Halloween

Sitting on the front steps
into my house are
a pumpkin and colorful gourds
which are reminders of the season.

Halloween, shortened from All Hallows' Eve, is a cross quarter day; also know as Samhain. It falls more or less half way between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. 

            "the seed now begins its time of gestation

        the harvest is gathered, the fields lie fallow,

        and the gates of life and death are open."                   

            from Earth Prayers

        edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elinas Amidon

This cross quarter day is near the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos which is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and most of Latin America. So rather than writing the usual two blog posts, I have chosen to incorporate both in this post.

This is the first Halloween and the first Day of the Dead that Dwight will not be with me to celebrate. Much to my dismay this is the beginning of celebrating holidays without Dwight. Of course, he will be front and center in my mind when I do honor these two holidays.

                                        

As we honor those ancestors that have gone before us and those loved ones who have died leaving us bereft, may we prepare our alter with food they enjoyed. The alter may also be covered with colorful leaves that are so abundant presently.

Dwight loved broccoli
so I purchased a modest amount at
this morning's Farmers Market
to enjoy eating on Halloween.

  The longer we are together

the larger death grows around

us.

How many we know now

who are dead! We, who were

young.,

now count the cost of having

been

And yet as we know the dead

we grow familiar with the 

world.

We, who were young and loved

each other

ignorantly, now come to know

each other in love, married

by what we have done, as

much

as by what we intend. Our hair

turns white with our ripening

as though to fly away in some

coming wind, bearing the seed

of what we know. It was bitter

to learn

that we come to death as we

come

to come, bitter to face

the just and solving welcome

that death prepares. But that is

bitter

only to the ignorant, who pray

it will not happen. Having come

the bitter way to better prayer 

we have 

the sweetness of ripening.

How sweet

to know you by the signs of the

world!

                              WENDELL BERRY

to usher in these holidays and open connections with your past ancestors and loved ones that are no longer with you in physical form.

Shasta Has a Cousin

Recently Shasta's Auntie T adopted a cat from the Marin Humane Society. She did not want a kitty but rather a full grown cat. Talking on the phone Tanis picked out 4 cats but when she arrived a few days later to check all 4 out there were only 3. She spoke to each one to see who was a "yes" to come live with her. The below cat chose to BE her cat so home he came in his carrier. Tanis has set up everything in her main house's bathroom.

Such an elegant looking boy!

Aren't his paw markings precious?

I love his green eyes!

Tanis had gotten him settled in the bathroom and closed the door. After she went about her late afternoon routine and felt she had adequately recovered from her "trip over the hill" to Novato, she opened the bathroom door to discover "no cat". Where was he? She enlisted a friend's stellar searching ability but she could not locate the cat either. They were both clear he had not somehow escaped to the outside of the house because he had used his litter box. Some while later Tanis discovered he had crawled up under the sink to his "very own hiddie hole". 

Shasta had yet to meet her cousin. Tanis wants to allow more time for him to feel safe and comfortable in his new home.

Tanis is "trying out" numerous names and thus far has not found the perfect name for her cat. Perhaps she will make a call to the animal communicator to inquire if the cat has a name for himself. I did that with Rose. When we all connected on the phone, she showed the animal communicator a rose flower so Sun's reincarnation became known as Rose. Sun never liked her name that I picked out for her. The Siberian Husky was Sun and our adopted black and tan hound was Star. Sun and Star seemed like good names at the time. Sometimes we humans are just plain weird to our pets.

Rose tearing into ribbon from
one of our wedding presents in 2010.

So while waiting to take Shasta to visit Tanis in Pt. Reyes Station and meet the cat I will enjoy a frequent belly

Indigenous People Day

AKA Columbus Day is on October 11. 

While living in Santa Fe, New Mexico, both Dwight and I along with Shasta attended the impressive parade on this day. We noticed the native peoples in the area had great influence on the city of Santa Fe. Santa Fe was truly a multicultural city with a long history of Hispanics, Native Americans and whites from many countries; unlike anywhere else either Dwight nor I have lived.

