More Spring.....

Here are my tomato seedlings sitting in the garden window being overseen by the Viking, which is a gift from Tor my dear blogger brother from Norway. The other photos are my stove turned into a summer plant stand :) and the backyard starting to get green. The lilacs will soon be blooming. Spring, spring, spring. Hope you are enjoying the new season too.

Happy Birthday

To my darling angel - today is one of those special days to remember how much you gave and how much you added to our lives. I will miss you forever. Thank you for the gift of unconditional love. Always with me, I feel your loving spirit every day.

Just for Fun - What Tarot Card are You?

You are The High Priestess

Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.

The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Springing

For those of you who have been hanging around my blog for awhile, you know that my sister neighbor V and I overwinter pots of plants and flowers in our respective garages and then bring them out to adorn our joint entryway all summer and fall.

Spring has sprung in our Northland because yesterday and continuing today we are bringing the pots back outside. I thought you might like to see what they look like still in garage and right after coming out to "stretch their legs" and get their first drink of water in a long time.

Nature is amazing - the plant in the pot dies, the soil is bone-dry and barren all winter. One day, you look around to see small yellowy-whitish-barely green shoots poking through the soil. It is the mystery of life - the proof that our little human need for "control" - our need to be "superior" to so much of the natural world around us is just so weird, so wrong and so futile.

There is a song running through the Universe. Mother Earth has her own rhythm - the primeval urge to grow on time and in the dark indoors - the eternal clock of the earth, the sun, the stars, the moon, the tides, and the seasons.

So here is how summer begins in my neighborhood and here is how it looks in late summer. It is one beautiful day here - I am off to garden. Namaste.

This JUST In

The wonders of the internet. Two of our three darling grands taken this morning!!!!!

Happy Easter

What a delightful surprise to open my mail box and find this lovely Easter greeting from Tor and Anna in Oslo.

Since I do not yet have a scanner, I took a photo of it this morning so I can share it with all of you. It has sat on my counter top the past few days and has brought many smiles and lots of fond thoughts of my dear friends in Norway. (By the way - Friday was Tor's birthday - drop by his blog and wish him a belated BDay!)

I am going to the cemetery today to take flowers in remembrance of my dear Tom. It has been a while since I have gone there. One thing, it is very difficult in the midst of winter and the other, Tom does not live in the cemetary. He lives in our hearts forever.

The cemetery is the public place that memoralizes Tom's life and marks the many loving and lasting ways he touched all of our lives.

Happy Easter to each of you who celebrate this holiday. Happy burgeoning spring to all. Namaste.

Rebirth

Spring is beginning to bring its warmth and with it - thoughts of renewal and rebirth - the life-giving heat of the sun, the bounty and beauty of the gardens to come. The frozen silence of winter replaced by the laughter of my two little friends across the courtyard as they play tag and ride their tricycles around our center island outside my door.

For the past two weeks (and for many weeks to come) I have been spending every day inside a shelter for battered woman and their children. To feel the pain and anxiety. To look at eyes blackened by the very person purporting to love and cherish us - unthinkable!! We have room for 46 souls in our shelter and every night we have been full and many nights we have a waiting list. My own soul is heavy and yet, my spirit is soothed to know that for the women and children in the shelter, they have found safety and a place to rest themselves for the journey and heavy work ahead.

For me, right now, this time of rebirth means so much as I help to clear a space where these women and their children, supported by the amazing staff at the shelter, can continue to create a future for our children and for themselves. Keep us all in your hearts during this weekend of rebirth and new beginnings.

Here I am - Right Here

It has been an incredible week. It is so gratifying to do this work. It is the work of my heart and soul. It is leading organizational transition and there is always plenty of confusion, angst, blame, guilt and uncertainty roiling around.

I love being able to temporarily hold all that for people while they process, reflect and clear a space for themselves. This means that they are better able to concentrate on the organization's mission - the reason we are all there and in this case it is about domestic violence - the office and shelter are in one big old building. The mission is there every minute. I am grateful and I am blessed. There is much more to come but now it is off to Pilates for me.

New Project

I am so delighted - I have been appointed to serve as the Interim Executive Director of a Native American organization in St. Paul. The organization operates a battered women's shelter (the offices and shelter are in the same building) and an outreach and advocacy program. Yesterday was my first day at the organization and the staff was gracious and welcoming. Inspiring work.

