Each year I like to look back over the previous year, and then set goals for the coming year. Many people do this on Jan 1st; I prefer to do it on my birthday. I often refine the accomplishments and goals until my new year, Samhain, but the bulk of the work is done on or around my birthday.
I also like to do a tarot reading (that post is here, which opens a .pdf file).
One of our ‘rules’ is that getting to a foreign country is so expensive that we want to stay there as long as possible. Another rule is that we each pack only a piece of luggage small enough to carry on, and a personal bag. Yet another rule is that we do our best to dress like locals. This means we have to get creative about what — and how — we pack.
It took almost 18 months, but I finally broke my write-a-blog-post-every-week streak. Ah well, guess I’m not perfect.*
To be fair, breaking the streak meant traveling to Paris, San Francisco, and then Georgia within a month, along with some personal things that I’m not ready to share here (yet), so it wasn’t anything small that broke the mold.
So, here I am, catching up a bit.
It doesn’t always work out this way, but in a little bit I’ll be spending a week in Paris with my sister and the plane and lodging will cost me less than $300.
(To be revisited in six months, around my birthday.)
Health:
Peri-menopause is proving to be more difficult than I expected, although why I thought it would be another else, I’m not sure. Having spent two years attempting to get in better shape I find myself at the same place, nearly, that I was post-chemo. This (literally) depressing. (A mental state I wrestle with far too often to be healthy.)
Several years ago, J. gave me a lovely new camera — a real one, one that adults might use – as a gift. It’s a bit intimidating, because while I love to take photographs, and I am proud of the work I do, this is a camera that requires a bit of effort to master.
I haven’t really,
But I have picked up a few tricks and I think you’ll see that in the next book I gave him for the holidays — one that documented our honeymoon.
This link will open a PDF of the book. (The .pdf is nearly 30mb, so it may take awhile.)
One of the main holiday gifts I gave my husband, J. last year was a couple of books through a company called Blurb. The first was from one from our trip to London back in 2007. What I learned more than anything? I needed a better camera (see an upcoming post). But I had a lot of fun culling through the 1000+ pictures we took (yay for digital pictures) and choosing the ones that meant something special to us, as well as being particularly interesting.
I thought you might enjoy it as well.
This link — London 2007 — will open a pdf of the book.
It was our 10-year anniversary (of making ‘googly eyes, as J. likes to say) and we decided to visit Ashland. Always a favorite, and also the first vacation we took together all those years ago.
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Charles Jencks (creator of the awesome Garden of Cosmic Speculation) has created a 1300 foot long reclining woman out of an surface mine. She is called “Northumberlandia.”
Northumberlandia was formed, amid some controversy, as a lasting legacy in recompense for the disruption caused by coal extraction on such a grand scale, as the mine is the largest of its kind in England.
I think she’s beautiful!
I’ve seen it written that ‘all wells in Ireland are sacred to Brigid’; but I think it would be more accurate to say that all wells are sacred to the Goddess. Some, however, are indeed sacred to Brigid, a fascinating example of co-opted Goddess-made-into-a-saint. She is, along with Patrick and Colmba, a patron saint of Ireland and a much-loved object of veneration to this day. Her feast day is the 1st of February, called Imbolc in Irish and marks the beginning of the season of lambing, spring, and lactation.
Located next to the Irish National Stud, just a short walk outside of the town of Kildare, the area surrounding the well has been turned into a small park, perfect for contemplation, no matter what your religion.
Leading up to the well is a series of five small standing stones. Each one, according to local tradition, represents one of Brigid’s virtues: meditation, hospitality, charity, peacemaking, and reverence for nature. The rite is to stop at each stone in turn and dwell on an aspect or quality of Brigid and then say a prayer in between each one.
Then one approaches the well. The well is surrounded by a short round wall. This is believed to represent the wall of the womb. Then the well is circled three times “deosil” or “clockwise” to a prayer “Circle us O Lord. Keep protection near and danger afar. Circle us, keep love within our hearts and hatred out. Circle us keeping hope within and doubt out. Circle us O Lord keep peace within and evil out.” It is custom then to leave something at the well. Circling the well clockwise symbolizing unity within ourselves, within one another, and the whole of creation. “A Naomh Bríd Gui Orainn”.
The well flows into a stream which, combined with the sound of the wind in the trees, makes for a delightfully meditative experience. At the head of the stream, a small stone arch has been built, above a pair of concrete “shoes” through which the water flows in two streams. Next to it is a clootie (prayer) tree, where supplicants offer coins and strips of cloth, tied to the tree as “time-capsule” prayers. The entire site has a feeling of deep holiness that transcends the religious differences of Pagan and Christian; this is a site of universal peace and love.
An inscription on the side of the well reads: “St. Brigid, Mary of the Gael, pray for us.” The site is still where an annual celebration occurs (on Jan 31st), with fire-lighting and chanting, and prayerful contemplation. It is customary to gather water from her well because it is reputed to have strong healing properties.
The day was lovely, the place deeply relaxing and energizing at the same time. A truly special experience.
To see our pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/80042837@N02/sets/72157630021301237/