Awareness

So, just how many spheres of existence are there out there? I spent the weekend tapping into some different arenas of consciousness with ROOTS School. My summary of the class? There is actual magic out there, Jedi mind tricks and the force. It's all real.

Once I asked myself, what if all those old old stories I read were real? Ancient myths and legends from this continent and beyond. People shape-shifting into animals, plants telling people how to use them, stories being recorded in the stars, ancient visits and visitors to and from the sun....what if it's all real? What if the high rises, concrete and steel construction, movies, sports, politics, primaries - what if those stories are actually as fantastical as the fairy stories of old?

Hm. It gives me a lot to wonder about. Usually shaking my head in awe. Human existence can be so much more than ruts of movement, paying bills, to and from the car to office to home, gym for exercise, TV for entertainment... awake to the reality that those parts of life may be necessary these days (or hard to get around) but they do not have to limit us in our awareness.

ROOTS School Rocks

A few friends here have started up a new school, ROOTS, Reclaiming Our Origins Through Traditional Skills teaching primitive skills, aka, ancestral skills, aka native earth living skills, like bow-making, flintknapping, awareness, tracking, primitive cooking.... and other skills to make you into a ninja. Or a child of the earth.

I love working with natural materials because the work is an act of surrender; I have to create a relationship between me and the material. If I think I know exactly how something is going to work out, chances are, I'm wrong and the materials know better. It's a good link to the Bigger Picture.

Snow:

Snow!

We're in a snow storm right now! I think my car is finally ready for winter, and I'm looking forward to some sledding and playing in the new snow.

Yeah!

Winter again!

Woohoo! Winter is beautiful. I am thoroughly enjoying the cozy- nest time that winter is bringing along with her. It's beautiful to look out the window and be where I am here in Vermont; I woke up the other morning thinking - this ain't half bad. Downright spectacular. Lavish.

I helped start a fire for a sunrise and water ceremony with my friend Sarah today. We got up in the dark, walked out into moonlit snow, the waning half moon light coming through snow devils created by the tearing wind, gusting and blowing all night like it was the night before too.

Down at the river the dawn was bringing more depth and dimension as I got out my bowdrill and started to warm it up. I made two small coals that went out in the tinder nest Sarah made, until I realized I needed to use tinder that I knew well, since each has their own characteristics and so with my old friends cedar and river grape bark and a larger coal, a fire was born into the solid strong structure.

As the fire lit, I became more fully aware that Angaangaq and Tina and many others had arrived, as well as the one woman who had been there from the start. She later told me she was standing in the east and channeling the rising sun energy as we were working. I knew I had help bringing the fire.

I'm carrying this dream I had in my heart today too: I heard Angaangaq say - You must go through the wind to get to the other side. As the wind has been strong for about three days I've been constantly reminded of the dream by its sound I've been pondering its meaning. I'm thinking its probably pretty important to listen when I meet a shaman in my dream.

Back again

In case anyone's checking this blog out - I'm back! Hoping to post regularly once again. Now that it's snowing and winter has set in I'll be more relaxed in front of the screen, less wishing to be outdoors.


Owl Medicine

Nudists

Yes! Last fall, when nudists came out of the woodwork in Brattleboro, the mayor replied to reporters that the problem would go away soon (with the weather). He was right - but now they're back! Horrors! And they could "strike anywhere"!

A contradance isn't a square dance

And I'm organizing a contradance as a fundraiser for EarthWalk Vermont! You can do-si-do your partner on June 8th at the Plainfield Town Hall in Plainfield Vermont from 7:00 til 10:30.

I've been doing an apprenticeship with EarthWalk this past year learning naturalist skills, games, songs and stories and trying to pass some of them along to children at the same time.

No matter what ends up happening during the day with the kids, at least every child there is spending time outdoors with us, which is a tradition that is so quickly getting lost from modern American culture. Video game, anyone?

So come dance your booty off in Vermont Friday June 8th (and support EarthWalk)!

I'm also asking for creative silent auction donations from the community so that I can find out what cool things people in the area know how to do, or are connected to, or like to make...etc...

