STORM AFTERMATH

Makes me believe in luck.

CHAOS AND RESOLUTION

All the leaves are down, thanks to the outer bands of wind from Hurricane Sandy.  We battened down all the hatches and made sure our emergency supplies were in order, because the prediction was that we'd be on the track of the storm, but a windy night gave way to a lovely morning.  We're waiting for the rain.  I have a funny feeling that there will be some drenched Halloween goblins and sprites out tomorrow night, trick or treating in the rain.

It is probably no accident that one of the mandalas I made at a workshop yesterday turned out to resemble the eye of a hurricane.  But it was representing order out of chaos, how individual waves (like snowflakes, I suspect no two are exactly alike), create a regular pattern, and are a constant.  Waves can be experiences, trends, mutations, but the overall impression is a comforting order.

And what I was thinking of while I was drawing was how I fell in love with the Cantabrian sea in Ribadisella ; sleeping with the windows open so I could hear the intake and exhalation of the breath of the sea on the shore.

MAKING TIME TO LIVE

Yesterday was a beautiful example of what makes Indian Summer precious.  Balmy; about 20 degrees celsius, sunny and cloudless.  A perfect day to be outside doing things which you love.  We took the dog for a walk through fields of milkweed gone to seed.  We go for that walk almost every day,  but the idea of impending winter when those fields will be hidden under a white blanket heightened my enjoyment of the beauty of the silky white fluff bursting from the seedpods, a harbinger of snowflakes to come.

After that, I went to the farm to see my apple loving pal, Chester; and audit a natural horsemanship clinic, with Neil McLeod, from Manitoba. Watching him make contact with horses in a way which made sense to THEM was inspiring.

The name of this post comes from another blog.  Making Time to Live is an initiative of a pair of friends living in Spain, the point of which is to remind people of how great it is to get out into the world and use their imagination and creative powers to create a richer life for themselves, and by extension, everyone who reads their posts and/or hangs out with them. If you read my blurb in the header on this page, you'll see that's close to the reason I started my blog.  So, I'm joining them!  Maybe you'd like to?

HOMESICK

I'm homesick for my blog. I miss writing, but I haven't experienced anything SO amazing that I wanted to tell you all about it.  I've seen amazing things, like a great rendition of Pirates of Penzance, at Stratford, the view from Rock Dunder, (which I've talked about before), the amazing colours of the autumn leaves; a convoy of eighty flatcars of military vehicles stranded on a siding, all because one of the gun turrets on a tank was swinging freely, posing a hazard to other trains on the adjacent tracks.  For want of a clevis pin, an army was lost??  But there has been nothing that really said to me--Yes, this is something I want to share with everyone.

I'm tempted to believe this:

But what I really want is the return of the ability to see the amazing in everyday life.  Although.....maybe an amazing adventure would jump start things?

PILGRIM AFTERGLOW

I was working downtown the other day when I heard a voice behind me; a woman just back from a trip talking to her neighbours....she'd obviously had a great time....

As I alphabetized the books on hold, my ear was caught suddenly by a phrase..."She wants me to do the Norte, but I'm thinking about the Via de la Plata"  Ah! I thought, no wonder she sounds so happy.  She's just been on the Camino!  Sure enough, when I turned (surreptitiously) I saw a stocky middleaged lady with a recent tan which spoke more of wind than sun; fleshy, freckled, strongly proportioned calves, and a t-shirt bearing a shell motif.  She was a pilgrim, alright, and a newly minted one at that.  I could practically see the nimbus round her head.    Later that day, a couple of books came across my desk, destined for a woman at another branch; one a favourite Camino memoir, and the other, a complete set of maps of the Camino Frances.  Another one, I thought.  I smiled happily to myself at the idea of another adventure launched, another challenge accepted, another lifechanging experience in the making.

This past week I've been sharing my home and environs with two friends from Oz whom I met on my first Camino in 2008. We've been talking non-stop, not just about the Camino, but I can't deny that its still a major topic of conversation, as we pick up the threads of the past, and actually have time to talk about things we saw, people we met, and the fun we've had together.  We've managed to enjoy ourselves in the present too!

 I heard a miraculous story the other day from a woman whose life has been changed by the walk, and she hasn't even left home.  Her family situation is a difficult one, and while her husband took some time to reflect by going on the pilgrimage, she prepared to leave him.  Now that he's back, she's guardedly optimistic.  "He's different", she says.  Long may it continue, I say.

SACRED GEOMETRY

I always love it when my attention is drawn to patterns in nature.  Everything fits together so perfectly. 

 Recently, I discovered the beautiful spirograph pattern created by the spatial relationship between the orbits of Venus and that of the Earth over an interval of eight years.

 I have to thank Dan Brown's book, the Da Vinci Code,  for teaching me something about the Fibonacci sequence which describes many of the governing structural principles of the natural world.  And I do love a fractal.

Most of us humans are simple creatures.  We know when a thing looks right and in harmony,

 and some of us know when it does not.

  Very few of us understand why.  But when we are in the presence of harmony, we feel complete and at ease.

   I'm just beginning to learn about the underpinnings, and I am fascinated, humbled,  doubtful of my ability to understand, and exhilarated all at the same time.

Metropol Parasol, Sevilla

Metropol Parasol, a photo by Paul Hagon on Flickr.

This beautiful photo is by Paul Hagon. It seems to be available to share. Thank you!