the dream catcher

wintery blue

time for relection…
the solstice is over.
Christmas has come and gone.
yet, the true spirit of the winter season -with all of its call for joy, peace and remembering of family and old fiends - is still present in my heart.

what i’m looking forward too…
another heavy snowfall.
in it’s wake, winter’s snowfall has always provided me with
intense quietness created from winters icy blue coating. The pillows of snowflakes gathering themselves together never fail to amaze…muffling the most congested wrestling of traffic, providing glittering reflections for moonlit skies, offering one the peace to hear your own breath rise and fall as you walk through the woods.

great are the wonders of winter time.
inspiring visions of togetherness in all of its varieties...
reflections of time spent with friends who have past,
room for laughter yet to be shared in the gatherings to come,
the sleeping seeds of spring silently waiting to share their wonders.

yes, time may be reaching it's measured close of 365 days, but winter has still more to share with us.

may the wonders of the season rest with you for the remainder of the year, while the quiet of snowfalls yet to come – allow for the heralding of all that is waiting for you - in the new year ahead.

peace

linda

snowday!

on december 1st, mother nature delivered lots, and lots of snow...over 15" at my house!

it was impossible to get my car out of the snow drifts, so i decided to get myself inside and stay put, get warm, and sip hot coocoa...like you're supppose to on a snow day.

one of the best parts of the day (other than not having to commute unlike some of the insane 3-5 hour reckless travelers) was getting to watch my dog wrigley react in total uncontrollable joy, warm-coated-retriever-bliss, snow romping for the first time in her life!
she was beside herself playing with and in the snow.
it made my entire day. i couldn't stop smiling and laughing at her...with her.

i repeated the same things during each of the 12 times (at least) that i took wrigley outside.
she'd go running into the deepest snowbanks she could find, push her nose deep into the snow and pop her head out, then go running to the next clean fluffy pile she could find...hopping like a rabbit through the deep deep snow, me loping, being dragged behind.
the snow was wet, heavy and easily finding it's way down my boots, up my pant-legs, into my eyes, and layering my entire body. needless to say, i was not as nimble or graceful as wrigleydawg was in "dashing through the snow."
we'd be out about 25-30 minutes and then i'd have to tease her back towards the house...boundry lines gone that distingushed yard, from sidewalk, from driveway, from road...it was a winter landscape that begged for exploring.
but, when my feet couldn't tolerate the snowpacking they were gathering in my boots it was time to head inside.

the day incldued everything one should experience on the first snowfall of the season.
excitement.
big, fluffy flakes that fell for 12 solid hours.
my first december snow angel.
a fire on in the fireplace.
hot cocoa on the stove.
boots and soggy mittens at the front door.
rosy-colored cheeks from the brisk fresh air.
no work.
a good book.
and, your best wet-hair-smelling cozy dawg at your feet...sleeping off her romping, until the next round in about half an hour.

yes, it was a perfect snowday.

wishing you such simple joys of the season.
linda

last days of fall

i have quite the collection of fall leaves,
their gathering, growing in number,
pressed between pages of some of my favorite books.
holding onto time, these velvety tree petals are
embued with the following:
a mixture of various shades of bight blue sky,
a dense foggy morning;
follow it up with another day
soaked through from rain the previous night,
coat it with a bite of crispy white pre-dawn frost,
then bathe it once again in a golden morning sunrise;
you now have the perfect batch of leaves.

now, store until ready to use.

i prefer to send them off as delicate, but colorful accents
for letters. often to people who i think would appreciate getting to
share some of that autumn time-capsule,
some of mother natures seasonal elixir...

i do believe, it's like getting to send a piece of the day,
along with all the contridictions that the fall holds.

this huge burnt red maple, would hold
the surprise of the warm sun against
your face, perhaps the sky compeating for attention;
as your eyes would be drawn
towards the intense blue of a crisp october 29th sky
but, the contrast is what is so stunning.

yes, even fall is indecisive about it's own departure,
wanting to hang onto us...
the way we want to keep ahold of it, for just a bit longer.

i never was good at goodbyes.

welcoming sweet november.
linda

halloween is approaching...

if ya wanna know the truth...halloween has always scared me a bit,
even before the whole Freddy Kruger thing (although I have never
watched a single one). i totally get the free candy thing, don't get me wrong, i love the costumes, the kids the fun of it all.
BUT...

the whole concept of those blood bath movies gives me the creeps.
the idea of wanting to be scared...i just don't get it?!
it's not the idea of spirits, because i am comforted sometimes
by the notion of ones spirit, "energy" to be more precise, of those
friends and loved ones that have passed over. the idea that i still
feel some sense of them, makes me feel at peace, even
joyful...knowing i'm sharing in the Divine when they're surrounding me.

no, the thing about halloween that scares me, is the projection of evil.
it's just that simple. i fear the idea of evil, the images of evil.
i fear the perpetuation of evil and i worry for the people that i think
look to evil as a means of escape...even in movies.

