• Bonus Post: The Woodward

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

     

    In response to two questions I pulled this card*.

    1. How shall I live my life today?
    2. How can I improve my daily life?

    Stumbled a bit the first time I encountered this card. What is a woodward, anyhow? Found this by Google’s Gemini:

    It is an English surname and male given name with the meaning “forester” or “wood-keeper”.Historically, a “woodward” was a medieval forest officer who patrolled and protected forests. Gemini

    I’ve been a bit down since the hernia/testicle incident on Monday and my subsequent visit to the doctor on Tuesday. An ultrasound will clarify things, but that’s not scheduled yet.

    In the angst of the pain, the uncertainty-was it appendicitis, a kidney stone?-my equilibrium took a hit. Hernia was a softer possibility, but something with my totally useless testicles? Come on.

    Dark thoughts floated by. Well, good. Maybe this will just kill me. Enough. This is too much. Something else? Now? I don’t want it. Leave my body alone!

    So. I enhanced my question with the word improve. Pulled the Woodward again. OK. Now I’m listening.

    “The Woodward draws its power from the natural world, symbolizing renewal and resilience.” That’s what I needed to hear. Shadow and Artemis. My back yard. Shadow and Black Mountains. The Wild Neighbors. Fawns, calves, kits, and cubs.

    A moment of resilience when the Wild community repopulates itself. Flowers, Trees, Grasses go to Seed. Fawns, calves, kits, and cubs. Small yellow Flowers on my Tomato plants. Yes. I’m part of this, too. Renewing myself, my life. My resilience.

    Being a Woodward for my own soul.

    *Here is an expansion of the card’s significance:

    • Courage and Inner Strength:
      The Woodward signifies the ability to find courage within oneself, even when facing difficult or painful situations. 

    • Facing Unavoidable Truths:
      It can indicate the need to confront a difficult truth or person that cannot be overcome through physical or emotional force. 

    • Resolute Strength:
      The card emphasizes a calm, steadfast strength that comes from within, allowing one to stand their ground and persevere. 

    • Nature’s Power:
      The Woodward draws its power from the natural world, symbolizing renewal and resilience. 

    • Beyond Physical Strength:
      Unlike the traditional Strength card, which often depicts taming a lion, the Woodward emphasizes a different aspect of strength – the ability to stand firm and find inner resolve. 

    • Taming Beasts:
      The card’s imagery of a hunter taming beasts, with the help of a lynx and an eagle, further emphasizes this concept of finding strength to overcome challenges,

    📂This entry was posted in Tarot

  • Hey, cuz

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Thursday gratefuls: Shadow. Flowers on the Tomato Plants. The Monsoons. Here in force. Tarot. Luke’s class. Tom’s friend, Terri. In Israel. Mark in Al Kharj. Mary in K.L. Seoah, Murdoch, and my son in Osan. Chipmunks. Birds. Butterflies. Squirrels. Rabbits. Wild Neighbors in the back yard.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Wild Neighbors

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei

    Week Kavannah: Patience. Savlanut.

    Tarot: The Woodward. How can I improve my daily life?

    One brief shining: Shadow patrols the deck outside Kate’s old sewing room, sniffing through the floorboards where the chipmunks have lived ever since Kate and I moved here, reminding me of Rigel, the predator, who became so excited by the smells wafting up that she scratched claw marks in the composite boards that cover the deck.

     

    Cousins: 15 first cousins on my mom’s side. Of them I’ve stayed close with only one, Diane. Whom I visited a year ago May in her long time city of residence, San Francisco.

    I wrote a bit ago about those of the fifteen who have died, occasioned by the recent death of Tanya in a tragic fire at her home in Rush County, Indiana.

    Then I read this interesting article about cousins in the Atlantic. The Great Cousin Decline. I hadn’t thought about this knock on effect of lower birth rates, but it’s obvious when you do.

    My growing up, especially through high school, featured family trips to Morristown, Muncie, Arlington all of us piled into first that chunky maroon 1950 Ford, then the gray and white 57.

    On the way to Morristown we would stop at The Post restaurant for lunch. The Post being a State Patrol Post nearby. That was a treat.

