Looking for the Magic✨: A Nature Almanac
Dec 2025 / Reindeer & The Tiny Ecosystems of Winter 🦌 ❄️
Welcome to Looking for the Magic✨: A Nature Almanac
It is time for wintering. The squirrel outside my window is constantly at work hiding his treasures. Oak leaves fall like confetti from the thinning trees. The smell of fall is burnt wood and leaves in damp soil. And the sunsets. Oh the sunsets. When the rain comes, the sunsets are an incredible light show in the clouds. A true Magic Hour.
The sun slips away by 5 p.m. now. When the lights go out, it feels like an invitation to rest. And it is - if we take it. And we should all take it. We need it. Like we need the summer sun. Long, dark evenings curled on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea. Rooms lit by soft twinkle lights. The quiet that settles around us like a quilt. It fills you up in a way nothing you can buy ever will.
Things included this month:
Creature Feature: Reindeer are truly magical
Ancient Lichen & Oak Galls: Tiny ecosystems around us
The Cold Moon (Another Supermoon!): December 4th
Creative Prompts: Time to rest & reflect
🦌 Reindeer
They’re so closely tied to Santa’s sleigh that it’s easy to think of them as pure holiday folklore – but reindeer are very real. In North America, we call them caribou, and they are one of the few animals perfectly adapted to the brutal beauty of the Arctic Circle.
Little bits of wonder:
✦ Reindeer are gifted with ultraviolet vision. In winter, they read the landscape in contrasts: dark shapes reveal lichen beneath snow and ice – a glowing map to their main food source (lichen can make up nearly 80% of their diet). They can see the stain of where the wolves have been, a warning of predators nearby. They can even detect cracks in ice hidden under a fresh snowfall.
✦ Their eyes change color with the season to capture more light: golden in the summer, blue in the winter.
✦ Their hooves change with the seasons. Some herds migrate up to 3,000 miles a year. In summer, their feet are cushioned with soft pads for the tundra. In winter, the pads shrink, exposing sharp, hard edges that act like natural snow cleats.
✦ The tendons in their ankles click when they walk. This sounds helps them find each other in a snowstorm.
They are built for winter, shaped by it, guided by the glowing world our eyes can’t see. Reading about them makes me think about how the universe equips each of us with what we need to survive. We are also built for the seasons we are asked to navigate – even the harsh ones.
🍁 Lichens & Oak Galls
As winter settles in, the world feels quieter, but if you look closely, the small things are still hiding in plain sight.
Lichens are those soft, ancient patches clinging to bark and stone.
Little bits of wonder:
✦ Lichen has been here longer than the dinosaurs, thriving for nearly a billion years. It has survived ice ages.
✦ Lichen can photosynthesize in freezing temperatures, waking up even after being completely dried out or frozen solid. It’s part fungus, part algae.
✦ They grow incredibly slowly. Some lichens expand less than a millimeter per year. A lichen the size of your hand could be older than you, your parents, and your grandparents combined.
✦ They come in unexpected colors. Greens, blues, dusty whites, bright golds, rusty oranges – certain species even glow under UV light.
✦ They can survive outer space. Experiments have shown some species remain intact after exposure to the vacuum and radiation of space.
🍁 Oak Galls
This week I found oak leaf gulls scattered across the sidewalk. At first glance, they look like little caterpillars curled up for warmth, but they’re not.
✦ Oak Galls are tiny wasp nurseries created when wasps lay their eggs on tree leaves. Most people step right over them without realizing the miniature worlds tucked inside those furry little nests.
✦ When the wasp lays an egg in the leaf bud or leaf tissue, the larvae hatch and secrete a chemical that mimics plant hormones.
✦ This chemical “tricks” the tree into growing a protective casing (the gall) around the larva. The larva then lives inside, safe from predators, feeding on the nutritious gall tissue.
✦ They grow on many different species. They can look like small apples, balls of wool, plastic beads, saucers, or even spiky urchins. They range in color from green and yellow to pink, red, and eventually brown as they dry out.
I’ve lived in this neighborhood for over a decade and never noticed them before. It made me think about all the small things we walk past each day – these miniature ecosystems quietly unfolding at our feet. Even the tiniest wasps need a cozy place to rest through winter.
Both lichen and oak galls feel like winter teachers – reminders that it is a season of rest before growth. There are necessary, hidden processes. Life happens at a slower pace, but it does not mean nothing is happening.
