Hurrah! we are back in the woods – a rich and warm and fabulous community of Vintage Elders collected, walking up the golden path of woodchip to the fire circle. Here we hugged, exchanged, ate soup, and finally gathered for our first circle of the year.
Sex was our theme, the sex of plants and animals of the wood, and with luck we had the expert Paul Jackson here, who relayed our basic knowledge of hazel reproduction. The male catkin is too early for insects, so pollination is via wind. We found some so small dainty red hazel flowers, which were in effect tubes, down which the male seed found its way. Hazel is monoecious, meaning that both male and female flowers are found on the same tree, although hazel flowers must be pollinated by pollen from other hazel trees. Why so small? Why red we asked?
Around our circle we embraced our subject by asking how our bodies were: Virginia gave us a laugh and a nugget to remember: you know those knicker elastics that after too many washes turned slack? That’s what my body is beginning to look like!
Nicky got us, body and mind, moving, to the Woodland Wrap. Groovy, Yay, Sexy, was the base beat.
Meanwhile on the fire, Kally was cooking up the onion skins, and some dyed eggs with wild flowers and leaves around them, held tightly within a stocking. The results were beautiful.
With a stethascope some went to the hornbeam to see if they could hear the sap rising, however the noise of a distant chain dominated.
With recently cut bendy hazel stems, some wove around the stakes bounding the tool area.
Tea and scones and jam, our final circle, and off the vintage Elders went, armed with work to recruit more Elders to our group.
Kinda Elders in the woods 