Once in a Blue Moon

I jumped the gun a little here, but with good reason.  Today, at 9:58 am EDT, we have a second full moon in the month of August!  A blue moon!  I took the picture at moonrise last night, about 12 hours early.  The moon probably won't be visible for me when it is officially full since full sun is predicted for the morning.  This way you can get out tonight to see the real thing for yourself.

I am connected to and affected by the moon.  Every time I look at the moon, full or not, I am filled with a sense of awe that rises from deep in my gut.  And with a full moon, the wild thing in me wants to howl.  I know I am always more wakeful around the full moon and am grateful to have much more active energy during the days surrounding its occurrence. 

In the Algonquin tribe tradition, this is also the Corn Moon or Fruit Moon.  These names were used for any full moon that occurred in late August or early September so that the Harvest moon (the next full moon) would coincide with the harvest time of late September or early October.

Blue moons occur every 2 to 3 years, and the next one will be July 31, 2015, so be sure to get out there tonight for a good look!  Of course, the moon doesn't actually have a blue color, but the late evening sky sure did.  Happy moon watching!

An Early Woolly Bear

It has already been over a month since I started this blog.  Wow!  Time really does fly when you're having fun!  I want to thank Julie for suggesting the name I chose for the blog: The Sacred in the Ordinary.  Actually, she first suggested it as a title for my most recent MorningStar Newsletter article about my delight in hanging clothes outdoors to dry. http://www.morningstarretreatcenter.com/index.html  I wasn't sure then about the title, but when the blog called me to write, it seemed like the perfect name.  Thanks, Julie!

So, in the garden, look who I found?!?  I thought it was a bit early, and from what I read and what I remember of other years, I think it is early.  But then, most of this summer has been early in terms of growing vegetables, so I suppose little Woolly needs to be early too.

Banded Woolly Bear Caterpillar (Pyrrharctia isabella)

This fuzzy looking caterpillar is the larval stage of the Isabella Tiger Moth.  They have captivated my attention each year when they emerge en masse in Fall.  I knew from experience that they lived through the winter since I've seen them occasionally in the spring, but I was amazed to learn that they truly freeze solid in the winter.  In the arctic, they may go up to 14 years before becoming a moth since the food supply and season are so limited, and they freeze every year!  More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrharctia_isabella 

Now there's also myths about the Woolly Bear predicting the length of seasons. I was taught that starting from the head, the black band said how long autumn would be, the brown band, winter length, and the black band at the end, spring.  The Farmers' Almanac speaks only about the brown band and says if it's wide it will be a mild winter and if it's narrow it will be a severe winter.  These two myths basically contradict each other.  Oh, well, it's fun to check them out anyway.  They are one of my favorite sights as autumn approaches.

Some word play fun from when my kids were little:
Isabella Tiger Moth?
No, a bell is a bell!  He-he!!

Smiling Tomatoes!

Due to the strange kind of summer we've had this year with record high temperatures and no rain, then solid rain for long stretches, the tomatoes have had a hard time not cracking.  These came from our local Farmers' Market at a reduced price because of the cracks.  Well, when I can them I need the stem out and skin off anyway, and these taste fabulous! And they were grown without any pesticides and with natural fertilizer.  Can't go wrong!

I haven't canned tomatoes for MANY years...I'm guessing 20.  Always did them when the family was together, but this year seemed like the time to start again.

First, I knew I wouldn't have any apples to can since the early hot weather in February got the apple trees tricked into believing it was spring and then whomped them with hard freezes in March.  Secondly, I've been reading more and more about the chemicals which leach from metal cans.  So, I thought, "I know how to preserve tomatoes on my own.  I have plenty of jars.  Why not?!?"  Can you find the smiler?

With a little magic, a lot of mess, and a few hours, I have these beautiful jars of tomatoes ready for the winter.  There's something so artistic and satisfying to see the glass jars all lined up with shiny lids and bright red contents.  I am so grateful to our local farmers for their hard work and diligence to bring high quality, healthy food to our market.  And grateful also to those who taught me how to do home canning as an adult since I grew up as a city kid.

The Web

First and foremost, a big shout out to Julie on the occasion of her 69^th birthday today.  You have been an integral part of the web of life for me for 21 years now, and I am truly grateful for your presence in my life!  Happy Birthday, Julie!



