Easing in

Light when the power goes out.

You wake from dreams of doom and – for a moment – you know: beyond all the noise and the gestures, the only real thing, love’s calm unwavering flame in the half-light of an early dawn.

~ Dag Hammarskjöld

A November sunrise on a frosty morning.

As we approach December (and my upcoming 60th birthday), I find myself thinking over the past year.  I know it seems a bit soon for that but if you’ve been visiting me here at Ye Olde Blogge for a while, you know that I celebrate the new year on the Winter Solstice rather than with the calendar year (beginning January 1).  My birthday is eight days away and the Solstice is less than a month away (on December 21) so really, it might not be too soon to be pondering things of an end-of-year nature.

Lighting up the sky.

I forgot what my word/theme for this year was.  Seriously.  It’s been such a busy year that I didn’t take the time to contemplate it very much and now that I’ve arrived at the end of November, I had to go back to last year’s post and verify it was what I thought it was:  Love.  I am profoundly grateful to add that Love was a prominent feature for me this year.  Maybe that was why there was no need to think about it.  When love is present, what is there to think about?

When Mother Nature sponge paints the morning sky.

Love showed up in many different forms and ways.  It showed up as family and friends, as sunrises and sunsets, as white-tailed deer and red foxes, as flowers and vegetables in the gardens, as blue skies and rainy days, as the passing of the seasons. as walks in the woods and around the ranch, as days at the beach, as good books and blogs to read, as photography and drawing and writing and other art forms, as grandchildren and foster-grandchildren, as a small group of us coming together to clean up the litter and beautify where we live (a group, by the way, that is slowly but surely growing), as meditation and yoga, as an alcohol-free life, as magic and serendipity and synchronicity, as time and adventures with M, and as a million and one other things, both large and small, that appear in my life every day whether I notice them or not.  Hopefully I am noticing more and more.

Magical creatures in a sunrise sky.

When I take a little time to ponder what word or theme I might take on for next year, two words keep cropping up.  They have shown up so often lately that they are impossible to ignore.  It might be a nudge from the universe.  Or it might be coincidence.  I’m waiting to see.  It’s still too soon to tell.

Sitting on the dock in the early morning, learning about Love by watching the sky reflected on the water.

Blogging has been different for me this year.  I can’t quite pin down how it’s been different, just that it has been.  For one thing, I haven’t been quite as prolific at writing as in years past.  That may be a relief for some, including myself.  It’s been difficult to write at times, especially without veering into political and current events territory, and that has me questioning where I’m going and what I’m doing with my blog.  The only answer I’ve been able to come up with is that I wish to write from the heart.  With Love.  And that is not always an easy task.  It means opening up, allowing vulnerability, being truly me.  You might think that would be a pretty uncomplicated and effortless way to be and to write.  Sometimes it is.  Sometimes it’s too much and, knowing that, I don’t post what I have written.

Looking in another direction.

Moving along to other news and views…  How was your Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it)?  I went back to the Bogs for a while to visit with M the Younger and his family which keeps growing by leaps and bounds.  In addition to the two boys (the Little Wookie and the Little Peanut), they had two foster children with them in a temporary, emergency placement.  Nobody knows how to define “temporary” in terms of days, weeks, or months.  I think they will likely be there over Christmas.  Poor little guys.  I can’t imagine what it must be like for them, to be pulled away from their parents (no matter how good or bad the parenting may be) and placed with strangers (no matter how loving they may be).  Because of privacy issues, there is not a lot I can write about the situation.  Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, it’s heartbreaking in many ways.  Heartbreaking is not necessarily a bad thing if it means it’s opened my heart.  As Leonard Cohen wrote and sang:

Ring the bells (ring the bells) that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything (there is a crack in everything)
That’s how the light gets in

Fog drifting over the water.

I thought of other circumstances, other parents who have been separated from their children for no reason other than the seeking of a better life.  I’ve thought that way all along, bringing to mind my grandchildren and what it would be like for them.  It seems that when I speak with those who approve of current immigration policies, who parrot the propaganda and sound bites, all I have to do is say, “I think of what it would be like for my grandson, who is only two years old and couldn’t possibly understand what is happening or why his mother or father isn’t there for him…” and, if they are grandparents (because they are usually older folks), they stop and think without me having to finish that sentence.  We move on to other subjects, but maybe… they stop and think.  There’s hope in that.

Wonder (I can tell by his stance) and vulnerability.

The next couple of weeks are going to be a little busy for me, and then I plan to settle in for a while.  Relax, recharge, heal.  I caught the Toddler Plague while I was out in the Bogs.  That happens this time of year when you have three or four toddlers sharing their germs with you.  I am trying to think of it as boosting my immune system.  Now that I’ve caught three versions of the same cold (all at once!), perhaps I’ll be immune to it for the rest of the cold and flu season.  Isn’t that how it works?

Legos with Gramps at Oh Wow! (a children’s museum in Youngstown, Ohio).

I reckon that’s about it from me and from the Wabi-Sabi Ranch.  Thank you so much for visiting.  I hope you are well and that all is well in your world.  Our sunsets have been lovely lately.  Let’s meet at the Point this evening and see what Mother Nature has in store.  Sunset is scheduled for 4:45 PM.  It’s windy and chilly so you’ll want to bundle up.  It can be brutal out by the water when the wind is gusting.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Father and son (the Little Peanut).

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  941)  Time to recover before the next adventure in life.  942)  Time filled with love and the company of family and friends.  943)  Seven deer walking by just now.  I know our herd needs to be thinned but at the same time I am happy to see that quite a few of them have survived the hunting season so far.  944)  Hot, nourishing soup that soothes the savage cold virus.  945)  Plenty of sleep.  I’ve been getting some deep, dream-filled sleep lately.  

A sunset from last weekend.