Meeting new people and having new experiences

It's been a long time since my last post-almost a month!!! Life has been busy since the start of our new homeschool year and I've been faced with much less in the way of personal time. When I have a few moments for the stealing, I need to choose very carefully the activities with which to fill that time. There are very few of those moments in the offing, and I have many, many projects that I long to spend time on! That's not to say that I am not loving what I'm spending my time on. Our little one is learning how to read and do math, we've joined a recently started Spiral Scouts group, along with another young kids' group, and I've met a wonderful group of witchy women with whom I hope to engage in some spiritual work. They hold a full moon gathering each month; thus far I have been unable to attend, but I hope to be invited again for the next gathering. I'm very excited to have met some people of like mind. It has made me realize just how isolated I felt in my spirituality. I have felt a deep longing for the past several months to connect with other Pagans, people who understand where I'm coming from and with whom I can engage in some honest spiritual and magickal talk without getting the old hairy eyeball. In short, I've been feeling a deep need for connection with people with whom I can be myself, truly and deeply. I have been asking the Goddess for this, and it seems that she is responding in kind, and I'm very very happy to have these new opportunities ahead. On another note, our little one turned five today! It's hard to believe that it's been five years since she and I were holed up in the hospital-me waiting axiously for those two days to pass so that I could take her home and get on with life (that stuff about resting turned out to be a bunch of bs-how can anybody rest when someone is waking her up every two hours to draw blood?). She has been the light of my life since that day five years ago. As these years have passed, I have grown into a woman, transformed beyond my wildest dreams, because of my love for her. How can we live our lives fearfully when we long for our child to live her life with gusto? Our children tend to "listen" to our actions more than our words; what they see us do is important. And so, I'm doing things today that I would have been terrified to do a few years ago. She is an amazing little person-independent, full of curiousity and fire. I feel blessed today, and I hope and pray that the next five years are as wonderful as these past five have been. Slainte!

Just a Little Nip for Friday

My husband found this dragonfly just before our trip to NOLA, so beautiful it seemed to still be alive. Isn't it wonderful what beauty nature sometimes sets right before us if only we are willing to walk through the day with our eyes wide open?

Back Home and in the Swing

We got back from New Orleans a week ago, and slowly life has resumed it's normal pace. Or, quickly, maybe I should say, as it seemed the second we arrived through the door there was laundry to be done, bills to sort through, floors to clean. It feels good to be back home, though; it feels good even to be doing all of the normal, everyday chores. It was great to be away visiting family, but the routine of life changes a lot when one is out of town, and that routine can provide some comfort in a crazy world. My husband's mother is suffering the beginning stages of Alzheimer's and it's a horrible thing to behold. Once a strong, very intelligent woman with a wry sense of humor, her mind is beginning to fail her a bit, and she's living in a nursing home due to the need for around the clock care. His father tried very hard to take care of her, but the task was too demanding for him as she cannot maneuver herself around the house anymore and was having difficulty eating as well. Leaving the nursing home, I was struck by the grim reality that we need to do the things we want in our lives as soon as possible, whether our desire is to travel, create artwork, raise chickens, whatever. We might be spry as a leprechaun when we're 80 years old (if we make it to 80), but we could just as easily be feeble and half blind.

New Orleans was wonderful, as always. In the past I've found it to be a city full of magick and high energy and this trip was no exception. We stayed there for just two days-the first day we were in Louisiana before heading north to stay with my husband's family, and the day before we flew back to Florida. The last night we were there we took a carriage ride around the French Quarter, listening the whole time to the driver's narrative of the history of the city. New Orleans is indeed a city that has suffered much loss, which I suppose is the reason for all of the ghosts who haunt her streets and alleyways. She is also a city whom many artists call home, where people who are just a little different from the "norm" can find a nook where they feel comfortable. She has a sweetness not unlike the night blooming jasmine that perfumes the air during her sultry evenings.

I will miss her!