At MorningStar on Friday mornings a small group of us gather to meditate.  In this beautiful waning summer weather, we enjoy sitting on the deck at Rose Wind for our “quiet time”, though it is filled with birdsong, gurgling creek sounds, and an occasional rustle of some small creature. We gather in circle first and share something we would like to let go of or something we mourn, have a short reading from Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening, and then sit for 20 minutes.

Today since the suggestion was to keep our eyes open and pay attention to our blinking and how everything continues even when our eyes are closed momentarily for a blink, I decided to move my chair so I could look out over the creek.  Here is what I spied that had been invisible to me previously:  a fabulous spider web.

 It became fodder for my meditation time.  I thought of how fragile the spider web looked, all open and airy.  If I were going to create a space like this, I would want it tightly woven, more secure.  Yet as I watched, the wind blew and caused this “fragile” web to flutter and undulate.  It held its moorings and its shape because it allowed the wind through.  It was actually more secure by nature of its open design.

What can the web teach me?  I have long been in love with the illusions of security and control.  They don’t serve me well; still I hold them tightly at times.  What if I could set my anchors on something solid, and create myself in such an open way that the winds of life could blow right through me?  Sure I would get tossed around a bit; I do anyway even with my illusions.  But that openness to whatever comes would allow my anchors to be strong enough to hold.  And if the storms of life are so severe as to rip my web from its anchors, I like the spider, could start again spinning, spinning.  My illusion of security wouldn’t have held it tightly anyway.  And I prefer the feel of open airiness to the tightly woven, tight-fisted work of trying to control that which cannot be controlled. I am grateful for your teaching, Grandmother Spider, and I will need to ease into this learning.

Nepo writes, “We are human beings: our being infinite as wind, our human house full of holes.”  May it be so!

Invasion of the Stink Bugs!

For nine years now, every mid to late August, these amazing creatures decide that the inside of my house is a better place to live than outdoors.  They are impolite visitors as they stay all winter, fly around the house like B52 bombers (loud, slow, and heavy), and stink to high heaven if you touch them...or if Itty-Bitty, my cat, decides she's bored and tries to play with them.

Western conifer seed bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis)

They are actually NOT official stink bugs which occupy a whole different family of insects.  They are Western conifer seed bugs in the family Coreidae and have common names of "squash bugs" because they are pests on squash plants or "leaf-footed bugs" because of the way their hind legs have these leaf-like extensions.  On this picture you can see the coloration, patterns, and "leaf-foot". I delight in the exquisite design on their backs. Truly the work of a Master Artist!

Amazingly, they are not originally native to Michigan, but sure seem to thrive during the summer in the planted red pine forest that surrounds my house. Other seasons, well, you know where they reside.

Here's a great article that has lots of information and a good deal of humor:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/11/12/hold_your_noses____the_stink_bugs_are_moving_indoors/

And here's another that is more scientific: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_conifer_seed_bug

Fungus part 2 and Lichen!

One of my avid readers ;-) Becky, helped me find the name of these wonderful pink fungi.

Rose-colored coral fungi (Clavaria rosea)

And then I discovered that this white one is also a coral fungi.

Crested coral fungi (Clavulina cristata)

Well, at least that's my best guess since there are many look-a-likes, but it seems they are all considered coral fungi.

On the left hand side of the above picture, you may also notice these lichen.

fruticose lichen

Here's another lichen with which you might be more familiar.

British soldiers (Cladonia cristatella)

Now a riddle from another reader, Katie...

Why did the moss and the fungi (fun guy) get married?


Wait for it...


Have you guessed yet?



THEY TOOK A LICHEN TO EACH OTHER!!!

Thank you Katie and Becky!

Surprise! Fungus amon-gus

I have been struggling these last few days to be true to my practice to look for wonder, magic, and mystery, and to be grateful for these.  Coming upon this writing by Brother David Steindl-Rast and moving myself out the door this morning though I didn't feel like it helped for a while to shift my attitude.  Sometimes a practice is just work.  And sometimes it is a delight.  For this post, it turned out to be a little of both.

 

Surprise 

by Brother David Steindl-Rast

Do we find it difficult to imagine that gratefulness could ever become our basic attitude toward life? In moments of surprise we catch at least a glimpse of the joy to which gratefulness opens the door. More than that--in moments of surprise we already have a foot in the door. 