P.S.I brought a handful of oak leaf gulls inside and put them on my art desk. When I researched what they were and told my husband and daughter, their eyes grew wide. They insisted I put them back outside. They feared they might hatch in the warmth of our home while we slept. But these guys will not emerge until next June or July. 😊
The Cold Moon rises in the deep of winter – the last full moon of the year. A supermoon. One the biggest and brightest on the horizon this year. The Mohawk Nation gave it this name. It was also referred to as “The Long Night” moon. Its silver light cast a bright glow in the dark December night.
Traditionally, it’s a time for reflection, intention-setting, and releasing what no longer serves you. Just as the earth slows and the nights lengthen, the Cold Moon invites us to pause, look inward, and prepare for the new year ahead.
❄️ 🌕 The Cold Moon Meditation:
Create a little space: Light a candle or incense, sip some tea.
Take some slow breaths: Let yourself be in the moment.
Close your eyes: Picture the December moon glowing silver above you, the Cold Moon. Sit quietly in front of the glow of the candlelight. Imagine yourself watching the snowflakes fall over the landscape. The tree branches are covered in ice, and the bark is covered with lichen. Here time stands still. You open your arms to the world in front of you. Let time stand still. What do you let slip from your grip and leave your life? See these things leaving your grasp and floating away with the tiny snowflakes. Once you have let them go, it is time to welcome in what you desire. What would you like to draw to you? Imagine those things floating into your grasp.
Journal: Open your eyes and take out a page of paper. Write down what you wish to release, and what you wish to welcome more of into your life. Don’t edit yourself. Just get it all down.
Rest: This might be the trickiest part of all. Allow yourself to rest a bit daily. And when you do, take out this paper and read it. Let it sink in. Let it manifest slowly over December. Let it be something that slowly becomes you.
Little moon rituals you can indulge monthly…
✦ Crystal Moon Magic:
Do you collect crystals or gemstones? Ever since I was a kid living in Colorado, you could not keep me away from the table of gems. You can pop one of your favorites on the windowsill to soak up some moon magic energy. I carry a favorite stone in my pocket often. When I change, they go flying across the floor. Essentially, I have little magical stones living all around me.
✦ Moon Water Magic:
Leave a bowl or jar of water out overnight to soak up the moonlight. The next day, use it to water your indoor plants and infuse your space with a little lunar energy. I keep a mason jar of moon water on my desk to water my plants there. It infuses a little bit of moon magic into my workspace. 😊
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❄️ Creative Prompts for December:
✦ Look Up A Holiday Craft That Delights You
It does not need to be complicated - just fun. I made paper snowflakes one year. Remember when we would fold up a piece of paper, cut out shapes, and open it to find a new snowflake design? Well, it never loses its charm. In fact, I had some sparkly, opal paper lying around. I cut it into fourths and made tiny snowflakes out of it. I used a thin string and made garlands for my doorways. It is enchanting. I still pull it out every year, and it reminds me of when my daughter was little.
✦ It’s The Tiny Things Challenge
Every Friday, I started sharing a “Tiny Thing” that brought me joy here on Substack. This practice of finding a Tiny Thing daily will transform the way you look at the world. I challenge you to find one Tiny Thing a day this December. Take a tiny notebook and write down one sentence a day. As you add one, read them all. A collection of delights.
✦ Make Holiday Cookies From Your Childhood
The nostalgia of the holiday season is rich with baked goods. Do you ever make a fresh batch of cookies? How about the ones you had as a kid? I dare you to look up that recipe and make them. I gift a lot of cookies at Christmastime. My favorite is when someone’s face lights up, and they say, “My mom made this for me when I was kid.” 🥲
✦ Go Walking in a Winter Wonderland
These cold, crisp mornings are so silent. The holidays can be so busy. Especially if you have a big family and many obligations. Gift yourself a morning walk.
✦ The Cold Moon Meditation (listed above)
People often say that they cannot be still to meditate. Me neither. Constantly moving is kind of in my DNA. But I can still create a quiet space to just be and reflect. Meditation is an act of being in the moment. It is not so much about being still, but being present. I think being present is the secret to the universe.
Until Next Time✨,
Kim
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I love your nature almanacs, Kim!
This feels like a hug, thank you 🤍