A Thought To Ponder – Balance

Life is like riding a bicycle,

To keep your balance you have to keep moving.

Albert Einstein

A New Year… A New Opportunity

Well the holidays are over and a new year has begun. Time for resolutions to be set and often then not quickly broken.  I have given up on resolutions at this time of the year… It is too much like setting ones self up for failure.  I learned quickly via last year’s occurrences that there are too many things in life that one can not plan for.  Taking one day at a time seems to work best for me at this time in my life.
 

Change comes to all it seems eventually.  Sometimes it is a gradual occurrence that we may not even notice.  Then at other times it is like a wave crashing on top of us.  Causing us to lose our footing and fall flat on our butts.  Either way we experience it. 
 

I am not sure what 2013 will have in store for us all.  It seems that life is only getting more complicated.  There are the looming political issues that are plastered across the TV each day.  Fiscal Cliffs and Financial Landslides.  There are the senseless acts of violence and aggression against so many who are unable to defend themselves.  And lets not forget the lack of concern that man has acquired for this wonderful earth we live on and the great need to take care of it so that we will not eventually destroy  ourselves.  Yes, it all sounds quite dismal when it is put into such a context.  But I still see hope.  I know there are those out there who still do not think in such a way. 
 

I know there are those who despite the complacency we have learned to live with over the years, are not crippled by these things.  There are still those who do not feel that everything needs to be done for us simply because we are entitled.  That pulling ourselves up by our boot straps and fixing ourselves is what life really is.  We understand the great need for attention to this earth and the nurturing and care that is needed to sustain it for those to come.  And the violence that seems to be so rampant and unexplainable.  The mindless acts that seem to keep occurring with no apparent reason of explanation.  I am not sure about this one.  I only think that we need to be there for one another.  To keep an open eye and ear to concerns that may arise.  To listen to the sounds around us and not simply to the little world that so many of us have built up around us and ours so that the ugly world will not intrude.  Although at times it seems the only true defense. 
 

I grew up in a small rural town.  It was simpler times and instead of stagnant afternoons of mindless video games, we spent our time in the fresh air and sunshine.  I know that life is still there.  I mean… there is always sunshine and relatively fresh air outdoors.  Yet it calls for a change.  It calls for a turn in what is the normal day for most. A little extra effort if you please.  I know that one can not change all yet if one becomes many a shift can be felt.  I pray for this year to see that shift.  If only a small one, I pray it comes. 
 

May all of you have a truly wonderful new year, filled with new wonders and experiences that truly bless you.  Remember even the events that may at first seem dismal can turn out to give you blessings in the end.

Nineteen and Counting

I haven’t posted in a while but that does not mean that I have not been a busy girl (although I feel more like a busy old lady).  My esty shop has been keeping me on my toes.  Seven rune orders last month and although I could do it faster, I prefer to do it the old fashion way…. by hand. 
 

Yule is only 19 days away and I am happy to say I have all my shopping done.  Now it is time to write my Yule cards, wrap all those presents and start my holiday baking.  The weather has been so warm here though that I have been far from a mood to bake.  But I do have a few new recipes I want to try.  Plus the dry weather lends itself wonderfully to doing some of my goodies. 
 

I guess if you believe in the end of the Mayan calendar the nineteen  and counting could be a countdown to the end… I choose to believe otherwise.  A change?…. Possibly…. hopefully…. It sure could not hurt.  I am ready for some positive changes… some goodness… some fun… And what better time to achieve such a goal then during the Yule time. 
 

And of course in nineteen days, my most favorite event of all… The shortest day of the year…… which means…. A return to the sun.  A return to more sunshine and longer days…. See there is always something good to look forward to.

Blessings,

A Blessed Samhain and New Year To All

Halloween

by Arthur Peterson

Out I went into the meadow, 
Where the moon was shining brightly, 
And the oak-tree's lengthening shadows 
On the sloping sward did lean; 
For I longed to see the goblins, 
And the dainty-footed fairies, 
And the gnomes, who dwell in caverns, 
But come forth on Halloween. 

"All the spirits, good and evil, 
Fay and pixie, witch and wizard, 
On this night will sure be stirring," 
Thought I, as I walked along; 
"And if Puck, the merry wanderer, 
Or her majesty, Titania, 
Or that Mab who teases housewives 
If their housewifery be wrong, 

Should but condescend to meet me"— 
But my thoughts took sudden parting, 
For I saw, a few feet from me, 
Standing in the moonlight there, 
A quaint, roguish little figure, 
And I knew 'twas Puck, the trickster, 
By the twinkle of his bright eyes 
Underneath his shaggy hair. 

Yet I felt no fear of Robin, 
Salutation brief he uttered, 
Laughed and touched me on the shoulder, 
And we lightly walked away; 
And I found that I was smaller, 
For the grasses brushed my elbows, 
And the asters seemed like oak-trees, 
With their trunks so tall and gray. 

Swiftly as the wind we traveled, 
Till we came unto a garden, 
Bright within a gloomy forest, 
Like a gem within the mine; 
And I saw, as we grew nearer, 
That the flowers so blue and golden 
Were but little men and women, 
Who amongst the green did shine. 

But 'twas marvelous the resemblance 
Their bright figures bore to blossoms, 
As they smiled, and danced, and courtesied, 
Clad in yellow, pink and blue; 
That fair dame, my eyes were certain, 
Who among them moved so proudly, 
Was my moss-rose, while her ear-rings 
Sparkled like the morning dew. 

Here, too, danced my pinks and pansies, 
Smiling, gayly, as they used to 
When, like beaux bedecked and merry, 
They disported in the sun; 
There, with meek eyes, walked a lily, 
While the violets and snow-drops 
Tripped it with the lordly tulips: 
Truant blossoms, every one. 

Then spoke Robin to me, wondering: 
"These blithe fairies are the spirits 
Of the flowers which all the summer 
Bloom beneath its tender sky; 
When they feel the frosty fingers 
Of the autumn closing round them, 
They forsake their earthborn dwellings, 
Which to earth return and die, 

"As befits things which are mortal. 
But these spirits, who are deathless, 
Care not for the frosty autumn, 
Nor the winter long and keen; 
But, from field, and wood, and garden, 
When their summer's tasks are finished, 
Gather here for dance and music, 
As of old, on Halloween." 

Long, with Puck, I watched the revels, 
Till the gray light of the morning 
Dimmed the luster of Orion, 
Starry sentry overhead; 
And the fairies, at that warning, 
Ceased their riot, and the brightness 
Faded from the lonely forest, 
And I knew that they had fled. 

Ah, it ne'er can be forgotten, 
This strange night I learned the secret— 
That within each flower a busy 
Fairy lives and works unseen 
Seldom is 't to mortals granted 
To behold the elves and pixies, 
To behold the merry spirits, 
Who come forth on Halloween.