There are some who claim not to know gratefulness. But is there anyone who never knew surprise? Does springtime not surprise us anew each year, or that expanse of the bay opening up as we come around the bend of the road? Is it not a surprise each time we drive that way?

We have to find our own, each one of us. No matter how often that cardinal comes for the cracked corn scattered on a rock for the birds in winter, it is a flash of surprise. I expect him. I've come to even know his favorite feeding times. I can hear him chirping long before he comes in sight. But when that red streak shoots down on the rock like lightning on Elijah's altar, I know what e.e. cummings means: "The eyes of my eyes are opened."

Once we wake up in this way, we can strive to stay awake. Then we can allow ourselves to become more and more awakened. Waking up is a process.

Source: Gratefulness: the Heart of Prayer

The myriad colors, shapes, and textures of fungi that appear spontaneously each year around the middle to end of August and into September (especially egged on by a little rain) are an ever occurring surprise for me!  Brilliant orange forces me to carry my camera constantly.  From these miniscule, to small, to giant beasts of color!

 

 From fluorescent pink...does anyone have a clue about these?

 

To these which look like undersea coral...

To more "standard" fare.

I am grateful to be over the hump for now, thanks to the surprise of all these beauties in my life.  Thank you!

Meeting a friend for lunch

Well, I had planned to eat lunch alone on the deck at my house.  But I had a wonderful surprise visitor when I brought my salad out to the table!

It was some sort of small hopper, but didn't look like the majority of grasshoppers that are all over the yard.  This one beside being more brilliantly green than the others had a shiny brown back and long tail-like appendage, but most of all, it had the longest antennae I've ever seen on that size animal!

We chatted for a while, and then she/he became quite chummy.  I don't usually share my food on the first date!

After examining my oil and dill vinegar dressing with its antennae, it proceeded to clean off the antennae or maybe taste my concoction right there on the side of my bowl while I finished my salad. My choice to continue eating while we shared did not seem to bother her/him.

Since it didn't seem ready to leave when my lunch break was over (I had wood stacking on my agenda for the afternoon), I said goodbye and left my bowl on the table outside.  When I came back at 4:30, she/he had moved in, so to speak! 

Fearing it was somehow stuck in the leftover dressing, or woozy from eating for 5 hours, I reached in to nudge it, and it leapt straight up about 3 feet, startling me thoroughly!  I said good evening to my unexpected lunch guest and went inside to fix my dinner.  I didn't figure that I needed to share that too, so I decided to eat inside alone.

Indian Pipes

These wonderful beauties popped up just the other day.  I knew I needed to take a picture immediately even though I had more timely blog material.  The deer think they are delicious!  Sure enough, today they are all "gone."

Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora)

I had originally thought that Indian Pipes and Pinesaps (Monotropa hypopitys) were the same thing, but have learned that although they share many traits: both are herbaceous plants that do not contain chlorophyll and are parasitic, the Pinesap has multiple flowers on each stalk. I also thought they were Pinesaps since they are in the pine forest here, but they both like that kind of home.

More info?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotropa_uniflora 

These Indian Pipes intrigue me because they bend the "rules" of what makes something a herbaceous plant versus a fungus. I am always amazed at the diversity of this Universe!

August Showers

Moonrise 5:02 am     LeRoy, MI

No, I did not catch any meteors on camera myself.  But I did get this beautiful moon rising early Sunday morning.  I did see two nice, bright meteors shoot through the sky while watching.

Here is a picture from the internet of a Perseid meteor from Sunday also. "Shooting stars" occur each August as the earth passes through the stream of space debris left from the comet Swift-Tuttle.

Silver Springs, NV by Kevin Clifford

I am so drawn to the night sky in the summer.  As a child, my mother and I would lay out in the back yard in lounge chairs and watch for shooting stars, the Sputnik satellite, and observe the flight path of planes for O'Hare Airport.  But I especially delighted in feeling all the sensory changes that I would experience as thunderstorms approached: light, sound, temperature, humidity. Even now, 18 years after my mother's death, I feel her presence when I am outdoors in the stillness of the night or when approaching storms grace the sky with thunder rumbles, lightning, and the smell of coming rain.

