Mosquitos Buzz and Bite
Cicadas Sing
Fireflies Float and Light
Three Winged-Ones join their forces as darkness starts to fall
They use their gifts in unison to AWAKEN one and ALL
To say I am frustrated and perplexed by the current election cycle would be an understatement. Although I know I’m not alone in my feelings, due to the divisiveness I don’t want to get into politics here. What I want to get into is how to not get caught up in this chaos and lose ourselves. And yet, I struggle to find the way to do this myself. I write this as I attempt to step away from my social media sites and stop reading the latest breaking news reports. For my peace of mind I must.
So, today I balanced my day off time by doing things to care and nurture myself and my family. I changed my sheets! (I love fresh sheets on the bed) I took an afternoon nap. And I baked a pie. It is my annual Green Tomato Apple Pie. It is my version of “A Stitch in Time Saves” when it comes to food. Yes, at the end of the growing season I always have a lot of tomatoes on the the vine that just didn’t have time to ripen. As you know I hate to let anything go to waste, so I get them (before the squirrels do) and make this sweet/tart pie. So yummy, warm with just a dab of vanilla ice cream melting on the top! The recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Hollyhocks & Radishes: Mrs. Chard’s Almanac Cookbook by Bonnie Stewart Mickelson.
So if the 2016 election has your head spinning, your heart racing and your stomach churning too, please step back and find a way to soothe yourself and those you love. Don’t buy into the propaganda. Don’t get caught up in the latest hype or poll numbers. Don’t let anybody try to scare you (the only thing to fear is the fear mongers). I want to believe that we still have more things that unite us than issues that divide us. I believe AMERICA IS already GREAT (we have pie!) Now I think I’m almost ready for the Presidential Debate (I can hope they will act just a bit presidential, can’t I?) starting in a few minutes. And if it gets rough, at least I can soothe myself with another piece of pie!
Post Debate Edit: This song came to mind as the second 2016 presidential debate came to an end. (Maybe Don McLean was a time traveler trying to warn us of this election?!)
“American Pie”
Don McLean
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well, I know that you’re in love with him
‘Cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues
I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died
I started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone
But that’s not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me
Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned
And while Lenin read a book on Marx
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died
We were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast
Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance
‘Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
We started singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
‘Cause fire is the devil’s only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan’s spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died
He was singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
And they were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
They were singing bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
And singin’ this’ll be the day that I die.
Here it is the end of summer. Labor Day here in the United States. As I reflect back over the last 3 months I can say I spent a lot of time in both avoidance and a Void Dance. I believe it is ok to spend time in either, the important thing is to know which place you are in.
Avoidance: The act of avoiding something.
A Void Dance: Time spent in the quiet space between the “stuff” of life.
I have recently decided to relocate my business and my art studio after many years in the same location. It means sorting, clearing, organizing and packing the “stuff” of my life. I have spent much of the time between other work obligations this summer doing just that. Sorting. Cleaning. Organizing. Packing. At times I’ve been doing it to avoid doing other things I’d rather not be doing and sometimes I am doing other things just to avoid doing the difficult work of deciding what to “do” with the stuff. But either way, it’s been a therapeutic process.
As an artist you learn to appreciate the voids or negative space. It’s not always the matter that matters. (a good thing to remind myself of, as I purge and de-clutter)
The voids are where the fertile earth feeds the roots. The voids are where the flames lick and spit between the burning logs. The voids are where the oxygen is. The voids are what make the beauty of the antique lace. The voids are what lets the soft breeze come through the screen door. The voids are the blue sky between the clouds. The voids are where the damp sand squeezes up between your toes on the beach. The voids are where you run your fingers through soft hair. The voids are where the sun peaks through the branches of the tree canopy. And the voids are where and when we dance.
I hope as you enjoy your last days of this summer you find time to Dance in the Void. It is this space and time between the stuff of life that is important. It is different than avoidance. It is this fertile space that feeds our creativity and our souls. It feeds what matters.
The balance between light and dark. The day is equal to the night. In less than a couple of hours the sun will be centered over the earth’s equator creating perfect mid-line balance. I had a vision today of myself on a trapeze flying through the air, swinging from one extreme to the other. I do that. Usually, I am fluctuating back and forth from my doubts over to faith and optimism with glimpses of Truth beyond my understanding, rarely pausing for long anywhere in the middle.
About a year ago I read a very enlightening book, The Gene Keys: Unlocking the Higher Purpose Hidden in Your DNA, by Richard Rudd. As part of the book you have the opportunity to go to www.genekeysgoldenpath.com and get your own personal Hologenetic Profile. This unique set of “keys” unlock the mystery of your “path”. My path starts with my Life Work of gene key 63. In the shadow aspect this key shows up as Doubt. I often feel the pull of my logical brain, bringing me back to the dark places of doubt. Doubt of others, doubt of myself, doubt of the Universe. But when I can let that go and push my trapeze out into the vast middle space toward the unknown I find the Gift of this key: Inquiry. “Inquiry is about remaining open without finding a definitive answer to life”. The more a person can inquire more deeply and openly, the more apt one is to uncover something more complex, something new and something that will push one forward to a new level of understanding. And when I let the momentum of my trapeze swing from Doubt on through Inquiry to take me to the highest vibration of this key I reach the Siddhi of Truth. Yet, somehow in the great paradox that is the human condition, the Truth is found within the Doubt and my surrender to it.
So, tonight as we move through the transition from Winter into Spring, as the Sun is ever so momentarily balanced over our equator, I surrender to my doubts (Dark) and then I push off into the unknown territory of further questioning and inquiry, reaching for more truth (and Light). Balance in nature is not stationary, it is an allowing of movements back and forth sometimes big, sometimes small, always moving, only momentarily in the center points or on the extremes. I let go of my extremes with faith, I do not hold on. I also do not get stuck hanging in the middle. I swing knowing that I will swing closer to the Truth with the momentum of joy and with the acceptance and trust that wherever I am in the arc of my flight, it is just exactly where I am supposed to be. Striving for Balance. Yin and Yang. Light and Dark. Equi~Nox.
En~joy the Swing into Spring!
A STITCH IN TIME SAVES 