The old man of Winter is announcing his imminent arrival here in Scotland, says land manager Kajedo Wanderer.
Here in the Findhorn Hinterland, temperatures have been close to freezing and the hills have seen their first snow. Most of the leaves from the trees have danced their seasonal dance to the earth now.
We have had a remarkable year so far. For me as an outdoor person, and for the many who have camped on our land this year, it’s been a remarkably beautiful spring, summer and truly golden autumn. Lots of warm sunshine! (And rainbows & Northern Lights!)
Kajedo Wanderer with the Reforesting Scotland study trip participants
And, as we all know, there is another side to this. Climate change. The Earth, as well as its oceans and arctic regions, is warming up at an alarming rate. And that brings with it unpredictable, more extreme weather.
Here we’ve been relatively lucky. Yes, many trees have struggled with the lack of rain during spring and summer. We have spent quite a bit of time trying to keep seedlings alive by carting water across the land. But sadly some have succumbed to the lack of rain.
We’ve had more storms than ever, and lost a number of trees on our land, along with quite a few trees being blown down or damaged in the Park.
The remaining trees are vulnerable – either because their roots got lifted, or because they are now exposed to winds they are not used to. Predictably many more trees will come down in the next storms. And out on the bay more and more of the shoreline and dunes are increasingly getting claimed by the sea at an accelerating rate.
We know that we live in a part of the world with a temperate, moderate climate. And if we see and feel the effect of climate change so clearly here, my heart goes out to the parts of the world where the climate is naturally already more extreme.
We do need to consider the way we care for the land in that context. Here, and everywhere.
And, I am not lost to doom and gloom.
There are many moments when I pause in the woods and watch the sunlight streaming through the trees – so beautifully! I could not improve on that moment, here and now. And as I kneel down to give thanks, my attention is drawn to the tiny things and critters around my feet. Looking through a hand-lens I might get a glimpse of their beauty, might get touched by the magic of tiny things.
And the sums of the tiny things are what makes our days, what makes us who we are.
What matters is how we treat that insect, that rodent or bird, that child or that stranger who happens to cross our path. The choices we make in our heartminds contribute to the violent wars of our world. We can feed judgemental, hateful thoughts, or stop the train (of thought) and act from our capacity for kindness, compassion and generosity.
Here at Findhorn we go with ‘work as love in action’. If we can’t do a job with care, we’d better leave it and find something we can do with love. Taking the time to love means to do things well, like cleaning our tools when the job is done.
In the Findhorn community we used to give household ‘machinery’ names. I guess you tend to treat ‘Frida’ differently from ‘the fridge’. So, yes, we need to do what we can to stop our climate tipping into the catastrophic. For our children, and their children.
And equally, we need to appreciate how lucky most of us here still are, how much beauty there is – all around us in the natural world. Let’s highlight all that is good and beautiful – every day – for our children and their children.
Let’s take the time to become still,
to listen and look deeply…
Over and over again…
And to give thanks.
Wishing us all a nourishing festive season.
Kajedo, November 2025
News from the land – November 2025
The old man of Winter is announcing his imminent arrival here in Scotland, says land manager Kajedo Wanderer.
Here in the Findhorn Hinterland, temperatures have been close to freezing and the hills have seen their first snow. Most of the leaves from the trees have danced their seasonal dance to the earth now.
We have had a remarkable year so far. For me as an outdoor person, and for the many who have camped on our land this year, it’s been a remarkably beautiful spring, summer and truly golden autumn. Lots of warm sunshine! (And rainbows & Northern Lights!)
Kajedo Wanderer with the Reforesting Scotland study trip participants
And, as we all know, there is another side to this. Climate change. The Earth, as well as its oceans and arctic regions, is warming up at an alarming rate. And that brings with it unpredictable, more extreme weather.
Here we’ve been relatively lucky. Yes, many trees have struggled with the lack of rain during spring and summer. We have spent quite a bit of time trying to keep seedlings alive by carting water across the land. But sadly some have succumbed to the lack of rain.
We’ve had more storms than ever, and lost a number of trees on our land, along with quite a few trees being blown down or damaged in the Park.
The remaining trees are vulnerable – either because their roots got lifted, or because they are now exposed to winds they are not used to. Predictably many more trees will come down in the next storms. And out on the bay more and more of the shoreline and dunes are increasingly getting claimed by the sea at an accelerating rate.
We know that we live in a part of the world with a temperate, moderate climate. And if we see and feel the effect of climate change so clearly here, my heart goes out to the parts of the world where the climate is naturally already more extreme.
We do need to consider the way we care for the land in that context. Here, and everywhere.
And, I am not lost to doom and gloom.
There are many moments when I pause in the woods and watch the sunlight streaming through the trees – so beautifully! I could not improve on that moment, here and now. And as I kneel down to give thanks, my attention is drawn to the tiny things and critters around my feet. Looking through a hand-lens I might get a glimpse of their beauty, might get touched by the magic of tiny things.
And the sums of the tiny things are what makes our days, what makes us who we are.
What matters is how we treat that insect, that rodent or bird, that child or that stranger who happens to cross our path. The choices we make in our heartminds contribute to the violent wars of our world. We can feed judgemental, hateful thoughts, or stop the train (of thought) and act from our capacity for kindness, compassion and generosity.
Here at Findhorn we go with ‘work as love in action’. If we can’t do a job with care, we’d better leave it and find something we can do with love. Taking the time to love means to do things well, like cleaning our tools when the job is done.
In the Findhorn community we used to give household ‘machinery’ names. I guess you tend to treat ‘Frida’ differently from ‘the fridge’. So, yes, we need to do what we can to stop our climate tipping into the catastrophic. For our children, and their children.
And equally, we need to appreciate how lucky most of us here still are, how much beauty there is – all around us in the natural world. Let’s highlight all that is good and beautiful – every day – for our children and their children.
Let’s take the time to become still,
to listen and look deeply…
Over and over again…
And to give thanks.
Wishing us all a nourishing festive season.
Kajedo, November 2025