    Thanksgivings in Muncie at Aunt Marjorie’s and Uncle Ike’s with a kid’s table, a big Turkey, and football in Uncle Ike’s den. Family reunions in the park in Greenfield. The occasional wedding or funerals. Sleepovers.

    Yes, I was often the one with the stack of comic books off in the corner reading. I know. An introvert from early days.

    One result of having so many cousins in four other families meant lots of family drama. A lot of it kept from us kids as we grew up. That Aunt who got pregnant out of wedlock. Wedlock. Does anybody even use that word anymore?

    The cousins who might have had other fathers. Bi-polar disorder. A professional gambling man, one of my uncles. Grandpa reputedly winning the farm on a bet at the Kentucky Derby.

    Not at all Leave It To Beaver or Patriarch Knows Best. I feel sorry for those with few cousins, now most folks I guess. Broadened my world.

     

    Tarot: The Woodward. Pulled this card a second time. Guess I need to pay attention to it. Here’s one interesting take on his meaning that resonates:

    “The Woodward’s strength, drawn from nature’s inherent power to renew and overcome, is needed if we are to foresee what is to come and wait upon the turning of the seasons. Sometimes, when faced with a challenging situation, we must find our own inner backstop, the point from which we will not retreat or from which we can move forward with quiet confidence. The Wildwood ethos has much to teach humanity about calm, resolute strength.”  Parting the Mists

     


    📂This entry was posted in Family Great Wheel Tarot

  • Wolf Energy

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Wednesday gratefuls: Shadow’s head on my pillow. Waking up to her by my side. Nathan and the cold frames. Randy at Evergreen Medical. Kristie, my oncology P.A. Ultrasounds. Hernia? Testicle? Oh, boy. Another medical journey. The Wolf. Luke and the Tarot. Kabbalah Experience. Tanya. Her obituary. The Lamb. Jesus Christ.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Shadow

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei

    Week Kavannah: Patience. Savlanut.

    Tarot: The Wolf, King of Stones. What do I need to know about my health?

    One brief shining: A Tarot deck may seem like an instrument of the devil, or superstition; it may seem, if not those, too distant, too abstract, too hard to make use of; however, if you lean towards it, embrace its ability to interrogate both your inner life and your physical journey through this material realm, then wisdom will rise from it as if on its own.

     

    Tarot: The Wolf. King of Stones. I asked a question about my health. A significant topic for me, as you know. Made emergent (as Kate used to say) by a possible hernia or something up with one of my testicles, or both. Oh, joy.

    When I began to read a bit about the Wolf, the first thing I noticed was its position on the Great Wheel, departing Samhain. Samhain, or Summer’s End, sets off the fallow season. Though it has come down to contemporary culture as Halloween, it has a much deeper meaning.

    It marks the end of the growing season, the time when the fate of a subsistence farming community had already been set for the coming cold of Winter. No wonder the veil between the spirit world and this material realm became thin. Life and death were at stake.

    And, yes, I’m departing Samhain, headed toward my own Winter Solstice. Not yet. Not now. But that’s the location of my body’s pilgrimage, on the wane. I’m ok with that.

    What can I do to be healthier during this part of my journey? P.T. probably. Perhaps see a post-polio doctor. Eat more. Good food. Sure, all of that. Yet the Wolf suggests not fooling myself into thinking there’s a route back to where things used to be.

    The Wolf also honors my deep connection to the Soil, to Artemis and her nurture.* Highlights my grandfather energy toward Ruth and Gabe, toward Shadow, toward myself.

     

    Dog journal: Shadow has been inside every night since Friday last. Three of those nights she came in on her own. Two saw her inside already when 6 pm came round.

    Perhaps her feral nature is Wolf energy, the very energy I need now to be my optimal self. Be more like Shadow.

     

    Just a moment: The hits just keep on coming. Another tie vote. Another tie breaker by that shape shifting weasel, Vance. Now cutting, cutting, only to transfer wealth on the oligarchs conveyor belt from the rest of us to their crypto accounts.

    Shame on all of them and their houses.

