teeny xmas book

liz made some teeny tiny books to sell at the xmas craft fair in december.
they were so well made, with such good quality paper, i had to have one.
even tho she had added a ribbon to hang it on the xmas tree,
which is not something i do.
but they were so wonderful, i got one anyway.

after xmas i realized i could write in it if i wanted!
what if i wrote in one every year, what happened on xmas?
what if i'd started this years ago?  

as the chinese saying goes "the best time to plant an apple tree is 10 years ago. 
the second best time is now" 
or something like that.

so i wrote in this one and plan to buy a few more...
let's see, if i live to be 120 i'll need...omg.

well it turned out the darn thing had like 40 some pages! (each page had 2 sides)
here's the first 4 pages (i only wrote on one side)

"now two-thousand twelve is ending"
"tis december twenty five"
"and despite the mayan warning"
"we have managed to survive"

and on and on and on it goes!!

i can haz book?

from "brushes with"

from "brushes with" by emily toder
the last 6 lines of the book:

I got back in the house
my woolen farmprint pajamas of petting zoo textile
I let them on me
and they hung on me
ways I have managed to sleep after this
vary little

(reprinted here without permission! sorry! but her little book is a favorite of mine, and it comes from Tarpaulin Sky Press)

suddenly i remembered the feral clothing museum that Osprey created in Second Life, and i wanted to add a picture of it because these lines remind me of it.  but alas, the museum is gone, vanished in whatever mysterious disaster  took away Cowell and Salazar as well, and i can't even find any old pictures of it!

sewing with CATS

no sewing class or instruction addresses the subject of CATS, but they ought to.
this is not an acronym.  i mean those small furry creatures.
they love to be involved, and they make me laugh so much!

i appreciate their holding down the fabric while i measure or cut.
...until they decide that ...
a. some of the pins would look nice dropped in their water dish (try catching a cat running off with a pin in his mouth!)
b. the voices in their head are telling them there's a mouse under the fabric.
c. it might be useful to find out how much thread is on that spool on top of the sewing machine. 
d. it's cool the way things drop off the table when you push them.

general rules are: 
1. don't leave the room if there is a hot iron on the ironing board
2. don't leave the room if there are pins anywhere in reach
3. don't leave the room if the sewing machine is uncovered (unless you want to have to thread it all over again with slightly chewed thread)

there may be more rules, but meanwhile, here are my helpers:

HAIR as it should be

youtube has a video of GWU performing HAIR -- the real HAIR!

if you've heard the soundtrack or saw the movie, you couldn't guess what an uproar HAIR caused. 
it went all the way to the supreme court! 
frontal nudity, obscenity, flag desecration for starters. 
banned in Boston and nearly everywhere else in the world, too. 
(i did manage to see it in Boston the one pre-opening performance before it shut down).

the movie of HAIR is cleaned up and has good music and beautiful people, but it just doesn't have the raw energy, joy of life and in-your-faceness that make the real thing so thrilling. not to mention the missing songs.

HAIR's the explosive expression of a dream of a better world of love, joy, and beauty, back when the government was trying to kill us, before iphones, before AIDS, 'the pill' was new, before women realized...well, but you know all that.

the GWU performance on youtube is like going to the theatre and having really bad seats for a really good show. 
even so, it's wonderful to see it as it should be, young, raunchy, rude, crude, defiant, youth in love with life, body, self, and each other.  
the music is great, especially if you already know the words. i wish their audio-visual department had been up to par with their theater department!

tiny women stand up and dance!

mudpie joins with other female tinies on Raglan Shire's beach to dance for women's lives!