Of course that means my dance card will be really full for the next little bit. I will keep visiting your blogs and try to update my site as often as I can. More to come....

Rest in Peace

My dear, dear Aunt Rosemary died this morning. She was my only Aunt and one of those people who make an indelible impression on your entire life. She was a women of her generation. She married my Uncle at age 15 just before he shipped out in the Navy for duty in WWII. There are photos of the two of them looking so young - he in his uniform, she in a gathered skirt and white blouse - arms around one another. She adored him and spent her life serving him. A woman of her time.

Auntie had four daughters and worked so hard - she never complained and so many, many people took her for granted. She was the patient rock of the family. She was the constant - the North Star. It wasn't until she began to decline into what was thought to be dementia that her husband began to pay much attention.

I feel so fortunate. The first time I went to Seattle for a visit - V took me to visit my Auntie and we had time to bask in one another, to sit together and laugh and hug and love. I brought tons of food and we shared a meal. Her dear voice and smile rests in my heart and soul.

Recently, it was discovered that Auntie did not have dementia but rather had been having mini-strokes that were robbing her of her capacity. She has been in skilled nursing care for the past month and finally just let go. The last time I spoke to her about a month ago - she said many times how much she loves me and how she always believed in me and how she will always love me. I feel the same. Auntie, I send my love and gratitude across eternity.

Tea and Tissues

Yuck! I am home in bed with a gross sore throat and headache. I awoke Sunday morning with a temperature and a raw throat. I have been in bed sleeping, reading and sipping tea. I felt so cruddy today that I actually took Nyquil, which is an over the counter liquid to which I rarely resort - it did help me to feel better though. I hope to be healed and back on my feet tomorrow or the next day. Hope you are all well...........

Newest Addition to my Home

My new pellet stove was installed yesterday! I am very excited - not only have I reduced my carbon footprint, I have increased my self-sufficiency by being able to heat my home in any type of power loss emergency. The next purchase is a battery backup to ensure continued use if I am without power for a more extended period of time.

On top of it all - I have wanted a fireplace in my house for as long I have lived here. The cozy ambience - snowy day outside, a pot of soup on the stove and a nice fire in the stove. Heaven!!

As you can see, I continue to work on making my life more sustainable, resilient and self-reliant. More to come.............

Spring May Be on Its Way

Today it is nearly 60 degrees outside! We Minnesotans are delirious. People are out in shorts - a little early for me but good for them. It has been a very long and dark winter. It got cold really early and it stayed cold. The snow came early and it has remained on the ground since November. Very unusual.

Couple the cold, the ice, the snow and the dark with the level of anxiety and fear flying around in the world - it is has been a tough time for most everyone. I know I have had my share of feeling down and depressed this winter; enough so that I started taking St. John's Wort for a little boost.

The sun is warm, the snow is gone from my deck. Thoughts of springtime planting and sandals fill my reveries. We made it through another winter in the northland. Content today to just be alive.

Snow, Snow, Snow

That's right - we are having rain, ice, snow, rain, ice and now just big clumps of snow falling. March in Minnesota - who can ever tell what will happen next.

Oh wait, wait ----- what happens next is Spring! Hooray. Spring eventually will arrive and when it does - us Minnesotans become giddy with delight. One of the joys of four- season living is the deep appreciation for each of them in their turn.

My friend V and I had a wonderful time. Just plain ordinary stuff - the best. Smiles, hugs, great food, a little shopping, a little home repair, movies, reading, and watching part of the first season of West Wing on VD!

V is a wonderful man and an important person in my life.

PS We also watched Australia - don't bother - although it gave us plenty of laughs in reflection - really terrible, hackneyed, over-acted, and on and on.

Taking a Little Break

My friend V arrived from Seattle yesterday for a visit. He will be here until Monday afternoon. We had such fun last night - talked, laughed, drank wine, ate great food (cooked by moi) and stayed up way past our bedtimes.

Today it is warm and foggy in St. Paul - do you think V brought some Seattle weather this way? This morning we went shopping - V bought boots suitable for the snow. We just had a late lunch and now we are going to hang out and relax for the rest of the day.

I will be dropping in periodically over the next few days but I will also be busy being social and enjoying my company.