     

    *The Wolf:

    • Protection and Nurturing:

      The wolf, as a protective figure, indicates a strong bond with the land and a nurturing nature, especially towards those they consider family or part of their domain. 

    • Practicality and Skill:
      The King of Stones is practical, grounded, and skilled in managing the physical world, often possessing a strong connection to nature. 

    📂This entry was posted in Dogs Fourth Phase Health Politics

  • A Holocaust Moment?

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Tuesday gratefuls: Pain and lump resolved. Shadow, the feral dog. United Health Care paying for my P.E.T. scan. Shadow coming in. Potcake Dogs. Harry Dresden. Jim Butcher. The Morning Service. The Woodward. TACO. Darkness my old friend. Immigration/Holocaust. Cruelty, Vengeance, and Greed as a philosophy of governance.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Natalie

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei

    Week Kavannah: Patience. Savlanut.

    Tarot: The Woodward. ? How shall I live my life today.

    One brief shining: Yesterday around six p.m. a sharp, yet diffuse pain in my abdomen, a lump there roughly over the site of my steroid injection yielded a bit to the touch, not hard, an emergency or not, I couldn’t tell so I called the on call doc of my practice who said it didn’t sound like one, but if it gets worse, call him back. It didn’t and the lump is gone this morning. Wha?

     

    Yeah. These things happen after hours. By rule. No Kate in the house anymore to reassure me. How would I get to the E.R.? Who would I call? Exposed the everyday vulnerability of all of us who live alone. Things are fine. Until they’re not.

    The doc last night reassured me, said he’d leave a message for the front desk, have them call me, get me seen. Glad I have these folks in my hip pocket.

    Drive myself or call a friend. Driving myself saves time. Have to find a friend at home and able to come. Then, it takes them time to get here. You get it. No obvious best answer.

     

    Tarot: The Woodward, major arcana #11 in the Wildwood deck.

    “The Woodward represents emotional support when we fall into a state of out of control, out of reason, when we encounter destructive challenges.

    When individuals are pulled out of their comfort zone, they will be deprived of every emotion they once had when they were in a stable state. During that depriving process, individuals will have to seek within them their own true strength.”

    Well. Gee. The message. Don’t tip over into anxiety. Call the on call doc. Which I did. Go see a doctor today. Which I will do. Don’t fuss. Act.

     

    Dog journal: Natalie came yesterday. It was raining so we worked on a command called place. It involves a towel or some other well defined spot. I reward Shadow when she comes on the spot, then draw out the time she stays on it by slightly delaying the next treat.

    Natalie told me Shadow acted like a feral dog. Like a Caribbean Potcake Dog, or a wild Dog fed from the leavings in a pot. She’s smart, learns things in one or two passes, but she’s also very suspicious. That means when a negative thing happens, like when I accidentally stepped on her left paw, she learns right then to avoid that situation.

    Classic anxiety. Generalize from a negative experience, then protect against it by avoidance. Slowly, slowly.

     

    Just a moment: Concentration camps like Alligator Alcatraz, then depriving immigrants of due process before deporting them, sometimes to countries where they don’t speak the language and have no family connections.

    No, there might not be gas chambers. Yet. But a minority group has been singled out for rough treatment, taken from their homes, and disappeared from the U.S. Which minority will be next?

    As Linda Greenhouse says in this New York Time article: We Will Regret Not Standing Up to This Venomous Cruelty. New York Times, 7/14/2025

    And I have to also recognize this former Israeli, former member of the IDF, now a genocide scholar’s article: I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It.

    I will not be a fellow traveler. I will not let my voice be on the wrong side of history.


    📂This entry was posted in Dogs Health Politics Tarot US History

  • Improving Balance

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Monday gratefuls: Shadow coming in on her own. P.T. Exercise. Overnight Rain.  Artemis at 68 degrees. Tomato Plants thriving. Cleaning up after the party. The stool. Oiling it. Gabe’s awakening. World Chimpanzee Day. Primates. Lucy. Australopithecus. Gorillas. Neanderthals. Homo sapiens. Still evolving. The Bird of Dawn. Lift up the weary. The Morning Service. The Shema.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Israel ben Avram v’ Sara

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei

    Week Kavannah: Patience. Savlanut.