Petlove Petshop is making a video for the One Billion Rising campaign, part of second life's participation in this call to action to end violence against women and girls. 
not that violence is a problem for tinies, but out of solidarity with our biggie and real life sisters!
on February 14, 2013, men and women in Second Life will join activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and people across the world to Walk, Dance, and Rise as a show of unity, individual strength, and the need for change.

stopped at the light

late for meditation.  of course, the light turns red just as i reach it. 
wait... wait... wait... wait... wait... wait

up the hill strung out along the sidewalk to my left some people come striding along in the cold, chatting happily.

without a pause they walk off the curb and cross the road in front of me,
of course, just as the light turns green.

to myself i mutter "may we reach enlightenment at the same time"
and at that one of them looks up.

she waves to me and mouths "thank you!"
and it makes all the difference.

festivities of february!

longest of the months

yet having the fewest days

february is

(haiku by mudpie)

february! (apparently pronounced feb-yoo-wary) here in winterland seems like the longest month.  maybe that's why it has so many holidays.

there's Feb 2nd, one of the halfway holidays between the equinox and the solstice -- the sun is halfway here!! 

of course this is groundhog's day, the day when we badger a woodchuck.

it's also Imbolc (from the belly) or Brighid's day. 

could also be candlemas, whatever that is.

then comes the day the music died - Feb 3.  if you don't know, look it up.

and then bring it on!! -- Valentine's day  -- on which volumes could be written!

next i think is president's day, in the USA. 

a boring for sure but necessary long weekend in this month of waiting for the sun to get 3 weeks closer!

hmmm that's it, except for those odd days that nobody knows where they come from like Thank a Mailman Day and Hoodie Hoo Day (feb 20)

now and then we get an extra day in february.  this excites lots of controversy and speculation and consternation as if there is some greater meaning!

has anyone pulled together stats for feb, like car accidents, heart attack deaths, weddings, births, drastic haircuts, hospital surgery errors, hospital surgery recovery times, people who decide never to speak to their sibling again, murders, meals eaten in restaurants?

after writing this, it came to my attention that there is something of a holiday for many americans, called superbowl sunday, which has it's own special foods, drinks, outfits? and is the occasion of many parties.  party on whoever you are!   

aunt weese

once or maybe twice my mother said disapprovingly to my sister "you look like aunt weese."  of course it was said disapprovingly, as was just about everything my mother said to my sister (which oddly enough caused me some suffering as a child, and still does, my sister being my idol and my hero).

we puzzled over that for years.  we did know that aunt weese was one of daddy's mother's sisters, but other than that we knew nothing about her, not even what she looked like.  i'm pretty sure her name was Louise, as i have since met a woman named Louise who is called Weezy.

was mom referring to her manner of dress, or her hair, or was she stout, or buxom?  did she make funny faces?
it's a great joke now that there is nobody to explain it to us.  if my sister's hair is sticking up, or she's wearing something odd or she's feeling insecure, i'll tell her "you're just like aunt weese!"

hooray for the post office !

it's great to get internet greetings saying Happy Birthday -- email, FB, twitter, and even e-cards.  e-cards can be amazing. but you know what? my favorite is still snail mail cards.  i know, i know, they use up trees for paper, they cost money and need stamps, exhaust-spewing trucks and gas hogging planes have to transport them across the country. plastic pens are a blight upon the earth i'm sure.

but still...
i love the suspense of bringing them home from the p.o. and opening them.
i love that my friends went to all this trouble to choose one, write on it, lick it, stamp it, mail it.
i love that they are around the house for as long as you want them, and whisper to you "you have friends out there!" 
it's good to have that reminder lying around your house.
especially in cold January!

tea and film discussion

snowing like mad today. yay!
i love the bright sunny days, but more snow will be fun.

a friend and i met in a tibetan teahouse to discuss the movie SAMSARA, which he sent me a copy of.
a profoundly disturbing film.  has anyone else seen it?  we can find a teahouse with more pillows.  (maybe somewhere warmer, too)

for love of winter

sunny and 30 F today!  i took some more rugs out and broomed them...didn't bother with my jacket, and walked on the frozen snow in my sneakers.  w00t!

had some eggs to use up so i found a simple and delicious quesadilla recipe.  this used up all the eggs (so now am out of eggs) and have now to use up a bunch of cilantro, 1/2 can of black beans, and most of a jar of salsa, 2/3 a package of whole wheat tortillas. 
 there is also cheddar cheese left over but that won't be a problem!

