Lessons in the Frost: Finding Wellness in Every Season
The last photo on my camera reel of flowers from the 2025 season - right before an unexpected frost.
Lessons in the Frost
“Harvest isn’t just what you pulled from the soil — it’s everything you learned while tending it.”
The first frost came in quietly this year — a whispered reminder that everything, no matter how beautiful, has its season. One evening the field glowed in golden light; by morning, the dahlias bowed beneath a crystal veil. It’s bittersweet, standing in the stillness, watching months of work fade overnight.
The frost marks a benchmark for us — the close of our first full season of cut flower gardening. And if I’m honest, I needed the change. The frost brings a touch of melancholy, yes, but also an invitation to pause. It’s nature’s way of saying exhale now. Slow down. Reflect. Restore.
As the fields rest and the kids shift into new rhythms of school and sports, I’ve been thinking about what this season has taught me — not only about flowers, but about wellness, family, and life itself.
Lesson 1: Growth Happens in the Messy Middle
Wellness, like flower farming, isn’t linear. Some days you’re thriving; others, you’re just trying to make it to sunset. Some mornings your energy blooms; others, you find yourself standing in the weeds, wondering if you’ll ever make it out of the field.
The last few years have been full of storms — moments of uncertainty, loss, and the kind of growth that hurts before it heals. While I won’t unpack every detail, I can tell you this: those experiences changed me. Like soil resting before spring, we, too, need quiet seasons to rebuild after the storm.
Those who know me know I’m a Swiftie — and I’m raising a few of them, too. Taylor often tells us to keep showing up — even when no one’s watching, even when it’s hard. That’s wellness, too: tending to yourself on the difficult days, honoring rest, showing up for your own heart.
The frost reminds me that perseverance is its own kind of bloom.
Wellness takeaway #1: Be gentle with yourself in the in-between. Growth counts even when it’s quiet.
Lesson 2: Raise Them Like Wildflowers
Raising children and raising flowers aren’t so different. You prepare the soil, give them water and light, and trust they’ll bloom in their own time. The same goes for nurturing ourselves — we can’t force growth, only create space for it. This year, I’ve learned to give my daughters (and my son!) space to find their own sunshine — to stumble, stretch, and bloom. I’ve learned to stand back, to let them become, rather than trying to shape every placement or petal. Throwing seeds of wildflowers certainly didn’t give precise plant placement or even the growth of all seeds placed, but it did give space for the right seeds to grow and while not planned, grew quite a beautiful patch of blooms when I took a step back.
Like football on a crisp Saturday morning, life isn’t about winning every play — it’s about heart. The wellness lesson here? Presence. Be where your feet are planted. Cheer for small victories. Rest when the game is done.
Wellness takeaway #2: Let the people you love — and yourself — grow in their own time, in their own way.
Lesson 3: Sometimes, Boundaries Are a Necessary Fertilizer
In the garden, you can’t plant everything everywhere and expect it all to thrive. Each flower needs its own space — room to breathe, to root, to reach for the sun. Life’s the same way. Over the past few years, I’ve learned the deep wellness that comes from protecting my energy. I’ve walked away from spaces that felt draining or unkind and replaced them with stillness and spaces that enrich — morning walks, quiet journaling, time with friends who fill our cups.
As a recovering people-pleaser, setting boundaries hasn’t been easy. But through that process, I’ve found empowerment in choosing myself. Boundaries aren’t barriers; they’re care. They’re how we tend to our mental gardens — pruning what no longer serves us and allowing what’s healthy to flourish. Saying no isn’t selfish — it’s sacred. It’s the practice of saying yes to yourself.
Like a sunflower turning toward the light, we get to choose where we face — and who we allow to share our sunshine.
Wellness takeaway #3: Respect your “no.” You fertilize your own joy when you protect your peace. As Taylor said, treat your energy like a luxury item, not everyone can afford it.
Lesson 4: Live Like Every Season Is a Gift
The frost doesn’t ask permission to arrive — and neither does time.
The flowers remind me to live fully in the moment: to savor my morning coffee instead of rushing through it, to stretch before the day begins, to breathe deeply in the middle of chaos. The smallest rituals — those are wellness. We can’t control the length of a season, but we can honor it. When I lost my father, I had to hold tight to that truth — to keep joy in sight, even in grief. I started a practice of noticing the glimmers in each day. I keep a note in my phone titled “You won’t believe the good things that happen to me.”
Every time I catch a glimmer — a special moment with my kids, a spontaneous laugh, a small act of kindness — I write it down. When the days feel heavy, I read that list and remember that gratitude is the simplest, most healing kind of therapy.
Wellness takeaway #4: Notice your glimmers. Gratitude is the root system of joy.
Lesson 5: Your Life, Your Harvest
This year, I stopped tending everyone else’s fields and began cultivating my own joy. Not everyone will understand your path — and that’s perfectly fine. You’re not meant to be a reflection of what others expect. You’re meant to be a garden of your own design. You get to choose what’s most important to you.
Wellness is choosing yourself without guilt. It’s moving slower, listening to your intuition, and honoring what makes you feel alive — whether that’s quiet solitude, laughter with your kids, or a Taylor Swift song playing through your headphones as you water the last row of zinnias.
In a world that rewards hustle and sameness, where opinions fly faster than the stroke of words typed on a phone, remember: living gently and authentically is a radical act of peace.
Wellness takeaway #5: Nurture what feels like peace. That’s your true harvest.
As the frost settles across the hills, I feel deep gratitude for this season — for its blooms and its lessons, for the courage to rest and the strength to begin again. Because come spring, the flowers will rise — and so will we, grounded, grateful, and joyfully ourselves.
Your Turn — A Little Driftless Daughters Wellness to Take With You
If the frost has you in a reflective mood, here are a few ways to bring these lessons into your own rhythm:
✨ Pause + Notice: Start a “glimmers” list — one good thing from each day that made you smile or exhale.
🌻 Set Boundaries Like a Garden: Clear space in your life for what truly nurtures you — light, peace, and rest.
💧 Move Gently: Take a walk outside, stretch under the sunrise, breathe deeply, and let nature reset your mind.
🌷 Tend Your Joy: Do one small thing each week that’s just for you — no guilt, no reason, just joy.
☀️ Reflect on Your Harvest: Look back at what this season taught you — and carry that wisdom into the next.
May this season bring you rest, clarity, and the quiet kind of joy that grows deeper roots each day.
May your days be slow, your hands full of flowers, and your heart light.
— Erin, Finnley & Mila
The Driftless Daughters