    Tarot: #14 Balance

    One brief shining: Mornings bring us up from the one sixtieth of death (as the sages call sleep), our soul returns to our body, Shadow wakens, comes over and licks my face, I let her out; later I say the Shema, read parts of the Morning Service and ask a question of the Wildwood deck, drink coffee, begin to type.

    (N.B. Images below created by chatgpt from my prompts.)

     

    A Bird sings, or rather, rasps, greeting another day as Great Sol slowly warms the Air cooled by the night. Shadow has come in after her early morning turn outside, awaiting her main meal at seven.

    I’ve done my in bed exercises, but my workout yesterday ouches my left leg still. A tramadol and two acetaminophens washed down with espresso roast coffee. My Lenovo Thinkpad warms my legs through my Vermont Flannel red and black checked jammies.

    That Balance card* sifts its way through my question to the deck: What can I do to enhance my experience of the Tarot? First blush. Read the morning service. Balance the Tarot with the ancient tradition. The Siddur. A prayer book written largely by Kabbalists. So, I do.

    Second blush. Balance indoor, reading time with outdoor time with Shadow, with Artemis, with Shadow Mountain. As I have been doing. Be even more intentional.

    The Wildwood book offers a sad word about balance. The way our capitalist dominated economies have pushed away from indigenous knowing about living in harmony with Mother Earth. How instead a loving, intimate, co-sustaining relationship has become transactional. And, at that, an unbalanced transaction where Mother Earth may be plundered for what we need without regard to future consequences.

    My immersion in pagan ways-in the cyclical beauty of the Great Wheel-born from my  immersion in the Great Work, makes me sad.

    Yet. A Colorado Youth Climate Conference. Gen Z awakening to their brutal task, undoing late stage capitalism and restoring a balance necessary for human survival. Ruth and Gabe, their peers.

    May they go where we failed. May they forgive us our sins as their ancestors. May they be strong where we were weak.

    My ongoing task now is to support them, love them, hold out my hand as a grandfather. Let them know we are not all cruel, selfish, indifferent. And that they are wonderful, amazing.

     

    *”You must balance and be patient. This is the right time to take a break and consider all the personalities that exist in you. To keep walking, you must now stay calm and still. Finding inner balance will help you understand yourself, be confident in your own strengths. Your personalities may include the dark corners you don’t want to face, but you need to accept and control them. Balance is absolutely essential to freeing the individual self from fear and self-doubt.”  TarotX.net

     


    📂This entry was posted in Fourth Phase Great Wheel Great Work Tarot

  • Bonus Post: Shadow Sense

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Dog journal: Went in the back to check on Artemis, as I like to do in the morning. She’s fine. This followed an interesting session with the Ancient Brothers on senses.

    I stopped. The two Squash Plants looked a bit weak, but happy in their spots. When I stopped I heard one Bird song, then two. The chitter of an Insect and the chatter of Squirrels. My eyes turned to the bright blue Pentstemon and the busy Bumblebees going from bell to bell, seeking nectar and gathering pollen.

    The exhaust fan kicked on in the greenhouse as Great Sol rose higher in the Sky.

    Shadow ignored me. She ran a short distance and a Blue Jay launched off the Ground and flew onto a nearby Lodgepole. Shadow watched it go, then watched after it landed. All of her engaged in the moment.

    It hit me then how much the backyard had to offer for Shadow. The smells of Flowers. Of dead and decaying Animals. Of Blue Jays on the Ground. Of neighbor Dogs. Of Animals who passed during the night. Shadow senses.

    The Squirrels chatted across Lodgepoles and Shadow craned her neck to see them. A Breeze blew through the longer Grasses over the leech-field. Aspen Leaves quaked. Little movement in the Lodgepoles.

    From time to time Mule Deer and Elk come to dine on luxuriant Grasses and yellow Dandelions. Again, a Shadow sense moment.