Squirrel baby

I'm squirrel-sitting for a friend who rescued this tiny little creature from her front porch about a week ago. He eats puppy formula every three hours out of an eye dropper which he's learned to nurse from. Then he nestles back in to his little box nest (complete with heating pad) and curls up to sleep. Occasionally he jumps and makes cute little sounds in his sleep - what is he dreaming about? Does he remember his nest and his mama? The outdoors at all?

No more snow

Hooray! The snow has finally melted! The first flowers are popping out and the trees are almost in bloom. I'm spending my days outside as much as I can, studying birds, weaving baskets and generally geeking out on all the new plants and life that is returning to my yard. My newest plan for my Career is to try selling some writing in the form of a newspaper column on birds to some local papers, since all I want to do all the time anyway is birdwatch.... and yes, I am the only one without grey hair that goes birding on Friday mornings with the local nature center. And I love it!

Bears, oh my!

The bears have woken up from hibernation, and my mom woke me up with a phone call about a week ago: do you want to come up the street and track a bear? Of course! What else is there to do in Vermont? Up the road we ran, to look at the tracks in the last of the melting snow. The bear had come down from the woods, straight to our neighbors feeder (three houses up) and knocked it down to eat the seeds. From there, he (or she, I don't know) went to the next neighbors house and checked out their bird feeder which was a little too high to knock down. From there, we tracked him right across the street from our house where he was snuffling around on the ground for more birdseed...and then, he walked right across the road and into our yard! He paused under our birdfeeder, then walked right up to where we've been feeding birds outside our southeast windows all winter and stook two feet from the window! We tracked the bear right to our front yard! From there, he walked through the mud and left big muddy footprints next to Nick's car, which we'd walked right past hurrying on our way to see the bear tracks. Funny how that works!

More birds

Some of the more colorful inhabitants of the neighborhood:



(it's not a cardinal)

Tracking is cool

Reading the marks in the snow, I couldn't necessarily say which prints told me, but I felt the deer and the coyote running inside me. My heart pounded as I felt the stalk of the dogs and the surprise of the deer. The flight. Galloping bodies in tight bunched forms and long taught sillouhettes. Short chase. Hungry kill. Yote tracks lead me into, around and back out of the woods in a graceful dance through life and death. Hemlocks bearing witness to the hunger of the deer and the yote.










Deer or coyote?
How many?

PS - you can always make the picture bigger

Sparkles

And a chickadee.

Dawn

Fuzzy Eyesight

I'm not sure how or why I took this picture - it's kind of hard to take such an out of focus shot with a digi. But I looked at it and was interested to note that it's almost exactly what my parent's dining room looks like without my glasses on. I'm practicing living without my glasses; it seems like a contrivance that might be covering some other gift I was given; not to be discovered til I ditch then lenses. I like the option though - thankful, yes, for modern amenities.

Changing colors

Here's what happens when the temperature drops below 32 degrees. Beautiful crazy white stuff falls out of the sky and takes away all the color; the worlds become a magic queendom forest elf-land; the light turns pink and teal and changes everything to match it. Little prisms reflect the moon from all directions. Owls call and birds greet the dawn with whistling love.

November Pallate

The late November pallate; dramatic sun, browning fields, red ozure and golden rod stalks in rich hues.

Another Winter Tradition

Going off the road.

There's also a tradition of strangers helping out; in this case not so much strangers as new acquaintences. I went straight off the driveway in my little honda, and couldn't get back on. Eventually, my four new friends picked her up and put her on the road!

Sledding

One of the great joys of winter in Vermont is definitely whizzing down hills on pieces of plastic. We went out for Nick's brithday to a sledding hill in Plainfield with an awesome view of the cold mountains, tucked up against Spruce mountain and looking out to Camel's Hump. The wind whipped up and it was probably 20 below zero. I made a quick trip to Rainbow Sweets in Marshfield for reinforcements: chocolate (real) cherry cake, walnut caramel torte, almond merengue tortlettes and something like a Sainte Anne-Siere, a towering fluffy mass of flakey biscuit, whipped cream and pastry puff balls dipped in crystalized caramel and filled with creme patesserie... We sledded til the sun went down, and rocked the hill!