Monthly Archives: December 2013

Dogs, Family

Hail, Hail

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Samhain                                                          New (Winter) Moon

4 females, one human and 3 canines, one male.  All present and accounted for.  The house 400_late summer 2010_0163is full again.

On the cold and snow coming.  Yes.  Yes.  Three times yes.  We live here in the north and for many of us our northerness gets defined in these three months when the snow and the cold come.  What it will be like here when the boreal forest has fled further north and the winters have become like currently more southern climes I don’t know, but I know I don’t want to be here then.

 

Art and Culture, Faith and Spirituality, Feelings, Woolly Mammoths

Fed

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Samhain                                                     New (Winter) Moon

Drove into Minneapolis in driving snow as far as Coon Rapids, then rain.  The Woolly’s met at Gorkha Palace, a Tibetan-Nepali-Indian restaurant near Surdyk’s Liquor store in Minneapolis.  Tom, Bill, Scott, Mark, Frank, Warren and I had a pleasant meal together.

Each time I go to a meeting I come away nourished in body and soul.  The body is fed.  And so is the soul.  What do I mean by soul?  I mean much the same as I do when I use the word Self, that fluid yet somehow distinct sense that the I in this sentence is a peculiar, particular entity and one always with me, one with me.  That last is tricky because to be one with me implies a separation between me and the I, a separation that does not, I believe, exist.

How does the soul get fed?  By being seen, validated by others who recognize me as a peculiar, particular entity.  It’s important to note though that the soul, the Self that I experience is not the same as the one recognized by others.  Yet, it is fed by others who see me and respond to me as a continuing presence from one time to the next.

It helps the tricky move of the I seeing the Self.  There is a difficulty here.  What part of me sees the Self that is also me?  I know there must be answers to this, but right now they’re escaping me. Ha.

What I’m trying to say here is that this soul is fed by the souls of others, especially others key to his ongoing story.  The Woollys are such people for me as I am for them.  We help each others Selves stay alive and well.

 

 

General
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Headlines seen in today’s Star-Tribune:

Man cited after tossing $1,000 in dollar bills into Mall of America rotunda

Wisconsin DNR struggling to curb sex, drugs at nude beach; weekday closure has little effect (in December? and no rock and roll?)

Family, Travel, Weather +Climate

At Home

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Samhain                                                     New (Winter) Moon

Kate’s timing was ideal.  She got home as the rain cum snow began.  She accepted the greetings of a grateful doggy contingent and a happy husband. Good to have her back.

Snow’s coming down with some energy now.  Big fat flakes which usually mean less accumulation, little snow big snow being Northern weather wisdom.  We’ll see.  As the temps cool down tonight, the snow could increase in volume going from fat wet clumps to smaller flakes that will collect in larger amounts.

A severe shock of below normal temps will hit western North Dakota meaning those poor bastards outside in the Bakken Oil Fields.  It’ll be so fracking cold the workers will have a tough time staying limber.

 

Family, Travel

The Corn Palace

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Samhain                                                        New (Winter) Moon

Kate’s in Mitchell, sleeping near the Corn Palace.  She’ll make it home tomorrow Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.  It’s been a week since she left and the house has had that not full resonance.  Tonight, knowing she’ll be home tomorrow, it has the she’s just gone for a little while feel.  Slowly taking on its more usual tones as her presence returns, a piece at a time.

It’s been an interesting week since I’ve been without a car and have not left our property for the duration.  The only difference I’ve noticed is that the occasional urge to go somewhere, to the grocery store or a quick trip into Minneapolis, vanished quickly.  As soon as it surfaced.  Otherwise I’ve followed my usual routines.  Missing Kate, of course, but also enjoying the monastic moment.

Tonight will be the last night alone in the bed.

Art and Culture

A Puzzle

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Samhain                                                                 Thanksgiving Moon

Ongoing puzzle.  How do I continue my immersion in the world of art?  Partly, perhaps mainly, the answer is drivetime.  Get in the Rav4 or on the Northstar, go to the Walker and the MIA, the Russian Museum, the occasional gallery.  There are, too, the valuable online resources like the Google Art Project, websites of various museums and tumblr, which exposes me to a lot of art I would never find on my own.

(Sisyphus Titian)

I want depth in my encounter, depth like I had while a docent, depth that came from wandering the museum, listening to lectures, prepping for tours.  The only way to get there, I know, is to spend the time, do the work, but how can I include these in my week to week, month to month life?  Have not got there yet.  And I want to get there.

Family, Travel
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Samhain                                                          Thanksgiving Moon

Kate spent the night in Sundance, Wyoming, near Devil’s Tower.  She remarked on the beauty of Wyoming and I agree.  It’s a beautiful place with very few people, fewer than 575,000, which puts it at 50 of 50 in terms of population.  That’s 5.9 folks per square mile, lower density than 48 others.  Only enormous Alaska has a lower density at 1.3 per square mile.  Beauty does not feed people.  The barren high plains and intermontane areas plus the Rocky Mountains on the western edge make Wyoming inhospitable. Sounds like a perfect place to live.  Except for those Cheney’s and the homophobia.  Laramie’s in Wyoming.