    When Eleanor or Leo or Annie and Luna or Natalie’s Dogs come, the backyard is spacious enough for them to run, run, run. A playground, too.

    It’s no wonder Shadow, still a Puppy, still discovering her world, likes the backyard. Revels in it.

    There is, too, the instance of the missing Snow, which she loved. Running. Ducking her head into drifts. Digging for Voles. Since this was her first winter she can’t know that Snow will come again. I’m sure it will make her happy.


    📂This entry was posted in Dogs

  • Lowering the Flag

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Sunday gratefuls: Cookunity. Shadow, face licker. Her head on my pillow this morning. The Bird of Dawn. Firm steps. International Rock Day. Shadow Mountain. Conifer Mountain. Bergen Mountain. Black Mountain. Really big Rocks. Artemis. The stool. Cool Morning. Dreams. Mark in Al Kharj. 111 degrees. Getting his May pay.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Shadow

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei. Gliding on currents of the sacred.

    Week Kavannah: Patience. Savlanut

    Tarot: Two of Swords. Injustice.

    One brief shining: Shadow goes from rug chewing to sock eating and throwing over to her puzzle with treats under plastic sliders, her tire goes up, now her squirrel long ago rendered squeakless, a quiet moment, then a roll on her back making satisfied sounds. Waiting on her breakfast.

     

    Dog journal: Through various ad hoc strategies I’ve been able to get Shadow inside the last few nights. I sleep better. Except. She gets up at 4 am. So there’s that. Yesterday she came inside on her own. The day before Gabe got the door closed.

    Life improves when she’s inside at night. She likes it, too. I woke up this morning and her head rested next to mine. All l want for her and me.

     

    Sabbath: I prioritize reading, time with Shadow, with friends. Tending the garden. Quieter moments. Allowing the week’s sludge to settle, then drift away. Some sabbaths I study. Torah. The New American Reformation.

    Oddly, after long conditioning from my youth, the more I observe the Jewish sabbath, the more Sunday takes on a similar cast. Two sabbaths. More quiet time.

     

    Tarot: I asked the deck, what can I do to reignite my creativity. The two of swords gave me a jolt. Made me reconsider the content of my writing. Maybe I could write more about injustice? Plenty of material these days. Or, have I done myself an injustice by letting my fiction slide away, buried under the weight of days. Things to consider.

     

    Artemis: The unfinished wooden stool for Artemis came Friday. I plan to spend some time today using a couple of wood oils to give it protection from both moisture and drying out. A manual act I enjoy.

    Waiting on a small rake-like tool and a trowel then my fall garden will go in the Soil. Excited to add Seeds to the Squash and Tomatoes. The fall planting will include carrots, beets, spinach, chard, lettuce, radishes, and, of course, herbs. Will be exciting to see Sprouts.

    Great Sol throws light on Artemis early in the morning, arcing across the back yard, then bathing her west-facing raised bed in the afternoon and evening. With the translucent material used for Artemis’ greenhouse, Great Sol illuminates both raised beds and the greenhouse most of the day.

     

     

    Just a moment: Trump Tarrific. Interesting article in the NYT about trade realignment among nations trying to soften the chaos created by our TACO President.

    Trump may force other countries to bond together to counter his tariffs. This will mean stronger trade ties that do not include the U.S.

    Let’s lower the flag another quarter inch. (Think Union of Concerned Scientists atomic clock.)


    📂This entry was posted in Dogs Great Wheel Greenhouse Judaism Politics Shabbat Tarot

  • Work in Harmony with Nature

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Sabbath gratefuls: Mezuzah on Artemis. Rabbi Jamie. Marilyn and Irv. Gabe. Luke and Leo. Tara. Her Rhubarb trifle. Artemis. Staying in the Tomato temperature zone. Waldo. Jamie’s Triumph. My first invitation to a group since Kate died. Ritual. Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha’olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu likboa’ mezuzah. The blessing for hanging a mezuzah.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Gabe

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei. Slip streaming the life force.

    Week Kavannah: Patience. Savlanut.

    Tarot: What will I do with the sabbath? The Ace of Bows.