Potato Daze

Every single year it is a total miracle to me.  I plant one potato, add sun, water, and soil, and I get 3 or 4 or more potatoes! (The hand shovel is there so you can get an idea of size.)

Here's my haul for this year.  I planted 12 red potatoes.  I harvested 61 reasonable sized reds and 16 more the size of my fingernails!  I planted ZERO white potatoes.  I had 5 volunteer plants emerge and produce 23 potatoes. If that's not magic, what is?

Furry Friends

“Who are the people in your neighborhood?” as Mister Rogers would ask songfully.  Many of the “people” in my neighborhood are animals.  These furry friends hang out (pun intended) at my house during the day, as well as at Julie’s, but mine are more camera shy.  According to Chinese lore, we are blessed with longevity and happiness by having them choose to share our abodes, though for some Native American tribes, the bat is a trickster spirit. Here’s my best shot of Julie’s day visitor.

My best guess is a Little Brown Bat (myotis lucifugus), though Big Brown and Silver-haired also live in the area. They sleep 20 hours a day, echolocate to find their prey, and eat mosquitoes, moths, wasps, gnats, and other insects.  My heroes!  More info?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat

To be certain, a closer physical examination would have been necessary, and I was not going for a ladder, hat, gloves, etc., even for the blog!  Besides, I hate having anyone interrupt MY sleep…”do unto others…”

Elderwomen's Circle

Yesterday, MorningStar offered our quarterly Elderwomen's Circle.  Julie facilitated, bringing a poem, an essay, quotes, pictures, and reflection questions to seed our quiet time, discussion, and writing.  Here is the fabulous poem she shared with us written by a MorningStar retreatant during a stay at the Mother Lodge:

                                                         Pumping
                                               by Miriam Pederson 1988

We are priming the pump,

taking turns at this age-old exertion

and we laugh at the inept

ways of our modern arms and hands,

unused to such home-made rhythms, 

such resistance to our needs

The metal handle shrieks with each motion,

cries out in lament for all women

whose priming brought no water, who

never felt the gush of enough or plenty,

no matter how the hard pumping

exhausted muscle and bone. 

We who have spent our tap water lives

exempt from the labor of great-grandmothers

have this day discovered the beauty of pumping, of 

our powers to draw water

straight from the earth...

We talked and wrote about our initiations into selfhood, adulthood, and elderhood, class reunions, shifting roles, mothering/fathering ourselves, autonomy and "I-ness", and confronting the illusions of life. Excellent, as always! We meet again November 7. Give us a call if you're interested. 231-884-2789

During our quiet time, I spied this amazing creature in the garden.  As brilliant yellow a caterpillar as I've ever seen.

It was walking along this piece of old chicken wire, but it could not stay upright on so thin a wire. So it was walking along, hanging upside down with all of its 10 or 12 legs/feet holding on. Then it would come to a wire junction as in the picture and could right itself for a few steps and whoosh, it would spin around to upside down again to the opposite side.  Walking the wire, slipping to the right, pulling oneself upright, slipping to the left...what a metaphor for my own journey!

I move along on my journey of life, and suddenly it feels like I'm hanging on for dear life. Everyone and everything aggravates me, I feel resistant to all new ideas, I feel bored and overwhelmed at the same time. I just hang on and keep putting one foot in front of the other. And then something changes: something I read, some phrase someone says, some beauty in nature (like the one above), can just shift my attention and attitude. My whole being seems to right itself and move forward feeling much more grounded and sane and in my body. Until I, of course, slip off again in another direction. It seems that is what the journey is about: accepting the power available to me from the Earth, Mystery, Grace, Cosmos through community to continue to right myself over and over and over. Thank Goodness!

Cycles

Black Cherry (Prunus serotina)

This old Black Cherry resides on the land at MorningStar Retreat Center somewhat near the Chartres labyrinth.  It has lost its top and two great branches. It reveals a deep wound at its center after its long life.

Yet, in the wound, the womb, of this fabulous, ancient tree lies new growth. A Chicken Mushroom!

Chicken Mushroom (Laetiporus sulphureus)

These beautiful fungi are actually edible and quite good, I've been told.
More info?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus_sulphureus

Out of death comes new life; a pattern true by its constant repetition across many realms.  Surely here in the physical realm:  plants go to seed and die to sprout new the next spring; fungus grows on rotting trees, bacteria thrive on rotting fungus, and dead bacteria, fungus, and trees become the soil for new trees.