Dwight's female and mal pueblo heads
that sit in my herb garden
in front of the tall hedge.

I had the opportunity to interact with the local "indigenous peoples" many of whom lived in one of the Pueblos in the area. Today there are 19 pueblos in New Mexico presently with each having its own government yet sharing a common prehistory of emerging from beneath the earth, and culture. 

Roxanne Swentzell's
sculpture depicting
the ancestral peoples arrival.

This is Dwight's depiction of
"mother" bringing her first peoples 
into the earthly realm.

I was born part of this earth.

My Grandmother Earth.

I was born part of this earth

My Mother, all living beings.

My Grandfather, the sky.

I was born part of this earth.

My Father, all creatures of the air.

I was born part of this earth.

The eight Grandfathers.

I was born part of this earth.

The four corners of the earth.

I was born part of this earth.

The great wind giant of the North.

I was born part of this earth.

The red road of the dead.

I was born part of this earth.

The blue and black road of destruction.

I was born part of this earth.

The old ones say

the old way’ gone,

the old ones say.

Still,

I was born part of this earth.

                               DANIEL WESTERN

Contemporary Pueblo people are descendants of Ancestral Puebloans who lived in the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah all meet at one point. The single point in the United Sates only occurs here and is referred to as the Four Corners region of the Southwest. 

Dwight and I had our first Christmas celebration in New Mexico at the Santo Domingo Pueblo. Dwight had purchased for me greenish colored turquoise earrings and necklace. Erlina Coriz, the creator of them, invited us to spend the holiday with her, her daughter and her granddaughter. First we attended the celebration which involved ceremonial dancing. The dancers practice all day for days to prepare. All in locals in attendance bring chairs and blankets because after all this is December and it is chilly. Then we returned to Erlina's home for a delicious indigenous meal. The granddaughter at the time attended the Santa Fe Indian School which was established in 1890 by the federal government to assimilate the "native child". The Dali Lama use to frequent the school and attendees were invited to visit him in India which Erlina's granddaughter did. We had a lovely Christmas like no other before nor since. 

                               Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community 

                                  designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO 

                                             and a National Historic Landmark. 

                                  The guide who gave the tour was exceptional.

The second November we lived in Santa Fe we went to Taos, New Mexico, to celebrate our anniversary.  We rented a place for several weeks exploring the area including the Taos Pueblo. We drove one route going and another along the Rio Grande River returning to maximize our acquaintance with the area. A word of caution to anyone who is considering a visit to this pueblo. It is not open all of the time . . . remember people live here; it is their home they generously share at only certain times. I mention this because I heard an irate white woman complaining she could not visit on her trip to Taos. Now I reside in Cotati, California, far, far, far away from our Stamm home on San Felipe Circle in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I loved our house depicted above. Now it seems to me that living in Santa Fe was a magical place to live. The new owners are enjoying making this their forever retirement home.  I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads this blog. I love writing new entries for BE-ing Rooted: a Practice in Essential Living. To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, "Change is the only constant in life". As I continue adjusting to huge change in my life brought about by Dwight's death in July, I frequently

The second November we lived in Santa Fe we went to Taos, New Mexico, to celebrate our anniversary.  We rented a place for several weeks exploring the area including the Taos Pueblo. We drove one route going and another along the Rio Grande River returning to maximize our acquaintance with the area. A word of caution to anyone who is considering a visit to this pueblo. It is not open all of the time . . . remember people live here; it is their home they generously share at only certain times. I mention this because I heard an irate white woman complaining she could not visit on her trip to Taos.

Now I reside in Cotati, California, far, far, far away from our Stamm home on San Felipe Circle in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I loved our house depicted above. Now it seems to me that living in Santa Fe was a magical place to live. The new owners are enjoying making this their forever retirement home. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who reads this blog. I love writing new entries for BE-ing Rooted: a Practice in Essential Living.

To paraphrase the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, "Change is the only constant in life". As I continue adjusting to huge change in my life brought about by Dwight's death in July, I frequently