    One brief shining: They came: first, Luke and Leo, then Marilyn and Irv, Tara, later with his white helmet, riding his newly repaired motorcycle, Rabbi Jamie and the table Gabe and I prepared for them offered Strawberry lemonade, sweet Tea, hummus, cut Vegetables, Kalamata Olive bread, crackers, and Tara’s wonderful Rhubarb trifle.

     

    From left: Irv, Marilyn, Gabe, Tara, me, Rabbi Jamie

    Artemis: A sanctuary. A home temple to the seasons, to the Vegetative world, to human collaboration with the Soil. To the One within which we move and love and have our becoming. To the chi in Seeds and Water and Sunlight.

    We dedicated her yesterday, my friends and my Rabbi. Rabbi Jamie pounded in the bottom nail. We said the blessing. I pounded in the top nail. Jamie read a Psalm he had translated about the house of David.

    Back in the house we sat in just enough chairs, ate and drank from the table. Talked about matters Jewish. About Gabe’s amazing writing. About Luke as a teacher and artist. About the Tarot. And, of course, with gritted teeth of the One Who Shall Not Be Named.

    It was, I think, the first time I’d had a gathering of friends here on Shadow Mountain since Kate died. Family, yes. Individual friends, yes. But not a group, small though it was. Felt good.

    My sacred community-Gabe included-together to consecrate this work of Nathan’s and mine. Amen.

     

    Dog journal: Shadow loves company. People and Dogs. Leo came with Luke and Shadow tried, really hard, to get old man Leo to play. He did, a bit until he fell and hurt his paw. Not bad, no limping but enough for Luke to sequester Leo. Leo is twelve years old. Old for a Dog his size.

    Gabe cleverly went around the house and closed the downstairs door so Shadow had another night inside. Ate her 7pm meal and went to bed. I slept much better with her inside.

     

    Tarot: I asked the deck what I should do with this sabbath. I drew The Ace of Bows.

    Here’s a bit from the Wildwood book: “We witness the moment when the bow with its arrow rekindles the fire. The fire of life is promised to us by Beltane forest lovers who are currently burning in our lives. The bow created by humans shows that in order to create Spark, we work in harmony with nature, making the most of her gifts, without overwhelming or destroying her.” TarotX.net

    Artemis. Final planning for her fall garden. Yes. Tarot. Doing the reading for Luke’s class. Yes, today, this sabbath day.

     

     


    📂This entry was posted in Dogs Family Friends Great Wheel Greenhouse Judaism Shabbat

  • Lessons

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II

    Friday gratefuls: Gabe. His awakening. Ruth. Her new apartment. Shadow, who came in last night on her own. The greenhouse, a fall garden ready to plant. A mezuzah for Artemis. Rebecca. Mussar. Azzut. Self-Confidence. Luke. Leo. Marilyn and Irv. Tara. Rabbi Jamie. Alan and Joanne. Dandelion.

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: The Wildwood Tarot

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei. Swimming in the direction of novelty.

    Week Kavannah: Hearing on the side of merit

    Tarot: The Six of Stones, Exploitation.

    One brief shining: Shadow jumped up on the bed, came over and licked my face, I put my hand under her belly, giving her a quick scratch, all I want.

     

    Tarot: I asked the Wildwood Deck what insight it might have about the mezuzah hanging today. Drew the six of stones which you can see above. I thought, what? Artemis is exploitative?

    Then I read about the card: “If we continue  to exploit the land without replenishing what we take, the things we take for granted will disappear and our world will be broken and ruined, like hives. This card may represent poverty of the soul – some form of psychosis…”  TarotX.net

    I had an aha with this card about Artemis. Artemis is a living witness to our need to care for the Soil, for the Plants that flourish in it.

    She has no solutions, will grow little food, but her presence on this Land says yes. Yes we belong to the Soil. Yes that belonging is collaborative. Yes the Soil is in danger and the Plants that thrive in it. Which means that we humans, creation’s most fragile and dependent creature, are also in danger.

    It’s a matter of love. Which do we love more, Mother Earth or our things? Artemis is a sanctuary for all those who love the Soil, Plants, caring for the Planet. She is a sacred place.

