Foggy Days in August

The picture above is what it looked like this morning when I got up...remembering the old wives tale/ritual about foggy mornings in August (see below), I wondered how many there had been thus far, anticipating how many snowy days we might have in the winter.

Then I discovered in my inbox Amanda Held Opelt's newsletter https://amandaheldopelt.com

which I highly recommend. Amanda lives up here in the mountains, and her name is probably familiar to you because she is the sister of the wonderful Rachel Held Evans who died too young just before COVID. If you loved Rachel's work, you will be comforted by Amanda's. They share a voice of love for humankind, the land and God, writing with eloquence and simplicity that is refreshing.

Below is Amanda's description of how mountain folk plan for the winter by counting beans and foggy days. Enjoy!

A RITUAL

It's that time of year again! Mountain folks across Southern Appalachia have started collecting beans in a jar. This generations-old ritual posits that for every foggy morning in August, we will have a layer of snowfall in the upcoming winter season (at least, one substantial enough to follow a rabbit's footprints in). So, we put a bean in a jar whenever we wake up to fog to help us keep track. It's unclear how this tradition began, though some say the Cherokee practiced it long before the settlers arrived. I share this ritual every year in my newsletter because I always find the ways humans have endeavored to know the future so fascinating. This tiny act - dropping a bean in a jar - is a primitive practice of agency, a daily participation in preparedness.