(not necessarily in that order)
I was taking a little walk and happened upon this leaf.
I paused to note its beauty, and started to walk on. But then I stopped and went back to pick it up.
It was just too beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that I feel it deserves its own blog post!
Our Christmas music “marathon” is off to an early start this year.
It’s usually not until the second week of December starts that I have the sensation of drowning in non-stop details and events, but here we are — barely reaching the end of November — and the feeling is already very much with me.
True, we just had a wedding, which doesn’t usually happen between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Of course, it was beautiful and inspiring. BUT…now that that’s done, it’s “all hands on deck” and “full speed ahead” to Christmas!
I’m so very, very ready to turn my brain off for the night.
I was on Facebook yesterday when I saw the above quote.
It definitely made me think. But then, it was immediately followed by this quote as the very next post:
“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.” — Thomas Henry Huxley
Reading the two, one right after another like that, made me pause and reflect. I think of myself as educated and mature. And yet, I still struggle to live up to the standards expressed within those two quotes.
I guess the truth is that, no matter one’s chronological age, our true educational process of reaching our full human potential is never completely done.
This got my attention today.
You can see that one branch out of the whole tree is still hanging on to its leaves. It’s obviously not quite ready to let them go. Or vice versa?
Perhaps I’m projecting meaning onto the tree, but the fact is, I can totally resonate with this branch/leaves.
I keep attempting to capture in a photograph how it feels to live in the midst of a forest of oak trees in the late fall.
The California oaks seem to be on a slightly slower rhythm than most of the other deciduous trees. Most of the dramatic red and orange foliage finished a while ago, but the golden oak foliage seems to go on and on and on.
We see oak trees from every window in our house and I marvel at their beauty each passing day — especially when the sky provides a brilliant blue background.
It’s also cool to look across at the surrounding hills and see big patches of gold, and to realize that that’s how our neighborhood looks from the other side.
But best of all is living in this beautiful golden glow. It feels almost astral. (Maybe it is!)
Yep, it’s the day after Thanksgiving and we’re off and running!
We both love the Christmas season, but Ramesha is definitely more of a traditionalist than I am.
Which means that, right on schedule…
1. The tree is mostly decorated.
2. We’re already using some of the Christmas mugs.
3. We’ve had our first seasonal listening to Julie Andrews’ Christmas album.
It also means an avalanche of final details for Christmas events, but I’m trying not to think about all that until next week.
Thanksgiving is one of the times during the year that I’m drawn to revisit hymns from when I was a child growing up in the Methodist church.
This has always been one of my favorites, but I have a much deeper appreciation of the words’ meaning after my years on the spiritual path.
I hope you enjoy the hymn and that you had a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving.
LYRICS
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Sing now in glad adoration!
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
uplifteth, sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper
thy work and defend thee,
Who from the heavens the streams of
His mercy doth send thee.
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that
is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come
now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
Yesterday was a good example of why I find astrology helpful.
It’s not about having someone tell me what I should do or what’s going to happen. Not at all!
In fact, my favorite memories related to astrology were times when I was intensely feeling or experiencing something and the astrologer’s advice helped me understand — after the fact — why I had been feeling or experiencing what I did. Which was very validating.
So, after sharing my “irritated for no particular reason” experience this past Monday, I decided to follow up on a friend’s suggestion and explore what was happening astrologically.
Sure enough, I learned that for most of this month, Mercury (the planet that rules my sun sign) has been having a challenging transit in the sign of Scorpio. And, as I already have a lot going on in Scorpio, it’s no surprise at all that I’ve been feeling unsettled and overwhelmed and (yes) irritable.
Knowing all this doesn’t magically make the challenging feelings go away, but it does make it feel a lot less personal. Which is a big help.
Turns out there is, indeed, some real astrological weather going on. It’s too late to get into it tonight but I’ll share more tomorrow.
For now, I’m grateful to know it wasn’t just my imagination.