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Wrapping up. Again.

It's the end of another season here at the ranch.  Guests left yesterday, all the cabins are closed down, and the bulk of the staff will leave today or tomorrow.  Good-byes and transitions always feel odd, no matter how much I think I might get used to them.

There's also a sense of closure and completion in seasonal work that I like.  The winds of change blow every 3-6 months max.  It's inevitable.  I like the flow of different energies across seasons.

That said, this round of closing down and good byes has me thinking about a note I wrote to myself last August 4th as my friend Evan left the ranch.

"8.4 Evan just left.  I just realized that I'm a little too tenderhearted to work in seasonal positions for the long term.  It's much easier to be the one leaving, but it's maybe better to not say good bye to such good people every few months.  It's okay for now, but it's too hard for me to be sustainable.  Every time good bye feels equally devastating.  Too bad.  I like to fancy myself a nomadic soul."

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Well-being month

I had planned to continue with my 30-day goals by having a well-being month, completely one "well-being" oriented task a day plus oil pulling daily.  I've been more consistent with oil pulling than thinking of a "well-being" task.

The days I have followed through on a "well-being" task, I've been struck by the length of well-being product names.  It seems like the more plant names, adjectives, and qualifiers you can stick before the name of the product, the more "natural," "detoxing," "cleansing," and even "enlightened" it will make you feel.

Some days I've stretched or skied or taken a bath, but experimenting with different health and cosmetic products has definitely been a part of it all.  Another day, I read clips of Nature's Medicine: Plants that Heal, a book by National Geographic.

Here's an incomplete list of what I've been playing with:

Nordic Naturals Omega-3 Purified Fish Oil supplements (Great lemon taste!)
Organic India's Tulsi Chai Masala Tea
Triple Leaf Detox Tea (Cleansing and Revitalizing)
Kombucha:  High country and GD Synergy Brands.
    - High Country Elderberry Hibiscus
    - GT's "Enlightened Synergy" Kombucha: Guava Goddess, Raspberry Chia, Black Chia, Gingerberry
Facial exfoliating brush from $1 store
Dr. Woods Daily Exfoliating Facial Cleanser
Nature's Gate Avocado night cream and Grape Seed eye cream
Mary Kay "Satin Hands and Body" 4 step hand treatment
Hand night cream plus gloves to sleep
Oil pulling with Now Healthy Foods Certified Organic Virgin Coconut Oil - Cold Pressed and Unrefined
Evamor Natural Artesian Water - rare alkaline source; 64 fl oz of pH 8.8 water
Planetary Herbals "Ginseng Revitalizer" supplements
Aveeda Rosemary Mint Moisturizer
Himalaya LiverCare Herbal Supplement
Dermae Natural Bodycare Microdermabrasion Scrub Exfoliant

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