Many many years ago, I belonged to a Pagan homeschooling forum. We were sharing our various holiday traditions one day, and one of our members shared a story that I just love. She said there was company over for dinner, and somehow something came up that her oldest daughter was feeling extremely grateful about, and […]
I was taking my shoes off at the top of the stairs after a gig; sure, I’d had a couple glasses of wine over a three hour show, but that is not very much at all. I’d done this maneuver a thousand times without a single problem, so when the push came, and I lost
I’ve been to some Halloween-themed stores recently, because it has been one of my favorite things to do when Autumn comes. But this year . . . something feels very different. I don’t know what or why, but it’s really harshing my buzz. Halloween, aka Samhain to us Earthy-Pagany types, is one of the best
Harvest season has kicked in to overdrive, the sun is zooming southward (or northward for my southern hemisphere-dwelling friends) and there is a nip in the air that freshens every breath. I woke up yesterday morning and it was Autumn. Just like that. Thursday afternoon we had 93 degrees with heat indices over 100 and
Lammas, Lughnassadh, First Harvest, call it what you will, it’s here! We have made it to the third cross-quarter day on the Wheel, can you believe it? The next one is Samhain, which seems like forever away. Well, it’s not. We have survived 3/4 of this solar year. Whaddayaknow. Next stop, Autumnal Equinox. Uh huh.
My little town dodged a great big bullet last week, while destruction reigned all around us. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Tornadoes are beautiful, deadly bastards. Iowans may be slightly in love with them, honestly. We don’t get scared, we get excited. Instead of running for shelter, we are outside trying to record it.
Light the bale-fires, strike up the fiddles, slip off to the woods . . . Somebody’s got to ensure the bounty of the harvest around here. Except . . . we’re not exactly an agrarian society anymore, though I think we’re making tracks back to that way of being. And about damn time, too. Farmers
Spring is springing, even though here in Iowa we are in the ugliest time of the entire year. I got stuck behind a street sweeper yesterday, and could not believe the amount of dirt, salt, grime and blech it was throwing into the air. Winter sure looks pretty with it’s pristine white blankie, but underneath
As children, we spend a lot of time pretending to be other people. It’s how we figure out how the world works. We start by pretending to be mommy or daddy. Then we expand to the grocer, the doctor, firefighters, police, nurses, veterinarians, schoolteachers, and rockstars. As we get older, our worldview expands, and we include more
Things have to die before they can be reborn. Right now, as I sit here in my comfortable house, there’s a killin’ cold outside. We got six inches of snow yesterday, and last night the cold came down like a hammer. It’s a terrifying beauty, this kind of weather. I have to confess, I am