for the book groups i am trying to read Pillars of the Earth, and for the other one, Founding Brothers.  omg they are both so bad.  xtian told me to read Geek Love and the library got it for me -- a paperback covered with tape and well used.  i'm already into it.

what are they thinking?  this looks like it must be popular, can't they spring for a new paperback at least?  but i know it's not that easy accessioning a book, lotta paperwork and stuff.  anyway, Geek Love will save me from death by ponderous tomes.

rug cleaning

it could almost be spring!
i love it after a spell of below 0 F weather how anything 20 degrees or higher feels balmy!
especially with the warm sun and longer days
and yesterday a woodpecker drummed a bit of flirting!

still the sun sits only a bit above the southern horizon at noon, and the shadows are loooong.
any wind takes things back to 0.

yesterday was perfect for rug cleaning.
i dragged the big braided rug and a small asian style rug out onto the snow.
once all the dirt and cooties had frozen off of them, i swept them, feeling like Strega Nona in my too-small plaid wool hunting jacket, the paisley neck 'buff' my sister gave me worn like a babushka, big clumsy work gloves, cords over heavy longjohns, and hiking boots!
after all it was sunny, but barely in the teens temperature wise.

(this is a common fashion look for vermont ladies when they are at home, brown is not advised lest you be mistaken for a bear)

and my broom was the old back porch broom which of course is worn and witchlike!  a good opportunity to practice my cackle.

heart's quilt

a friend of mine is working through a trauma in her life by making a quilt.
witnessing her progress, i understand something new about art.
she's only using patterns of one color, indigo, but shape and arrangement tell the story!
really it seems more like music composition than a visual tale --
long smooth shapes are her life before.  
then small sharp cornered shapes jumbled crazy-quilt style as everything is thrown into sorrow, confusion, shock, and uncertainty.
after that comes the orderly opening freedom of the new future!
it will look amazing. and meanwhile, she recovers and heals.
i wonder how many quilts that i have viewed and thought, "nice", "lovely", "gorgeous", "weird", were opening someone's deepest heart to me, and i had no idea!

0 farenheit and falling

at 10 am the thermometer on the dashboard read 5 F.  the car started right up (Subaru, of course!) and i backed it out of the shed into the sun.  
5 minutes later i came back and it now read 3.
isn't it amazing that it worked at all?  that the tires don't freeze in, that the doors open, etc?
driving through sun and shade the temperature remained steady between 0 and 1.
i had a car for awhile that had to have boiling water poured on something under the hood, i forget what now, for it to start when it was 0 or thereabouts. 
of course by the time i carried the kettle out to the driveway, it was not boiling, but it worked.
brrrr!

mouse portal

there's a certain kind of toy mouse my cats like.
they have others of similar size, shape, covering, noise (a rattle sound) but they ignore them.

Barney will bring it to me to throw for him over and over when he's in the mood. Drop it on my foot or under my chair, then stand on hind legs with paws on my thigh and do the "i'm sending you a telepathic message" thing that cats do.  if that doesn't work, the claws go into my thigh.  THROW MY MOUSE!

after a bit the mouse disappears. totally! i've searched under furniture with a flashlight, used a stick under the fridge, cleaned the house (after my fashion).  gone. 

these mice are sold loose from a bowl in the pet supply store. lest they suddenly stop making them or stocking them, as so often happens, i bought a bunch of them to dole out on days when the cats are bored to crabbyness.  they are popular for awhile, then GONE. VANISHED from the earth.

recently john gave them a new orange one.  hank ate the tail right away. by the next morning the orange mouse was still in evidence, and a red mouse had appeared in the food dish. 
by that evening a green mouse had turned up on the rug behind the rocker.

it seems cats have access to some parallel universe.  perhaps our missing socks will begin to reappear now that the portal is open.

mudpie's unmeds

i mentioned briefly in a previous post that mudpie is making placebos for friends for such ailments as colds, anxiety, sleep problems, and even arthritis.  she is qualified to do this because she has a nurse outfit she sometimes wears in second life on hallowe'en.

