The Autumn Equinox Update

This week is the Autumnal Equinox — the time of equal light and dark. During the Fall we take stock of the bounties Summer gave us and prepare for the oncoming Winter. Trees high and low do similarly as they alter photosynthesis as the sun hangs low in the sky. Squirrels must scramble to lay up in-store as many nuts and acorns as possible. But more importantly, they have to remember where they buried them.

Like the squirrels and trees, we also must lay up in-store the sunshine of the Summer in our hearts, so we can outlast the leanness Winter. And what a strange Summer it’s been. From the mega-fires that have gripped the American west to the civil uprisings that have occurred since the murder of George Floyd, this Summer has given us a lot to wrestle with. Oh, and the ever-present threat of the Coronavirus pandemic hanging over everything. It has been one hell of a year. And we’re not done yet.

I prepare for Autumn by putting socks on and wearing shoes again. Which is probably a good thing because I lost a toenail from kicking a rock while paddleboarding. As the leaves turn and pumpkin spice wafts through the air, I thought it would be a good time to provide a Bristlecone Firesides update. We’ve been blogging for six months now, having launched on the Spring Equinox of 2020. The week the world ended and our world began.

Since our launch, we have published over 58 essays and poems. While some of been written in-house by our team, many have been gathered from community submissions. Over half of these submissions have been in the form of poetry which is more than I could have ever hoped for. We could all use more poetry to ground us in our lives.

But a blog isn’t much without an audience, which we have had. Thousands of people have joined the Fireside in the last six months. And now that I’ve figured out how to send out a weekly newsletter, that audience will only continue to grow. So if you haven’t signed up, scroll down to the bottom banner and input your email address to receive our weekly newsletter.

To top it all off, the Association of Mormon Letters interviewed me. For those in the know, the AML is like the Academy Awards of Mormonism. So it was kind of an exciting big deal.

The most exciting update is the development of the Bristlecone Firesides podcast. This Summer, Bristlecone team member, Abbey and I have been planning, recording, and editing the first season of the podcast. Abbey and I will co-host the podcast and will be interviewing a new guest each episode. There is no shortage of topics to talk about, so we have planned out six seasons and a movie (minus the movie).

We have recorded the first two episodes and are working with a musician and artist to give the pod that nice loamy smell. So stay tuned for that. And of course, the podcast will be available on all the major podcasting platforms. Be ready to smash that subscribe button and spread the word.

Thank you for joining us around our fireside. We plan on being here a while to usher in the coming age of ecological wholeness. If you’ve enjoyed your time here and been warmed by our fire, please share widely. The more people who join the fireside, the more hope we have.

For the coming Fall, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Autumnal poems by Emily Brontȅ: