Samain Thanksgiving Moon
Up early. Well, no. Not up early. Out early. We left home at 7am today headed for Orthocolorado. Much like Skyridge surgical hospital where I had my prostate removed, which admitted primarily urological patients, Orthocolorado admits only orthopedic surgery patients.
They must put happy pills in the drinking water for employees because everybody smiled, laughed and seemed overly f***ng upbeat. I yearned for dour Minnesota. I was not their friend, was not particularly happy to be there and wanted to get out as fast as possible. As I will after my surgery.
On the other hand. I now know where the hospital is.
Kate and I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond afterward. That Beyond part covers a lot of strange territory: systems to control your home with your smart phone, lots of candy, holiday decorations, including a Mensch in a Box and a wonderful wind-up Rabbi who apparently sings and dances. I’m not kidding. There was, too, a mashup of Hanukkah and Christmas, a large blue stocking with Happy Hanukkah embroidered on it in silver thread.
Kate bought a set of candles for a Hanukkah menorah and used them as birthday candles for Rabbi Jamie. He was 47 today. I remember 47. Sort of.
According to my countdown clock, we’re only 4 days plus a little from the election. May it come and go quickly.
Here’s a nice piece commenting on my favorite gubermental regulation:
If the Donald wins, I’m not leaving for Canada. That would just leave the country to him and his kind. Not acceptable. But I will build a transparent dome around our house. The dome will have a semi-permeable membrane for its skin. Only healthy, clean, non-stupid ideas will be able to come onto our property whether delivered by newspaper, internet, or television. I haven’t figured out what to do when we leave our dome home, a work in progress.
Since 9/11 our politics have become polarized, mean, unbending. The Donald has only ridden that cresting wave; he did not create it. Like any demagogue he has an instinctive feel for the anguish of ordinary citizens and an ability to say things that seem to give it voice. As a representative democracy, we rely on politicians for taking the pulse of their constituents. Yes, that’s true.
We have reached the end of another Celtic year. Summer’s End, Samain, marks both the end of the growing season, really, the harvest season and the beginning of a new year. Rosh Hashanah and the Gregorian New Year celebration on January 1st, like the Celtic New Year, put the marker down for a new trip around Sol either at the start of the fallow season or in its midst. In these three instances the New Year seems to suggest a season of reflection, of inner work, as the harvest ends or is well over, while fall and winter stretch ahead.
So, what does my celebration of the Great Wheel mean? I began thinking about the Great Wheel when I chose to embrace my Celtic ancestry: Welsh and Irish. This was when I began writing novels a millennia ago in the 1990’s. As Kate and I began to garden seriously, joining our lives to the seasonal rhythms of the earth and its weather, the Great Wheel began to live. Time became, as it has remained for me, a spiral, a turning and returning to Beltane and the start of the growing season, to Samain, Summer’s End, and the end of the harvest.
There is life and the spirit of the sun residing in every green thing on this planet. There is life and the spirit of the sun in every insect, mammal, protozoa, fish and flying creature. We are all more alike, much more, than we are different. Think of it. We share this planet, third from the sun, in the goldilocks zone. As living creatures on this one planet among billions of other solar systems, our home is a source of unity, a source of fellow feeling.
Ruth is filling out her application for the Denver School of the Arts. The application process includes an audition sometime in January. She’s going for fine arts. Ruth is a printmaker, a painter. She draws well, too. I really hope she gets in. She needs peers, other kids with her level of talent, intelligence and curiosity. Otherwise, she gets in trouble. Grandpop did, too.
Brother Mark wanted to know if there were images of my new knee. This is a generic image that shows the components of a common knee prosthesis. Total knee replacement is an increasingly good procedure and all of the anecdotal data I’ve come across has been positive. To be able to walk easily, get in and out of the car without pain, exercise, hike with Ruth and Gabe, sleep with less pain medication, and build up my endurance will be wonderful. December 1st.
Right now I have beef bourguignon cooking on the counter top. It takes 16-24 hours. Sous vide. French for “under vacuum.” I discovered this technique while reading the New York Times. It has apparently been a thing in commercial kitchens for years, but recent products have made it accessible to home kitchens.