turns out she's ahead of her time. a recent article in Harvard Magazine tells of the serious research being done with placebos...why they work so well!!  even when subjects know they are placebos! 
or do they?  it's WAY COMPLICATED and you can read it yourself if you wish to by clicking here .

one of my favorite parts is that they are also experimenting with the doctor side of things to see how different behaviors and attitudes affect the patient's recovery.  
in one experiment practitioners were "...required to touch the hands or shoulders of members of the third group (of subjects) and spend at least 20 seconds lost in thoughtful silence."

the lost in thoughtful silence part amuses me no end. next time i'm at the doctor and she becomes lost in thoughtful silence as she ponders my symptoms, i'm afraid i'll start laughing!

mudpie posing for her picture for the label of the pseudoceuticals

 and being photobombed by her pet mouse

 

$5000/week for AS LONG AS YOU LIVE BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

there's this mail i got a long time ago -- maybe more than a year?  i don't remember exactly. to win a bunch of money.
i looked through it in an idle moment, and did the "paste this here" "scratch this off here" things, and sent it in. why not?
since then i've gotten lots more!  each time there's stuff you can order, but nothing i can't just go buy somewhere if i wanted it, which i don't, so i just paste and scratch and mail it back.
now they are telling me, a year or so later, that i am about to win $5,000. a week for life!
so i sent that one in. 
oh boy!  
maybe i'll win!
liz says i should send it in the name of a younger person, then it would be worth way more.
which started me thinking -- how long do the people who win these things live?
has anyone checked to see if they are dying young, or after a certain amount of time?
do they die mysteriously in small plane crashes like popular democrats?
after i win, should i change my name and move to another country?

turkeys

eight turkeys went through our yard in the snow this morning. right under the window and crossed to the neighbors' garden 
then on over the ruined road and up the hill by the frozen falls.
they are huge!  birds big as dogs.
i want to toss some food to them. 
a universal human longing -- a powerful urge to interact with other animals.
for me it's toss them food. for small boys, scatter them with a rock.
for bigger boys fell them with a stone.
if nothing else, they should acknowledge me
it isn't acceptable that they go their way and i mine.
if i were very hungry i would follow them and kill them.

time for a change

it's been a month since my last post.  my life has changed quite a bit in the last 2 years, and just a note here to myself to change my blog. instead of telling stories, i'll try writing short bits about what i'm thinking about.  we'll see.

meanwhile back in raglan shire

mudpie is ready for xmas in her cozy houseboat.  there are nice cottages available, but this is perfect for me!  almost perfect -- if only my shire had a road or a canal right to raglan shire!  

waiting for xmas can get boring, so the tinies have constructed a race track!  mudpie is hooked on racing and has made the scoreboard for 2 days in a row -- (but now everybody's getting better so no longer on it)

 and one other thing -- mudpie's gone into the placebo business in first life.  lots of studies show them to be effective, and in a recent study they worked as well as drugs even when the patient was told they were just placebos!  
i'll try to get a picture of this great new product before they are all snapped up.

An autumn of visitors!

it's true -- Vermont is the new North Carolina.
here it is december and no snow covering the ground.
how will santa even find us?
here's how it looks:


















a little time off now after such a busy fall.
first came college friends to brookfield,
then halloween kittens

we blew up our 'scream' and had it around for halloween
and again for thanksgiving, when there was a wedding
at our house!


















28 years and they are finally legal
at least in the Republic of Vermont.
the scream was not part of the wedding,
altho we considered including it.















saturday morning a flock of turkeys went through our yard

but crossed the road just as i found my camera.
why did they cross the road?

What i learned in Brookfield in October

Modern cars have slightly tinted windows unsuited for viewing autumn leaves.
Looking at photos of me with my southern friends:
    Practice smiling bigger
    Practice sitting more ladylike
People from away are not as inspired by healthy food produced in a healthy manner.
People from away have funny ideas about cold and snow.
A GPS can be useful on a foggy night, but is not as much fun as getting lost and asking strangers for directions. 
RTFM means "read the friendly manual" -- oh really?   

