What is the fuel that lights your lamp?

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Women rowing North author Mary Pipher asks this question in her book and it was the theme of my reading circle's Zoom coffee chat this morning.

Most women said connection was the number one fuel that keeps them going.  No surprise. Most of us crave connection with our friends and family at this time. I haven't seen, let alone hugged or kissed our eldest son since January.  He and his lovely wife live in Florida where he is doing a fellowship in Pulmonology and Critical Care since July 1st of this year.  I often wonder when I will see him again.

Our second son is close by but as he is a nurse in the capital's largest hospital, we keep at least six feet between us except right after he tested negative for COVID.  That hug was the BEST.

Our daughter is also close by but as her family is larger and her children are adults with her own work/friends, we tend to keep our distance.  Phone calls are the format of choice for a visit.

Being a maker is a second most important source of fuel for me.  25 knitting projects this year and I've learned Shibori and Sashiko with a local school of craft.  I'm glad the workshops took place in early fall as restrictions are going to become tighter in the days to come.  Our province has 1, 000 new cases/day and the population is 4, 421 M only.

My third source of fuel brings me delight every day.  We have been feeding wild birds in our apple tree since August and we are feeding them throughout the winter. Yesterday a beautiful woodpecker perched on the suet feeder for a good minute allowing us to identify him as a Downy woodpecker.  Aside from him, we still feed Nuthatches and house finches.  We occasionally see a Blue Jay and today, a big fat magpie helped himself to the suet.

What is the fuel that lights your lamp?