best way for me to work for now. Perhaps later I can use a smaller volume to collect all of that when I have it better organized and fleshed out.