     

    Dog journal: Shadow came in last night on her own. Gabe and I were talking. She strolled in. Ran back out. Came in again. And stayed. Made me so happy. Hope we can figure out how to repeat this.

     

    Floods: The Texas hill country, site of the awful catastrophe unfolding over the last week, was LBJ’s home. Ironic, when you think about it.

    Kerr County politicians and administrators have denied requests for various sorts of alarm systems from early warning messaging to sirens. Red tie guy has gutted NOAA and the National Weather Service. In both cases these represent government refusing to do its most basic job: seeing to the welfare of its citizens.

    Red tie guy also had FEMA on the way out until-TACO alert-until this morning. When it wasn’t.

    How is all this ironic? Red tie guy and the Kerr county officials have just taken a severe lesson in the proper role of government. It was LBJ who, for all his Vietnam War faults, passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights act, Model Cities and other legislation aimed at building a Great Society, not destroying it.

    No wonder TACO.


    📂This entry was posted in Dogs Great Work Greenhouse Judaism Politics

  • It still exists

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer and the Greenhouse Moon II (Full)

    Thursday gratefuls: Shadow, the outdoor girl. Artemis ready to receive plantings for a fall garden. Halle. Capybaras. Marmots. Nutria. Mice. Cool morning Breezes. Mezuzah. The ritual for hanging them. Monism. Squirrels. Tarot. The Forest Lovers. Wild Neighbors screeing. Rain incoming. What did the idiot do today?

    Sparks of Joy and Awe: Wind and Rain

    Year Kavannah: Wu Wei

    Week Kavannah:  Hearing on the side of merit

    Tarot pick: Forest Lovers, #6 of the major arcana

    One brief shining: This morning I shuffled the Wildwood deck, cut it three times, and asked the deck what I needed to do about Shadow, my mystery girl, and it gave me this card, the Forest Lovers, the male and female energy present on Beltane, the start of the growing season.

     

    Dog journal: A hot night. Mid sixties. Shadow outside yet again. Once again challenging my vision of our relationship. How it should go. At night in particular.

    Last night we were having a hug on the small patio stones outside my back door. We shifted our stance a bit and I stepped on her left rear back paw. She yelped and ran off. No way she was coming in last night. No words, no apologies. I hurt her. She left. Fast.

    Better this morning. I think she knew it was an accident, but her love of freedom and being her own Dog wouldn’t allow an immediate reconciliation. Damn it! Neither of us needed that.

    The Forest Lovers. Drawing this card made me see that as I’ve wondered and as Tom suggested yesterday the wu wei here, the flow of the chi, may entail letting her stay outside at night.

    I need to get an assessment of how much danger Natalie believes Shadow is in at night. From Mountain Lions. I believe the threat is low, but the consequence of being wrong is catastrophic.

    We are yin and yang. I need her feminine energy in my life and she needs my masculine energy. Together we can bring out parts of ourselves that would lay dormant otherwise. The most confounding experience I’ve ever had with a Dog.

     

    Life insights: A family of teachers. Mom. Mary. Mark. Several cousins. I’ve often wondered why I didn’t become a teacher, too. When graduate school slipped out of the picture, I never pursued teaching again.

    Except. As an organizer, it was my job to teach people how to live into their power. When unemployment had reached crisis levels in 1988 Minnesota, I along with others recruited church leaders, union activists, and unemployed people across the work spectrum.

    Once in a room together, with an 18 month old Joseph on my hip, I drew from them their anguish, their anger and frustration. This was the fuel for them to come together against a common foe: an unfair labor market.

    Once we identified those emotions, we moved to  using our various strengths. The moral power of the church. The organizing power of the unions. And the willingness to put it all on the line of the unemployed.

    The Jobs Now Coalition came into existence. Together we convinced the Minnesota Legislature to pass M.E.E.D. The Minnesota Emergency Employment act which funded half of a new hires pay for their first six months.

    It still exists:  Jobs Now Coalition.

     


    📂This entry was posted in Dogs Family Fourth Phase Memories Minnesota Politics