And surely in my inner life, too.  Not until I "die" to my old, hardened, or no longer helpful ways of thinking, believing, or acting, can I open to new ways of being.

It's a mystery, yet perfectly clear, that this pattern of death leading to new life holds true on many levels.

Happy!

I had an excellent birthday! Phone calls (2 duet renditions of "Happy Birthday to You"), email, text message, and a Skype visit from friends and relatives, a gathering hosted by Julie for myself and two other friends, one whose birthday is a day before mine, cards from friends and family.  All in all, contacts from 24 people in the last couple of days. And some simple, fun gifts of a peacock feather, hand-knitted body cloth and soap, hospitality for an overnight in Grand Rapids, and a big bowl of watermelon!

Julie set a beautiful table and fed us a scrumptious meal.  We had plenty of time to relax and catch up with each other. This picture isn't perfect, but it captures what delighted my eye most: the brilliant yellow flowers with fresh green accents against an amazingly blue vase. Thank you, Julie!

I received hand print cards from my granddaughter, Katelyn, and daughter, Karen.  How fun! And another from Karen that reminds me, "Today is the day. Make it yours!" but, I believe in celebrating at least the whole month of August. And being that it's my 60th, maybe I should celebrate all year?!?

Another great card from Julie with many good suggestions! I actually practiced a number of them today!

So here is my mystery for the day: Even though I know through and through that I have this loving support at all times from my friends and family, I can still go through times of feeling lonely, unsupported, and unloved. I think everyone does. That is a real mystery to me, how my feelings can be so far afield sometimes from my reality.  I am grateful that today my feelings match my reality.  I know and feel that I am loved and supported by many.  Thank you all for all the wonderful reminders.  I'll check back and re-read this day's blog the next time I fall into the lonely/unloved/unsupported pit.  I bet it will help.

City Magic

So, can a woman who loves living in the woods find magic and mystery in the city?  Absolutely! In honor of my 60th birthday, which is today, I spent Thursday and Friday on retreat in Grand Rapids. I took wonderful time to just relax, read, explore, and reacquaint myself with the city.  Odd, maybe, to think of retreating to the city, but one of the things I've promised my soul is that I would more often visit art museums and just take luxurious time there. I spent a whole afternoon at GRAM (Grand Rapids Art Museum), and here is some of the magic and mystery I encountered there.

 This is a wall-sized mosaic. I love the colors, and it always draws me to take time with it.  I forgot to get the artist's name.  But I am repeatedly amazed to get close and see that every single block is made of 2304 dots (48x48) of paint! And there are somewhere between 63 and 80 blocks! (I didn't back up far enough to get the whole thing on camera!) Yikes!

This one, though it is part of the permanent collection, is new to me. I so appreciate three dimensional art, and I especially love the sense of strength and power I feel when pondering Champion of the Spirit. The artist stated that it portrayed the individual overcoming adversity.

Champion of the Spirit 1928 by Ernst Barlach

This painting, Transcendent Presence, intrigues me because of the way the artist has created light, or the illusion of light, with his colors. First I looked for a spotlight causing the bright center. No. Then again thought my camera did something, but no, I had the flash turned off. It truly felt like its name to me. Even looking at the picture now makes me slow down and breathe deeply and just "be" with it!

Transcendent Presence 1966-67 by Richard Pousette-Dart

This Man in Armor looked so real to me. Not just because the artist paints realistically, but because of the realness of the emotion in his face. I looked at him a long time.  He looks so tired to me; exhausted. It seems that he has seen too much of which he may never speak. Strong, yet weary. Pained.

Man in Armor 1996 by Odd Nordrum

There was, of course, much more. Currently, they have an exhibit called "Cities in Transition" with many photographs and paintings depicting the Detroit area over the last hundred years. Powerful work! Saddening, hopeful, nostalgic. And the GRAM building and grounds are artwork too: a serene reflecting pool with waterfall, Rosa Parks Circle amphitheater, and the building is LEED certified green design.
If you want to know more: http://www.artmuseumgr.org/

By the way, ArtPrize 2012 begins mid-September. You may find me in the city again as that is always worth another visit!