This Morning's Sunrise

Today's blog is in doubley. [Spinal Tap reference]. Or I could call it Double-Post Wed. Anyway, enjoy the sunrise. They are so fleeting here & when I catch them it's such a sweet surprise. The colours last about 3-5 minutes and then it's just regular sky. Still beautiful, but not like an ocean sunrise marathon . . .

Lessons from the Labyrinth

The bedroom I stayed in at Susan's overlooks her Cretan labyrinth. There's a division within the labyrinth community where some people insist it be called a Classical labyrinth. Whatever. Potato-potahto. Funny how we can get our knickers in a twist over names. Reminds me of a 7th Day Adventist woman who was hellbent on making sure that I knew the REAL sabbath was on Saturday, NOT Sunday. Really? This is what you argue about? Anyway, back to the labyrinth: Susan has had her Chartres Cathedral labyrinth for about 12 years. Her Cretan/Classical one was a more recent addition. The first time I walked it, it seemed tiny. Tiny. I was comparing it to mine-at-the-time in Martinsburg, WV which was a bit larger. I had not walked Susan's since I'd left WV. So here it was a year & 1/2 later and I walk it again. It's HUGE compared to my little labyrinth now. It's all perspective, innit? What do you compare things to?

View from my bedroom window.

Chartres Cathedral labyrinth. Part of it, anyway.

First thing Saturday a.m. Susan & I walked the Chartres labyrinth. I didn't get a picture of the whole thing--it's about 100 feet across, I think. She said if I went down the hill and into the woods, I'd get a good shot. I wasn't that motivated in the wet, dewy grass to do that. Anyway, as I was walking through, I thought about how it was fun because I didn't know where I was in the labyrinth or how much more there was to go before I got to the center. Plus it's just so HUGE. If I stopped & turned to take a picture, I wasn't sure which way I needed to go if I'd not paid attention to the direction Susan was walking. In a word, it was unpredictable. What was funny about that was that 2 minutes prior to that realization, I had been saying that I wanted my life to be essentially . . . more predictable. Hmmmm . . . .

A letter

I answered a query from Peter Shankman's HARO (Help A Reporter Out). It's a service that links up reporters to sources for stories they're working on. Anyway, I've answered a few queries & then one came in today about grieving the loss of a pet. So here's what I wrote:

2 days before my birthday in January, my dog Barkley, died at the age of 15 & 1/2. I was traveling and knew when I got home that I would pick her up from the kennel and take her to be put down. She had started having seizures and couldn't stand or walk by herself.

6 weeks later, I lost her son, Remi, who was 13 & 1/2. Unlike Barkley, I had no warning and was rushing him to the vet. Congestive heart failure. I had to let him go.

This time last year, I remember sitting outside with them both thinking that it would be my last autumn with Barkley. I had assumed that Remi would live to be 15 like his mother.

I have lost friends & family members--the grief I have felt does not compare to losing my dogs. Barkley was with me at the end of my 20's into my 40's. They both had a life-expectancy of 12 years, so everyday after that I felt lucky to have them. I would appreciate those quiet moments with Barkley sitting under my feet as I watched TV or read. Remi loved to be massaged. During those last few years as they got older, I would often think: There will be a time when they won't be here. So it made me appreciate the moment even more.

I am still surprised sometimes when the grief returns. I have stopped thinking that I should be over it. Pushing it away only prolongs it. I miss the tangibles of being with them. I miss never calling their names in the yard. I miss hearing Remi make his moaning happy sound when I massaged him. I miss Barkley smiling. Yes, she really did.

All those things I miss. Jill Bolte Taylor recounts in her book My Stroke of Insight how when she thinks of her dog she feels the warm fuzzies, but can also go into a sense of loss because he died. It's both: love and loss. All very bittersweet.

So here's my advice:

Be with your pet when it's time for them to go. Don't leave it to strangers, it adds to your pet's fear and confusion. Let them see you last. It's the hardest thing I've had to do, but it was the right and loving thing to do for my faithful companions.

