life

Yesterday I called the camera shop. Yes, yes I know. A watched pot, and all that. But hasn't it been three weeks!? (I didn't exactly write down the date of course.) The man was very polite. "We WILL call you," he assures me. But what now? And what until then?

Well it's called life. Life goes on, whether you are recording it all in pictures or not. And at our house there's never a dull moment.

As I am not returning back to school until January, I have begun somewhat of a journey...a Journey of the Self, you might say. I started back with my therapist. She is a wonderful Wise Woman whom I met about seven years ago. This is important: some people see life as it unfolds in seven year increments. Shifts happen then, and change is inevitable. I feel this deeply right now. I can feel my cells kind of shifting and morphing into someone new, and I think I like her!

Said therapist has described one hour walks every day. So far I have been faithful with this regime. One hour a day I walk in nature. I sweat and I contemplate. It feels good. It might even be shifting a little weight off (I can hope, right?) As I walk I meditate, or pray, or sometimes just look around and, OK, wish I had my camera. (Sorry.)

Last week I attended a Knitter's Retreat. I was the youngest participant, but not the least experienced - a fascinating role. The bulk of the group was from two local churches, and the average age was around 60 I would guess. Anyway, we had some Mindful Knitting time, in which I actually knitted with my eyes closed. This was terrifying, but somehow empowering. Next we had some Christian Centering Prayer time, which my pagan self was skeptical about at first, but it just turned out to be quieting the mind. It was lovely! Then we did moving meditation - Tai Chi Cheh, a very sweet and gentle form of Tai Chi, which focuses on softness, grace, and letting go. Then lunch, then more knitting. All of this took place at the beautiful Villa Santa Maria del Mar to the smell and crash of the ocean. Afterwards, I took a walk on the beach and felt renewed.

After this relaxation, the Fair began in earnest. We had many entries to prepare and shuttle over to Watsonville. Wednesday I picked up Horsey Girl early from school so she could bake and enter the famous Giant Cookie Contest. (Camera! Camera! Arrrgh) I was so proud to watch her win second place.

Other awards go to:
*Big Red Chicken - First Place and Reserve Grand Champion in the American Breeds Division
*Cross Stitch tote bag - Second place
*Garden Dress - First place
*Pretty in Pink Dress for P. #2 - First place
*Biscuits - Second place
*Lemon bars - Honorable Mention (beh!)
*Lemon Pound Cake - First place
*Olallieberry Jam - No award (double beh!)
*Cupcakes - Second place
*Princess # 2's Prettiest Pumpkin - "Rainbow ribbon" (participant)
*Horsey Girl's vegetable dragon - Second place
*French lavendar - First place and Special Award (big rosette!)
*English lavendar - Second place
*Rosemary - Second place
*Borage - First place
*Italian Past tomatoes - First place
*Green Zebra tomatoes - First place
*Incredible and amazing Pirate Scarecrow, executed by DH - First place (we bought a disposable camera for this one believe me.)

And if all this was not exciting enough, one night as we were at the edge of the Petting Barn (no beers allowed, he he) I heard someone call my name. Our eyes met...she looked so familiar. Like an old soul I had always known. My mind raced. Midwife acquaintance? Someone from school? She introduced herself, and I was flabbergasted. A real, live blogger friend! A local talent, amazing mother and creative genious! It's true we could have talked for hours. And her baby! The most adorable boy I've ever seen poked out his head - and smiled at me! I wanted to take them both home. I'm only praying we can start some sort of club, or something. Making friends on the screen is wonderful, but meeting them in person is majickal. Thank you so much Michele! (She wrote about it here.)

And so, life goes on...full of wonderful moments. Go! Enjoy it!