STRIPES

don't you love it when the log on the fire
matches the cat on the rug?

Rude Veggies

in one of those british tv shows, as kind of a casual aside from the plot, there was a box for collection of rude vegetables.  apparently there was to be a contest judged by  -- of course --the parish priest.  

i had no idea what a rude vegetable might be until the contents of the box were shown!

what a fun idea!  carrot growers especially have had many a hoot over their crop.  i mentioned it to my neighbor, and she brought this one by yesterday. 

could my town have a contest like this?  not likely!  this is america - we are above that sort of thing.

*giggle snort*

Les Miserable by Theatre on the Hill

(click any picture to enlarge)

 minding her own business in her pumpkin-head psycho nurse hallowe'en costume, mudpie got a message from Skyblue Earthboy that Theatre on the Hill was doing Les Miserable (which they've been working on for a loooong time!) right now!

(scene 1)

 she tp'd right over and sure enough the seats worked for tinies too!  hooray for tiny power!  my snapshots are not very clear, but you'll get the idea.

(the flames were wild and crackling!)

 the singing was beautiful, and the sets stunning. the acting was a bit robotic in places, but perhaps that's as good as it gets.

ordinarily i don't go for seeing something in SL that would actually be better in RL, but i'd never seen Les Miserable, and i did enjoy the music.

(the river flowed toward us!)

 michael heard i was the only tiny attending and came to be my wingman, as he put it!  as you can see we are both mesmerized, even tho he was watching on his CELL PHONE!

actually i have no idea what the plot was about, but still it was lots of fun with lots of good energy in the troupe. made me miss Lucy's days on the SL stage!

out beyond wifi

(View from the house -- photos by Josephine, not me)

the floating bridge (photo by josephine)

a friend from college borrowed a house in Brookfield -- a totally out-of-the-way town.  the house is on a narrow dirt road off a wider dirt road off a back road.  thank goodness another friend lent me her GPS or i'd never have found the place in the dark in total autumn fog!

 we had a great time, 6 friends from all over the country who see each other once a year or so.


Brookfield is known for its floating bridge - currently closed for repairs - and surprisingly there's a wonderful restaurant there, too, Ariel's.

vermont's leaf show was not up to par this year, but vermont is always beautiful (except maybe in November)

garden buddha & squirrel

the little kid who came 
a few years ago to our door
pushing a lawn mower he barely topped,
and asked if we wanted to hire him to mow our lawn, 
is now a big tall kid!  
strong enough to pick up the picnic table 
to move it out of the way of his new riding lawn mower
and mow several lawns in town and out, 
and the library as well!  
he's a good businessman, and now 
that he's old enough to be driving (legally) (yes, we've recognized you) 
he mentioned that he's twice failed to pass the test to get his license.  
but since then, 
he did pass it. 
i'm not asking and he's not saying, 
but i did notice someone left a 25 cent piece on our garden buddha.

CLICK TO ENLARGE AND LOOK AT TOP OF LARGE ROCK FOR A SURPRISE!  HEH HEH

early one saturday morning

me:       what's all that noise in there!?
hank:    dis box had spider innit mebbe
me:       who's going to pick up all those styrofoam pellets and put them back in that box!
hank:    i haz to wash dis foot now

summer's end

labor day was summer blue and pink
shy autumn played around the edges
tuesday never dawned
cold rain down your back


and rain and rain and rain and rain
and i opened my eyes to dreams of yellow pencils
and the smell of paper wrappers on crayons
chalk dust squeak


oh to be in second grade
and the cold rain falling
my new desk shines smooth under warm lights
and my teacher is so beautiful!

castle cats

lucy's second life cat went missing.
i finally rezzed another one
fluffy turned up lost in the castle!
now there are two, fluffy and fussby.

they play together -- and when lucy's not online
they really like getting lost in the castle.
lucy put some chairs down to block the door
it works!

getting away for the day

Labor Day monday
a beautiful day!
sunny, breezy, not too hot, not too cool

in the morning,
cars headed north with kayaks on the roof
and cars headed south with kayaks on the roof

cars with bicycles on the roof drove north
and cars with bicycles on the roof drove south

later bicyclists bicycled by going north
and more going south

in the evening it all reversed.

