Sixty-eight sea stars saved, four sea lions supported through their transitions, eighty perfect sand dollars found, and countless other profound, miraculous, and divine experiences later, we find ourselves back in our beloved home just in time to watch the Autumn colors shift, as you can see above. Our timing is perfect, as only hints of golden delight are beginning from the ground up. I’m excited that we get to watch the Aspens now turn along the creeks that cradle our house.

We LOVED our rich time away and yet find ourselves grateful to return to our Forest Portal. As a Pisces, (fish), the ocean will always feel like home, but it is not a place for me to immerse for long periods. The strong Capricorn aspects of me – half goat and half fish – need balance. What I’ve come to learn over the course of my life is that the ocean provides a supportive space for me to deep dive and do tremendous subconscious, shadow, emotional, and spirit work, as well as jump start creative ideas. It offers access and fluidity to these energies, but then in order to integrate and bring these forth, it is the realm of the alpine mountains, forests, and lakes that support anchoring and integrating that into being. Too much water energy is simply too much for me for ongoing amounts of time. That’s not the story for everyone, but it’s mine – at least up until this point in my life.

I can look back at all of my trips and time periods where I traveled to, or lived on or near, the ocean and it all points to the same thing. Even the nearly full year I lived on Puget Sound in Washington state loudly told me the same. Because of my intimate Ocean and Water connection, they are not afraid to kick me out and have tough love when they know I need it most.

I cherish all of the variety of terrains I’ve explored in my life and the little vortex we were gifted to be in the last two months on the ocean was a gem that supported an extremely powerful and timely reset for me. It became evident, though, in the last week before we left that it was time to go home. There’s too many layers to share and many feel to be pieces just for me, but all of this to say that when we listen to our hearts we can always be assured we will align with the perfect mirror that supports us. The heart is the measurement of truth.

I took this photo near the end of our trip and I just love the heart-shaped sea anemone near the center that showed up along with the pastel rainbow energy that created a painting effect to this seascape. It also very much carries the essence of my experience in totality by the ocean – from the layers and complex textures, to the soft graceful flow – all woven together as a beautiful tapestry.

Along with sea lions and harbor seals, I would say that snakes, great blue herons, sea stars, banana slugs, and sea gulls were stand out messengers. I had profound communication and relating with so many others, but these were so frequent and deliberate that they became part of my daily life mirrors.

There were several powerful and even miraculous snake experiences that took place, including one that literally flew out of the bushes at a precise moment to me bringing huge, transformative, healing magick my way. And just three days before we left this beautiful snake friend (below) showed up in the already fall-colored ground of the last hike we shared with our friend Lynne again. I seem to notice the snakes first and this was the only one that was on alert. We agreed that likely she may have had a nest of eggs in the bushes, which was in itself a beautiful marker of a new cycle birthing.

The collage also showcases the very last large agate I found just two days before we left and the caterpillar (if that isn’t direct metamorphosis support) that just so happened to be sitting on the log next to Dave where I did a huge, all-encompassing Reiki Healing Attunement for both of us in the most enchanted forest we frequented. This was both a grateful sealing of things and invoking of new. We did that hike from our place on the last day before leaving and we had the most banana slugs, as well as the most eerily mystical and mysterious sounds and movements around us while the ritual took place. The sounds started when I started and increased during the process, then completely stopped when I finished. Dave even remarked on the sounds and we laughed at him saying one was a “chupacabra”. They were definitely from a different realm.

This last day I also got to see my favorite sunflowers on the way home from the enchanted forest, which I showcased in some of the photos from my last blog post, Revolving Doors ~ Walkers of the In Between. The profoundness of that post and its title coming before ending events of our trip is quite something to me.

But what I love about my favorite sunflowers was that each time we went by them, there was a new variety growing and another one that had passed. In all, I think we saw four varieties in this one patch and on this last pass, all of them were gone except for these giant Teddy Bear Sunflowers amidst a variety of rainbow bloom friends.