The homeopathic remedy Ignatia is for grief. Take it. It really does help. It works for animals as well.

Recognize from the beginning that the very nature of having a pet is that you will most likely outlive them. Appreciate the time you do have with them. Love them and cherish them as much as they do you.

Doing something creative in honor of their memory helps to channel the grief into something constructive: a scrapbook, photo album, pillow, etc.

Give yourself time to grieve before jumping into getting another pet. The new one deserves your unfettered attention.

It really does get better with time. I think of them and smile. I am so grateful for their presence in my life.

CSFT Seminar

I took a seminar with GSF Bess in Cerebral Spinal Fluid Technique this past weekend. You can read about it here. I had taken it a few years ago before I became a massage therapist. It was an easier class to take this time because there was a more hands-on approach & less information to have to assimilate. However, while I can appreciate this work, I see it through my Brimhall Goggles and it seems s-l-o-w and tedious. Lots of steps involved and I just think I prefer percussors & lasers. I'm sure practitioners who are proficient at it get miracles, just as all healing modalities produce their own miracles. I don't think it's a technique that I want to devote time to mastering. As always, it's not just the class you're taking, but the whole experience of it. It was a pretty awesome weekend, but I'm waiting to write anything else until I can upload some photos to go along with the narrative. I was back in my old stomping grounds of Shepherdstown, WV. One of my favourite places. I was able to get a visit in with my dear Miss Ruthie. She makes my heart SMILE. And I'll end with a BIG THANK YOU to Susan for her kind hospitality.

It would be funny if it weren't sad

GSF Kristina sent this to me last night, so I had to share. I just learned how to embed Youtube videos but it's been disabled. So here's a link. Tina Fey is hysterical as Sarah Palin. What makes this so funny (and sad) is that she is so accurate. These are 2 back-to-back clips with SNL's parody and then the real Katie Couric interview. Yikes.

GSF Bess & I are taking a massage therapy class together this weekend, so I won't be blogging until Monday. But I will have tales to tell when I get back. In the meantime, Margot Potter has created a new blog, with a craftier focus. Check it out if you're crafty or aspire to be. She's creative, smart, & wickedly funny.

Until Monday, then. Adieu. Parce que je blog mais pas quand je ne blog pas.* How's that for some kickin' franglais? ;-) H.

*Because I blog except when I don't.

2 in a row?

Mum came over for a visit yesterday. I made a scrumptious lunch of a Big Salad with salmon. Loyal readers know my love affair with pumpkins. We had some delicious pumpkin soup--my favourite so far! I rarely measure when I'm throwing things together, but here's a sorta recipe:

Pumpkin puree, about 3-4 cups-ish (You could prolly use a can of pumpkin)
1/2 can of coconut milk
2 c. sweet potato water (I save my vegetable stock, & this is what I happened to have--perfect!)
Curry powder to taste
Salt to taste (Himalayan from Mercola--it's good for you!)

I use a hand blender & blend it up to make it creamy. (Also great for other creamy veggie soups like asparagus, broccoli, etc.)

After lunch, we had tea (of course) and a Frazier Fest. Mum looked out the window and saw a rainbow. Really? 2 days in a row? COOL!

Mum on my front porch with rainbow.

Into life, a little rain must fall. In these uncertain times, it's nice when we get little surprises of rainbows, too.

Rainbow

Yesterday's rainbow. :-)

Can you imagine a rainbow saying, Only primary colours allowed. Pink, get your fancy-pants outta here. We'll consider Magenta at the next meeting.

OR:

Red, tone it down. You're trying to get too much attention. Who do you think you are?

OR:

Where do you think YOU'RE going, Purple? We don't like your kind. You think you can just waltz in here expecting the same priviledges as Blue?

Sounds silly coming from a rainbow, doesn't it?