WSOS meet Old Whitey

yellow jackets took up residence in our garage. we couldn't see quite where - they were zooming in and out behind a big bunch of garden rakes, shovels, hoes that leaned in a corner. after we searched the internet (google "winged spawn of satan")  i devised a plan involving fishing line and a bungee cord to pull the tools over from inside the house. i gathered materials and made my plans.   meanwhile john went out one night and just stealthily moved all the tools.

three nest holes were in the dirt and bark rubble of the garage floor. during the day the WSOS poured in and out and threatened anyone who came near. winter is coming and we have 6 cords of wood dumped in the driveway to stack in the garage.   something must be done.

after more research, and suggestions from chemist friend Liz, John purchased some stuff to spray. i had my doubts.   but one coolish night (last night) he suited up in heavy shirt, hat, pants tucked into socks, heavy gloves and headed out on his mission.

in just one minute he was back in the house laughing. our resident skunk, Old Whitey, had found the holes and was digging up the nest!  yum!  go Whitey!  we'll see later today how that worked out.

while we were laughing over this, hank and barney were tearing up the kitchen. what? what? a moth? a LIVE MOUSE!  their first!  being just over a year old, and shelter kittens, their moms never taught them catching and killing.   they were doing pretty well at chasing. John managed to chase it out the back door.  knowing mice, it'll be back.

ring out bells of vermont

yesterday at 7 pm all the bells in all the towns & villages rang through the mountains and valleys for the anniversary of last year's amazing floods of Irene, and all that has come to pass since then. 

napping 4 dummies

cats indulge in napping as a hobby.

they find new and interesting places, and then take a nap there.

you might say "what a lovely spot for a picnic"

or "we should definitely kayak here"

cats say "what a perfect spot for a nap"

 if they could, they would keep life-lists of places they've napped.

they'd want to nap on every covered bridge in the country

or every lighthouse

or every state park

they'd have slides to show you

an online photo album of their last 100 naps.

humans check right out when they nap

cats nap their way into the sounds and smells and breezes

and especially sunbeams

it came from curio obscura

been so busy i never get to second life.  today there was a sale at curio obscura and mudpie made a trip in-world.  mudpie's pet mouse, and lucy's pet cat are always very happy to see them!  i feel guilty leaving them alone so much.  they rush over eager for a pat or some company.

see mouse? click to enlarge!

mudpie bought a tentacle.  hope it doesn't catch mousie!  stay away!

OH NO IT's GOT ME HELP MOUSIE RESCUE ME!!!

i'm all stretched out!

veggie heaven

a food day today.
our neighbor's been generously sharing the garden produce, and our fridge hardly closes.
last year it was zooks.  ..i'm just eating the last of my frozen zuchinni bread!
this year it is cukes, cabbage, rainbow chard, tomatoes, and a pepper or squash here and there.
so delicious! but!
today is the day.
last week i started the vinegar made from blackberries and water. 

we're eating the amazing tomatoes fast as we can.
today i washed and briefly steamed 3 pots of chard, and bagged and froze it for winter soups.
the long colorful stems, i debated, then (shhh) threw away. as Ma said in Jeff Danziger's Out In The Sticks "want not, freeze not."
i used the rest of the cabbage to make a big lot of cole slaw to eat for a few days.
the remaining cukes became 2 jars of refrigerator pickles (not worth dragging out the canning equipment)
now i just have the not-quite-ripe pears on my pear tree, and all the quince if i want to make jelly.
who needs a CSA when you have NGV -- neighbor growing (too many) veggies.

nature's screechers

all these years earwigs have insisted on sharing our house. 

some years a few, some years a plague. 

