April 21, 2019
it's a ...thing.
What is it?
Find out at
BELTAINE at Four Quarters.
That's all we have to say about that right now. You're just going to have to show up to find out. See you around the Maypole!
The News from Four Quarters
Building, planting and planning. Sharing ceremony and good, home raised food.
Oddities in the weather and how the orchard did.
Observations on the Global Crisis.
Earth Spirit and Earth Living.
These are all parts of the News from Four Quarters. Enjoy.
March 27, 2019
Massive Midwest Flooding to likely get Much Worse
Massive Flooding in Ponca, Nebraska, March 13. Photo: Aaron Voss/KTIV.
Back in October, we published here and in the 2019 Wheel of the Year, “Our Wettest Year Ever.” Much as the repeated drenchings, floodings, and culvert destruction was challenging, and consumed our resources – the Midwest has had it worse. Much worse. In our last news post, we posted an image of Sideling Hill Creek, swollen and risen with runoff as the weather warmed with impending Spring. Imagine those conditions cranked up to ELEVEN.
The “bomb Cyclone” storm that recently settled in the center of the Nation combined with heavy snowfall in late February, tropical rains and wet snow to utterly inundate the Midwest, particularly devastating in Nebraska. This unfolding disaster, which has caused billions of dollars of damage, destroyed infrastructure and faming communities, and prompted massive evacuations – has been largely overlooked in the mass media, distracted by mind-numbing stupid human tricks - the Christchurch Massacre, Brexit, The Muller Report. But the Science Press has taken notice and is genuinely alarmed.
“The rains and floods are expected to continue through May and become more dire, according to Ed Clark, director of NOAA’s National Water Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “This is shaping up to be a potentially unprecedented flood season,” Clark said, “with more than 200 million people at risk for flooding in their communities.”
March 20, 2019
Equinox Full Moon, Puppies, & Spring
The Ancestor Altar and the Western arc of the Stone Circle.
Vernal Equinox Full Moon Service
Join us on Saturday, March 23, as we celebrate Balance and the turning of the Wheel at the Vernal Equinox. Ceremony will take place at 4pm in the Stone Circle (with favorable weather), followed by Church Supper. Kailin Miller & Daniel MacNeal in service.
Thanks, and see you soon!
Puppies!
When we last looked, Ms Circe was very very pregnant, since that time, she has dropped a impressive litter of no less than ELEVEN little guys, reminiscent of 101 Dalmations. And of course like young people of any species, they are eating like little machines, and growing like weeds.
March 11, 2019
Preparing the Members Muse mailing
The 2019 Members Muse is, even as I type, being prepped for our annual Members Mailing. It will hit the mails as soon as we receive our shipment of 2019 Wheel of the Year calendars, also ink hitting paper even as I type. Generally we arrange to have our bulk mailing of calendars go out while we prepare the Muse for our Members Mailing, so if you’ve gotten a request in by … um… mid-February, your Wheel may already be on the way!
Februrary 17, 2019
2019 Wheel of the Year on Press & Schedule-At-A-Glance Available!
The 2019 Edition of the Wheel of the Year under construction in Adobe InDesign.
We have spent much of the past few months busily at work on the 2019 edition of our Wheel of the Year Desk Calendar, and are happy to announce it has gone to press and should be headed for your eager hands very soon, with general distribution shortly following!
Our coffee-addled den of crazed ferrets that is our 2019 Wheel of the Year Production Team has been sequestered away ignoring snow and ice storms to hammer together as many of the coming year's event dates as we could procure, cajole, threaten, or torture out of various interested parties and event leads to get the coming year’s schedule fleshed out. We’ve also been pulling together our other content from whatever slow-moving authors and volunteers who didn’t have their coffee and run fast enough. Even though he has a home-based studio, Kurt is looking forward to seeing his family again.
January 14, 2019
Warm milk is good for everybody!
Out in the pasture we have greeted the arrival of our first calf from our Scottish Highlanders, with two more calves on the way.
This young one was born into a very cold night to a first-time mother, and they failed to hook-up! Chris Engdahl brought the calf into the office for the day and patiently got the pump primed by bottle feeding the little guy. A day later and all is well.
Chris has also taken a real interest in managing the Highlander herd, and has begun training Mr. Copper in his future role as "Stock Dog." Copper takes a keen interest as you can see. We will keep you updated.
December 18, 2018
Installing the emergency bypass culvert
We have very good news with the roadway case after our third court hearing on Friday Dec 18th.
As you know, in our first hearing the court basically threw the book at us, and issued a ruling worded in such a way as to allow the court to order the closure of Four Quarters.
In our second hearing of Aug 3rd the court reversed its position and recognized the engineering plans we had created at great expense, and perhaps hastened by the fact that the roadway had washed out just two days before, granted us emergency powers to proceed with the reconstruction of the washed out crossing according to plan. The court reserved for a future hearing any decision on "reasonable use," the legal doctrine on which it had based its threat of closure.