One thing I’ve been discovering about myself is that I don’t necessarily feel closest to the sacred inside a building, I feel it in places like this.
Sitting among the trees, listening to birds and the wind, brings me a sense of peace that I’m only beginning to understand.
This little woodland gathering place really spoke to me today.
Wife picked this up from a thrift store and asked me if I could restore it. Here is the first bit of progress.
Sanded, some danish oil, and a light coat of polyurethane.
I made this bowl by hand out of pecan wood I found and wanted to share.
It holds Hungarian Partridge feathers, bobcat fur, and my handmade wooden awen pendant.
To me each piece has a meaning:
The Pecan Stewardship Bowl (Earth) — The land itself. It was once a living tree and is now something I’ve shaped with your own hands. It represents my
responsibility to care for the place where I live.
The Partridge Feathers (Sky) — The bird world. They remind me to notice the creatures around me. The woodpeckers, bluebirds, and all the birds whose calls begin my mornings.
The Bobcat Fur (The land and its creatures) — The wildness of nature. Not just the gentle parts, but the fact that ecosystems include predators and prey. It reminds me that nature isn’t simply peaceful; it’s dynamic and interconnected.
The Awen Pendant (Myself, choosing to seek wisdom and live intentionally)— my own search for wisdom and inspiration.
The cord — Relationship. It binds the pendant together and symbolizes the connection between myself and the living world, or between all parts of an ecosystem.
Saw a few of these little guys in my yard after some heavy rainfall over the past week!
I’ve always enjoyed woodworking, so it felt more meaningful to make my own Awen pendant rather than buy one. I carved it from a piece of burl wood, hand-burned the Awen symbol, and finished it myself. I enjoy creating things from natural materials, and this marks another step in my journey of exploring Druidry, nature, and stewardship.
I’ve found more peace in the woods than anywhere else, and this hare is the first piece in a sleeve honoring that connection. I’m still learning about Druidry and would love to hear how you interpret the hare or what nature symbols have become meaningful in your own path!
Was out standing near our barn, with my little one, on our property and this vulture came by. It stayed for a little while just watching over the area. It was a pretty cool moment listening to my daughter describe him / her and listen to her describe the oak tree it was on.
I built a local severe weather analog dashboard using hourly weather station data from Cottonwood, Alabama since Dec 2023. I tagged a confirmed EF2 tornado event and built an atmospheric comparison engine that searches historical environments for similar setups.
Still in the works though.
Disclaimer: Experimental local analog research tool — not intended for operational forecasting or life safety decisions.
Anyone have recommendations on tire size? 2015 Sahara, Stock suspension, 3.21 gears. Looking for something that will fill in the wheel wells a little more but not bogg it down a lot since I daily it and pull a 5x8 trailer occasionally. Currently sitting on 255/70/18s on stock wheels. Tires would be going on stock 18” wheels. Was thinking maybe 285/65/18 or 275/70/18.