to better relate to them, i've read all i could find from earwig scientists and exterminator's websites. 

earwigs came from england. (on the mayflower?)

nothing eats them, except guinea hens. (can that be true?) 

they sometimes emit a foul odor. (when? and why?) 

they are good mommies, guarding their bazillion eggs and then guarding the babbies that hatch out. (redeeming qualities ~ so sweet) 

they eat decaying vegetation. 

they don't get in people's ears. (never. ok maybe once somewhere one did by accident) 

they try to hide if you are trying to kill them, (but they are not very bright)

all these years i thought i was an expert. 

then this week i read in the NYT science section that male earwigs have 2 working penises. (or penes to be correct) 

that's all it says about that subject. (believe it or not) (no why, no how, no pictures)

Flowers of the Flood

 today on a walk up the road i noticed some kinds of plants -- weeds -- wildflowers --  i've never seen before in my years walking this road.  and in my back yard, too!  since last year's flood, some of my usual weeds are not as much in evidence, although not gone....that mustard stuff, and the poison ivy...  and i have some new weeds.

 i had to look up a ferny-leafed greenyellow flowerspiked plant. it's ragweed!  i didn't even know what this famous plant looked like. 

and here's another new one i had to look up.

some kind of smartweed - i think several kinds are in my yard

jewelweed has come up behind the garage -- i think i'll keep it if it will stay! jewelweed is so pretty, and. supposedly good to rub on a poison ivy rash, too.

 i don't have a picture of japanese knotweed, because i pull up any plants as soon as i spot them...don't mess around with that stuff. 

according to the internet, you can eat it in the spring.

naaaaa don't think so.

Thursday meditation

the meditation center is open several times a week.   the same method of meditation is taught and practiced in the same room on the same cushions and yet each of the days is different.
thursday meditation is mid-day on a weekday, when traffic and construction work and the store downstairs are active.  when the weather is good the windows and doors are open and the busy world outside flows in and out of the room with the breezes as we sit and hold our seat.  none of that peace and quiet, non- distraction coddling for us -- we practice holding our seat and staying with our mind through it all, as all of us sneeze, open water bottles, take off sweater, scratch.

someone is timekeeper on thursdays, but no gatekeeper.  perhaps that's why it is thursday that throws me the otherworldly challenges!  one week it was dragons fighting outside the center. the noise was deafening. we sat through the metallic screeching and tearing, the alarming beeping, the building-shaking crashing.  it went on for the entire hour. (our center is next to a train yard.)  i knew it was a test and i brought the dragons and their fearful battle into my consciousness instead of letting them pull my mind out to them.  i was not afraid or angry.

another time, as i left the room, i was attacked by a demon!  she flew at me with beak and talons emitting dreadful cries!  i tried to remember how to deal with this...i did remain outwardly calm, mostly friendly, but i admit i tried to get away and make her stop.  not bad for a first encounter, but in retrospect i should not have tried to get away, but maybe worked my way along to the tea area as she followed screeching, and made tea for both of us?  i remember one story of a sage who allowed the demon to eat him up, but i'm not sure how to do that.

i don't have these encounters with the other world evenings, or on sunday mornings when there is a gatekeeper and often even a kasung, and there are protector chants at the beginning and end.  but i am curious to face these thursday challenges.

ms y times ms x = drama squared

which comes first, a dramatic life, or a career cutting hair?  Sweeney Todd had plenty of drama before he took up the profession, but does it also cause life-drama?

 i called ms x for an appointment yesterday, caught her at home without her book, it was the anniversary of her mom's death -- now there's a story!  

we ended up on the phone for an hour. her life is so dramatic, she even has an identical twin,  not exactly an evil twin but...  when i said someone told me you were also working at the salon down the street, she said her twin, ms y, had without telling her taken a job there and some customers had gone there thinking it was my ms x. twin hair-dressers (*cough* cosmetologists) must = drama squared!

i'll try her again next week.

still life with purple

last sunday, came home and dropped my stuff on the porch chair.  came out later and saw it and it looked so pretty!