Thanksgiving

So, I'm predictable and derivative...so shoot me. Please let me preface this post by acknowledging that:

1. I think we all know that the first 'Thanksgiving' pretty much was not happy pilgrims and happy 'Indians' sitting side-by-side eating turkey and comparing cranberry sauce recipes.

2. If one is only giving thanks once a year, one is missing the boat (and I don't mean the Mayflower).

Having gotten that out of my system, I would like to list a few blessings for which I'm deeply thankful. I do indeed try to remember to say thank you often, but a reminder of just a sprinkling of the ways the Universe has graced my life is always a good thing: 

*My sons--29 and 22, brilliant young men with enquiring minds, deep morality, driving passion and bottomless wells of humor

*My beloved Linda,who is the most surprising gift ever to come my way...for unknown and inexplicable reasons she loves me and never lets me forget that (between you and me, one of my most frequent prayers happens as we snuggle in the wee drowsy hours between sleep and waking--a whispered thank you for this treasure to Whomever is listening)

*My sister whom I so deeply admire and respect for her strength and resilience and with whom I so enjoy laughing at...whatever

*The mountains and river that frame this life we've created

*The friends who share laughter, tears, support, encouragement and honesty with me

*Our growing menagerie, and especially this year--after suffering the loss of two cats--the addition of our Yeti and Mots' recovery when I feared we were going to lose her last month

*The cozy roof over our heads and all the welcoming rooms beneath it

*My wooly love affair

*The decadently lush abundance of the Hudson Valley

*The fact that the Moon is rising as I write, and I'm pretty sure the Sun will rise tomorrow; and the knowledge that we are not alone on this ever-spinning planet in a vast-beyond-our-dreams Universe....

Happy Thanksgiving!

It Snowed!

Okay, only for a few minutes, but it was mighty impressive while in progress.  Could snow in early November be a taste of things to come???
However, thus far the Universe has NOT answered my prayers for a power outage to cause an early closing today.  Sigh.

Time Manipulation

Well, we got our extra hour of sleep...or else got the same amount of sleep but an extra hour to spend as we like.  These days I'm forever wrestling with time, trying to beating it back into submission, begging it to just   slow   down, all to no avail.  So here I am handed this extra hour--what to do, what to do....watch a youtube video on needle felting technique? Work on a review?  Make carrot soup? Cuddle with Linda on the couch by the fire as we drink coffee and plan the day?  Endless choices....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

One of the 'rewards' of being a Goddess-loving Pagan is that I get a couple of chances to 'wipe the slate clean' with a new year.  There's the traditional, secular new year, when the whole nation watches giant lighted numbers do a pole dance celebrating the new calendar and fresh resolutions to break.  And there's the spiritual new year honored last night.  My bean runes last night told me: surrender, goddess, relax.  Interestingly (to me, anyway) is that last week those first two runes came up; I put them back in their little bowl last night, mixed well...and pulled them out again, in that order.  So it would seem my mission in this new year, should I choose to accept it, is to surrender to the Goddess and just relax.  Not sure what I'm surrendering....and surrender is a tough word for me.  I give up?  No retreat baby, no surrender? (thanks, Bruce)...let go and let Goddess? Yeah, I do well at surrendering my control (no matter how fictional that control may actually be). NOT.  What I know is that the constant fighting--battling my job, wrestling with all the reasons I can't/won't write, donning camo gear so I can keep dodging making a decision to resume spiritual work I walked away from--with good reason then--three years ago--is wearing me out.  So, in this first dawn of a new year, I'm giving in and will try it Her way...Surrender. Goddess. Relax. 
At least for a little while....