Just look at how joyous and sweet they are! The largest was as big as my head.

It all put me in extra Autumn mode, after the Equinox was a marker for turning over a new leaf in my life. It also made me extra excited to get back home to my garden and our forest to see how things held up while we were away and what changes were in store.

We came back to a lot of changes in the neighborhood, and even our pergola being completed while we were away. But the great surprise was seeing that my garden did wonderfully and was so abundant. It had that Autumn vibe where things are starting to shift, and a somewhat overgrown look, but everything faired well and some things went gangbusters. I did notice that a few of my sunflower plants looked to have been eaten by underground dwellers, but the ones that remained were huge! I look forward to them flowering, but for now I’m just enjoying the wild essence of my own enchanted forest garden.

I’m still settling back in and taking it easy, but I do plan to do a little garden clean up and planting in the next couple of weeks. I did get out to pick up a bunch of bulbs – I got 11 varieties including daffodil, tulip, hyacinth, iris, and crocus. Along with them, I have some bags of wildflower seeds that will all be part of this year’s Autumn planting. Then in a couple of months it will be time to put everyone to rest for the Winter ahead.

I also have a lot of stone and ocean treasures that I brought back to integrate into my rock garden. This will all be a great way for me to ground the energies from my journey in and anchor the new.

While out grocery shopping to stock back up and get some things to make yummies, I picked up these Autumn cuties just to add a little seasonal sweetness to our space while I’m still integrating and settling back.

I even pulled out my October/Samhain vibed witchy soap that has essence of lavender, patchouli, lemongrass, orange, and pine scents.

Just quick little touches to get in the mood and soon I look forward to cooking and baking fun in the faery kitchen, especially since I have a lot of goodies from my garden that were drying while we were away. Of course that includes a ton of lavender! I love my lavender!

We did get the chance to step out for an immersion home hike and Tahoe enveloped us with a warm welcome back filled with rainbow energy and hints of Fall in the air.

The meadow was so magickal and the rainbow veil so lovely, I had to share it twice. We actually did two short hikes yesterday – a familiar and new one. The wide meadow was from the new one.

And along the way the beautiful mushrooms and ferns were deliciously dressed in Autumn charm that warmed my heart.

It was wonderful to journey away and it is wonderful to be back.

Astrid and I are deeply entwined in transitioning energies, mirroring each other like never before. It will be a couple of weeks of integration and getting things fully settled, but we’re grateful to have each other – the perfect Virgo/Pisces counterparts always balancing each other and doing simultaneous personal and collective easing of energies. I had so many powerfully healing emotions move through me, along with wonderful grieving, and a-ha empowering moments while away. I worked very closely with the creatures of the ocean and they took me on a womb journey of my inner child’s recreation – very embryotic and nebulous in a cosmic star death and birth kind of way. I’ve always felt and learned most from souls in animal bodies – they hit me the hardest, as that’s my energetic make-up for life experiences to be underscored.

Our time away was a mega exclamation point of fully stepping into the new, change becoming even more fluid, that our oceanside work was complete, that listening to the inner compass was essential, that presence and methodical/deliberate steadfastness was the navigational pull, and the fine line between all illusions – even the ones we dress up in fancy disguises to dance around – are not a space I/we want any part of.

Balance is so vital, and at least for me, I know it’s the continual goal I focus on as my anchor.

So many of the themes I’ve spoken about are also underscored by Lee’s new Energy Update for October, which I’m sharing below for you to explore when, and if, you feel to.

For now, this is just a little touch-in to share that I’ve returned home and am getting ready to immerse fully into the new timeline that I stepped through the doorway of.

I have a couple of fun things to share soon, but other than anchoring home I’ll be keeping the momentum of my choo-choo train that I got rolling while I was away.

I’m excited for the rest of enchanted Autumn here and very much look forward to a rich Winter ahead. I can feel the creative juices bursting from the seams.

Sending lots of love for where ever you find yourself on your journey.