Waking up with the Trees

This week the maple trees are waking up.

Sun warmth of longer days thaws sap in winter weary trunks. The starches that have been stored in the roots during the winter pulse their way up with the sap through the xylem to the branches and buds with a message, “Hey buds, here’s a sweet breakfast so that your bellies can swell with embryonic leaves.”  Some say you can hear this very slow rhythmic pulse of sap through the xylem with a stethoscope.  I’ve never heard it.  I’ve also never put a stethoscope against a tree, but when I lean against a maple tree in the spring, I can sense the powerful upsurge of energy.

We at Rise Above Guest House are waking up with the trees. Our winter season has been a time of quiet incubation where the starches of our ideas have been stored in our roots waiting for the right kind of warmth to get the life-blood of a new season flowing again. We have rested, dreamt, consulted, gathered information, done some soul searching, and waited.

And now is the time to share some important news with you.

In light of the unravelling of business as usual in our world, we deliberately choose to deepen our relationship with our vision and mission that invites all who come here to connect with the healing cycles of the Land. We need this now more than ever. We need the strength, courage, and fortitude provided by deep land connection. The Land provides so much abundance and we at Rise Above Guest House have always longed to share it.  In the coming months and years, we will create more ways to do that with some specific examples later in this blog post.

For decades people in communities all over the globe have known that we need more life-giving, life-sustaining, earth-honouring economic models.  Despite current appearances to the contrary, there is good news.  In the past several decades, innumerable communities have been learning and experimenting and trying on new/old ways to meet their basic needs with various versions of gift economies, connected to,but not entirely reliant on, the standard rules of a global market economy. We are finding each other and we need to link arms and strongly resist current forces that have forgotten what it means to be human.

Indigenous peoples, scholars in many disciplines,and mystics of all religions remind us that we humans are one part of a greater whole. Robin Wall Kimmerer in Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry, Joanna Macy in Coming Back to Life and “The Work that Reconnects,” and countless ecological economists have reminded us that we are all connected. We are part of a web of life that can and will sustain us when we find and remember and live in a right sized place within this whole.

When we take our lead from our true nature aligned with the rest of nature this means for us living in relationship and reciprocity with gratitude for the abundance of the gifts of the earth, all she can teach us and all that she shares.

In winter the generous maples teach us that dormancy and rest are essential to healthy living.  Spring-time awakening happens slowly according to an alignment of inner and outer impulses.  Energetic spring and summer seasons provide sweet sap, shade, wind breaks, and homes for other creatures.  Autumn leaf farewell flashes brilliant red and then adds mulch and nutrients to the forest floor before once again entering a time of rest and dormancy.

We invite you to join us for the season that your heart, mind, and body need most in these times.  Strengthening our relationships to land and each other will increase our overall strength, courage, and fortitude.

Our current offerings:

• Maple Syrup: We start collecting maple sap& making syrup on March 11 and offer a 50 percent discount off your accommodation in exchange for your help making maple syrup. The season ends in the middle of April. Book your nights here on our website. Discount will be applied upon arrival.
• Summer Weekend Giveaway: We will give away a 2-night stay in the summer in an accommodation of your choice if you will a) follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram, b) share our post, and c) sign up for our newsletter.  We will take your “entry”from your newsletter sign up email and contact you by email if we draw your name on March 31^st.
• Exchange Options: For any of our workshop offerings – no one will be turned away for lack of funds.  We are happy to work out an appropriate exchange.
• Reparations: As a small contribution towards reparations for the unceded Algonquin Land upon which we reside, all self-identified First Nations peoples receive a 15 percent discount on everything we offer.

written by Marilyn March 3, 2025