for me, it feeds on my soul. it takes a piece away from me that cannot
be replaced. some bit of my innocence that i don't ever want to let got of.
i don't even like the "fear" that it creates in me.
i want to keep hold of my ability to feel safe, to feel compassion.
to feel for another. something that connects us, the thread
of humanity that keeps me...well perhaps niave, sensitive,
hopeful.

tonight i found out that a young boy was hit by a train near my stop.
it was horrible news. i ached for that poor family having to receive that heartbreaking
news of their child taken so brutally. as i passed the crossing area, police cars
still onsite...i said a prayer. actually several prayers.
for the family, for help from God in coping with such a tremendous loss.
for their days to come and the years that follow.
for that young boy, to feel peace and love surrounding him.

i couldn't help but feel it was eerie that this news came while returning
from dropping off memorial -thank you-cards for my great aunt mary's
memorial mass, (which is coming up this saturday). Mary was an amazing
women. she lived a very loving, independent, faithfilled, long healthy life.
earlier that evening i had just greived for her loss. for the impact of "not having her
here" effecting so many she was closest too.

but, the harsh comparison of the news of this total stranger, this young boy,
(my nephews age, who was delivering the news to me via cell phone)
made me deeply sad for his family and those friends who will be searching for
answers for so many years. answers that may never come.

i think i was suppose to think about loss tonight, or death or something
of the combination. because the night was not over.
less than 45 minutes later, after picking up my sweet dawg wrigley,
while we were driving home we passed a wee bit of apossum in the middle of the road.

i backed the car up and stopped- right in the middle of the street-
keeping the approaching cars behind me from passing, and possibly hitting it...
usually in my animal guarding routines (of which i have had many)
after a short while they usually take the opportunity of blocked
traffic and make a run for it.
this time though, it wasn't taking its' stopped auto opportunity.
i tooted my horn, urging it to move across the road...nothing.
i could see that it was alive, sitting upright...
but, as i inched my car foward, careful not to scare it into the oncoming traffic,
i rolled the window down and looked closer...

this poor little animal was bleeding from the mouth.
dripping on the pavement. trying to steady itself.
that poor animal, sitting helpless, looking so very sad, had no energy to move itself.
it was dying right there in front of me.

god, i couldn't take it...i felt overwhelmed with all of the loss that evening...
i began to sob.

it was so tiny and innocent looking. i couldn't even bare to watch.
oh my god, what can i do...? i looked again, it was  gagging...

i felt helpless.
traffic was piling up behind me.

i slowly drove away.

thoughts ran through my head,
geezzzz...couldn't i have done something?
would it have bitten me it i tried to help it...?
could i have covered it with the towel wrigley was sitting on...?
i kept driving.

i wished i could fix it all.
the whole sad night.
the loss. the death, the feeling helpless.
thoughts of families suffering this night moved through me.
i kept driving, wiping the tears.

death seems so cruel for some, and such a blessing for others...

i wondered what i was suppose to be learning from it all.
i feel so sad.

on all souls day (halloween), i promise to remember all those
gentle souls, humans and creatures alike, that have passed before me...
and remember to say a prayer for all of them.

yes, perhaps i'm suppose to do just that...
to be sending something "sacred" out into the world that evening...
to combat the scary.
to ease some sorrow.

i want so badly to ease some sorrow.

i hope you will have a few prayers to send out too.

peace,
linda

time for falling leaves

i can't believe that it has taken me this long
to sit down again with my thoughts...
or perhaps to feel good about sharing them again.

the other morning i got up before the sunrise. typical for my weekday,
but this was a saturday morning, and i really wanted to stay in bed,
wrapped in my warm down comforter holding onto r.e.m. a bit longer...
but my sweet pea dawg wrigleygirl needed to go out.
so out we went...and what a reward awaited me after our walk.

just when we had hit the steps to our house
the sun lifted her head just over the horizon throwing a
deep orange light across everything. my god, you would think that
it should be possible to touch that kind of light...to hold it in your
hand...it felt that rich with energy and texture.

the golden color soon blanketed everything, running across the lawn,
then creeping up the bushes, chasing towards the base of the tree,
slowing creeping along the branches like a squirrel
finding it's way...but it was light, warm against the chill morning wind.

yes, the light on the trees seemed to make you believe that the leaves
were aglow from the inside. making them appear more alive then enroute to
another season. the apricot oranges, merigold yellows, chartreuse greens,
all dripping in a saturated "perfect autumn" sun bathing.

as the rays morning color moved along the tops of the trees,
it sent one leaf fluttering down, then another...
they didn't come all at once, they just melted off, dancing as they were coming down.
almost happy to be going on their way...their departure, bathed in the morning.
one by one, as if waiting for the cue from mother
nature...." go ahead...move along, it's time for leaves to fall."

sometimes i forget that there is magic to be found in a sunrise.

don't forget to go for a walk early some morning...
and if you're lucky,
you might get a look at your shadow,
leaning up against nature...
listening for what the leaves are being told to do next.

missed you.
linda