Happy Halloween

Don't you wonder sometimes what Halloween is suppose to be about, I mean, other than the fiasco created by the commercial aspect of every holiday celebrated in western culture?  

Halloween or Samhain is a

Did not have a Halloween pic. This was taken two days ago
 and it has a black cat in it.

Cross Quarter holiday. There are eight holidays still celebrated by world pagans: the fall and spring solstices, the summer and winter equinoxes, and four cross quarter days, Feb. 2 (ground hog day) May 1 (May Day)  Aug. 2 (dog days of summer)  Oct. 31.(Samhain) --  Summer’s end, a harvest festival marking the end of the year and the beginning of the dark days of winter. It is amazing to me how the pagan holidays still exist within the Christian culture. Only a few are aware of it.

 Neighbor, friend, photographer Phil and I went out on a
photo safari, Was great to walk along the river. 

This year I am recalling past Halloweens when we celebrated in a friend’s home. We didn't dress in costumes or wear masks. Instead we celebrated this cross quarter day by creating an alter on which we placed fruits of the season: gourds, pumpkins, squash, apples, pomegranates. Also candles and objects that represented the four elements, fire (candles) earth (live, growing plants) air (feathers) and water (usually in a bowl and sometimes used for blessings). Also these objects may represent the four directions.

We stopped at the Arboretum and took a few pix where we could find color.

When all was ready, we called in the four directions asking them to bless our space, then the space was declared closed (it became sacred space). We drummed and chanted and danced in a spiral. This began with a line of people and gradually the line became a circle that was tightened into as small a space as possible. Here we let go of the past (symbolically died) and any grudges or grievances we may have brought with us. Then slowly the spiral was unwound (we are reborn). The space was opened  the four directions thanked and released. After that we sat and visited as sisters while we shared a meal of pumpkin soup, homemade bread and fresh apple cider.   

Home again, spotted this ruffled Jay in the tree by my building.

It is always fun just to walk around Tree House and find birds, flowers of all makes and models, bugs, bees, butterflies to capture in the digital camera. If I miss the shot, the chances are there will not be another opportunity to capture that picture.

And here is the great Mantis attached to the outside wall. 

He/She hangs on to the wall with fine fingers that grab the bumps in the plaster

Head shot of praying Mantis. A bit leery of me and the camera.

 Roses are still blooming and the rain has brought new buds and also new life to  other flowers around Tree House. Hybrid Tea Roses, Floribunda, Rose trees and small bush type roses grow on the grounds.  

Beautiful red rose after refreshing rain. 

So that's my Halloween story and pix. When I took the picture with the black cat did not even see the cat. 

Reality Check

                                                     

 Living In The Now

Fall Garden Image

Like most I live in the now
relying on information
from the past.
My relationships with
persons, places and things
are conditioned
by my memories of past
experiences.
In this way I habitually
ignore current reality
which is always new.

Werner H. Erhard of EST fame talked about being present when he said that after reading the menu we eat what is served not knowing what we are eating because we are eating what we read on the menu, not the meal. In relationships we assume we love someone because we have realized at some point that we do. But in the present we don’t feel love, we just know it’s there. Like looking into someone’s face and not 

seeing it in the now, we only see and know the past.

Flower and Fork

A striking example took place after writing most of this blog. One of my neighbors shaved his Van Dyke style facial hair so he was clean shaven. He has lived among and become a member of this community for the past 8 years and every one of his neighbors knows him wearing a goatee and mustache.

Without these he looks very different, younger and more energetic. I've watched as those he is talking with, looking him right in the face, do not notice the change in his appearance. This is what I mean by responding to others from memories, not from the reality of  now.  

Potted Plant on Patio

As I look at my relationships and what is actually happening in them i.e. Reality, I see some of my friendships and family relationships are not growing, or even interesting, but… rather stagnate. There is no personal sharing, no shared experience when we don’t have the time for that to happen.

Maybe this is part of the Face Book era. One need only click with the computer mouse and one has friends. I've read where people defend their online friendships as real and meaningful. Maybe so or maybe this kind of friendship is all they know.

Morning Red Rose

So after a reality check, I know that in my old age I want more than to interact from a past perspective or memories. I want more than virtual friends.

I want dynamic relationships in the now, relationships that are growing and interesting, be they family or friends. I want to listen and actually hear others, I want to see them clearly, as they are now, not slide some old picture in front of my eyes and stare at that while trying to relate to who this person is today.

And Loving What Is

Re-Thinking Blog & Relationships

Life is Good-God

Rethinking the Blog

A long-time loved and wise friend asked me some pointed questions about my blog. Like, is this really what I’m about? Here is what she said: “Do you really care that other people you don't know hear your opinion? Are you sure that you can keep positive as well as easily flow through life having to do a blog? I'm all for it if you are. Lots of love and knowing!”

Tree House Rose After Rain

In answer to her question: I’m not sure I do care. It seems to be more about a space in which to express myself. The me that is me, that a very few see. My thoughts, when no one hears or reads them, sink and fade away. 

So why write about the climate change march?

When I first read the accounts of the marches happening in 156 countries I was awed as something within me resonated to the purpose of this activity. To some it may look like a bunch of weirdo liberals going for a walk in the city of NY, but these events will be in our history books. These marches are the beginning of a movement in history, the outward manifestation of a change in consciousness.

A Love Affair with Earth

Logic tells me that our biology, our bodies, are created by and for the planet. We are not made up of the dust of Mars or the gases of Venus, we are made from the elements of Earth.

Face at Base of Tree

Our relationship with Earth is already in effect. How can we as a self-conscious part of nature be careless, neglectful and destructive to other species — species that are also made from and for the earth?We are earth. Just as the earth grows trees and mountains and seas and rivers, it also grows people.

Rethinking Relationships 

 Accepting what friends had to give, grateful yes, but unable or unwilling to return their "gifts." Within a short time the friendship had faded away and the friend was gone.

Cactus and Rocks 

I don't remember how I came up with this definition of relationships, but here it is.

A balanced relationship is one in which both parties contribute their energy into creating a safe and nurturing space so a relationship can exist.

This is rather abstract. To make it personal, relationships (be they friends, lovers, marriages, neighbors) are created when both parties are contributing energy to the relationship.This is a dynamic exchange, not static and not always simultaneous, but on the hole in balance. (Parent-child relationships are not balanced, but hopefully create a nurturing space for the child to grow.) The gift of energy is given with every smile, every gesture, is precious and something to be honored.

Still Life at the Swamp

Energy is synonymous with Love and the bottom line. Science has proven that all things are made up of energy, some of it is moving fast and some more slowly. I don’t label energy as good or bad, to me it is expansive or contracted. We always know the state of our energy.   


Again, thank you for dropping into my blog. Hope you will leave a comment. You may have to put in this email for me: treehouse4500@gmail.com. so I'll get it.


Oh yes, the swamp is located on the north-west corner of Market and Lake Blvd. Lots of interesting things can be seen there.