Samhain

The veil is thin, this time of year. Take advantage to connect with your ancesters, your guides and nature. For those of us turning the Wheel of the Year, may your workings be blessed.

Why is your title so weird?

When I was fourteen, my family went to South Carolina to visit my dad's sister, Joanne. Aunt Joanne was a legendary cook, and Uncle Coyou brought home the bacon. Literally. He was an avid fisherman and hunter. So, it's the middle of July and we're standing in her kitchen, where she's preparing ham, turkey, hush puppies and lord knows what all.
And she turns to me and says "Honey, you know, you can't shake and bake squirrel."
And my world stood still.
What did that mean, I wondered. This was the early 70's, when prepared food mixes were at their zenith. Aunt Joanne was passing along a culinary tip. But for me, uninterested in cooking, the phrase took on mystic proportions. For the last 40 years, it's stuck with me, through thick and thin and I've used it more times than I can count. It's like my personal kone. One day it means one thing, the next, it means something different. But, it's a gift I'll always have, thank you Aunt Joanne - you're my inspiration.

National Novel Writing Month

Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is November. Are you in? Write a 50k novel in 30 days and meet some fantastic people, plus donations support their Young Writers Literacy program, a free writing program for classrooms. This is my fifth year - Join me.

Energy surges

If you've felt squirrely the last couple weeks, you're not alone. Some of the information I read say that the earth's energy is shifting, that higher vibrations are being felt across the planet.

We've seen more intense weather patterns this year, and to say the American political scene is polarizing, is an understatement.

So, if you're restless, cranky, unable to sleep, it could be you, and it could be you're feeling this shift. If you know how to ground energy, do it. Yoga is an excellent practice for grounding. If you're new to grounding, visualize the energy you feel (for me, this is usually like a caffeine buzz) flowing out your feet, and into the earth. Thank the earth for recycling. Visualize calming and peaceful energy replacing the buzzing. You can dance, sing, move, walk - especially outside in nature - to shift that energy.

Take a minute to sit with yourself. Has the energy moved or do you feel the same? Check in with yourself. Repeat any practice that helps you feel more like 'you' and less like a live wire.

Just a note - there are places where energy accumulates or is higher. Vortexes and ley lines are high energy places, so if you live around an area like that, you're going to notice and feel the surges even more. I noticed this in PA - we're in the Allegheny foothills withing walking distance of the junction of the Oil Creek and Allegheny. All emotions are intensified.

Weekend in Oil City, PA

So, we closed on the Oil City house two weeks after after seeing it, and shlepped an air mattress, dishes, a table and two dining chairs over. Camping for adults!

All is wonderful in the house, and given the location (think ski slope) we're not surprised that the floors are slanty. John laughed about getting his "sea legs," well, he's the captain of the Oil City ship, it just lists to starboard.

The energy in the area feels very ancient, and powerful to me. It might be the mountains, or the Allegheny river, but you can feel the depth of energy as you approach the area.

Even though it felt 'clear' in the house, I smudged and invited AA Michael and Co. to clear and protect the space. I might have been additionally motivated by the meth lab bust up the hill a bit or the many signs advertising the Northside Anti-Drug Rally. In all things, better safe than sorry.

So, last weekend we realized we needed a couple comfortable chairs. We heard about the Oil City Antiques Warehouse and headed over the river and through the woods (and under the bridge and back, back, back) to find it. We were initially leary, the rain and gloom didn't help the ambiance. But OMG! when we got inside it was like a combination of "Pawn Stars" and "Pickers.," (History Chanel shows I love). Mesmerizing! Luckily, we met Pat, who took us directly to the chair section, on the second floor. We scored two excellent chairs, that matched the size and color (Win!) of the living room and fit in our Honda Element.

Getting the one in the narrow front door was a bit of a struggle, but finally it was in.

Part two of the weekend involved a visit to the Oil City Library, a Carnegie Library that is lovely and imposing at the same time.

We browsed the stacks and I saw a large glossy book about ghosts and hauntings.

I swear I never watch ghost hunting shows, or read scary stories (vampires and ghouls no longer qualify as 'scary', thank you to everyone who took creatures of the night and made them the equivelent of soap opera stars.) But I flipped through the book and don't you know, started reading a story about haunted second-hand furniture. Blech! I didn't finish the tale but eyed the chairs with deep suspiscion when we got home.

Rhett Butler was snoozing behind the stuffed chair, so I assume between him and AA Michael, they were safe. Lesson learned.

Just a note about Oil City Antique Warehouse: This is a wonderful destination, and if you're anywhere near, please visit. It's on Pump House Road. They have amazing finds and helpful staff.

Why you should manifest

Because it works.

Whether or not you're conscious of it, your thoughts create your reality every day. Step back a minute and think about it.

How do you feel when you're in a good mood? Expansive, right? Things look better, 'bumps'in the day are manageable and you feel lighter. In fact, the longer you maintain that 'good mood outlook' the better things become.

Now remember what if feels like when you're down. Completely the opposite. "Bump" are worse, attitudes are worse, you feel like one (bad) thing leads to another.

The common denominator in both situations is our thoughts. We're thinking higher vibrational thoughts when we feel happy or content. Keeping yourself in this mind-set requires practice and focus, but it's worth the effort. When you let your mind run in a million directions, half of them negative, you're drawing random and negative energy and situations to yourself.

Control your thoughts, experience better situations.

"This all sounds well and good," you say. "All fluffy and light. What about real situations?"

Ok, here's my latest manifesting.

In July, we visited a community we really liked, 2 hours from home. We both decided we'd like to visit more often, and came to the conclusion a small cottage/vacation house would fit the bill. While John looked at real estate listings in our 'handy-man special' price range, I wrote out a list of desireable attributes for the property.

Those attributes included (but not limited to ) appliances, safe neighborhood, enclosed yard, nicely finished, garage, and in our price range. At the end, I wrote "This or something better." John laughed and said yeah, that would be great.

We looked at a couple homes that probably needed a lot more TLC than we could afford to give them. A LOT MORE. Frankly we had a couple convos about whether this was a reasonable idea. I knew that if it was meant to be, it would happen easily and in the time it was meant to be. So, we enjoyed the time we spent going over and back and talked about the fun stuff we could do over in the community, and how great it would be, to be a part of the place. And - to not have to board Rhett.

So the second week into this venture, we saw The House. It was recently listed, included all the attributes we listed (plus more!) and the realtor could show it that weekend. The result? The house was vacant, the owner was motivated and we close on it next week. In the spirit of full-disclosure, this house is in the community next to the one we originally liked, but we like this community even better, and have access to both with an easy drive.

If I can do it, you can do it. All this took was belief, joy and trust.  And you have to open to the possibilities. Spirit will give you exactly what you ask for, or better. So ask for the best.

Lammas - What are you harvesting?

Ah, Lammas, the first of three harvest festivals for those of us following the wheel of the year. I love this time of year, my tomatoes are coming in, and my garden is lush.

So, what are you harvesting this time of year? I am seeing the benefits of some groundwork I laid awhile ago. Actually, it was unconsciouly done, but Spirit has a way of bringing it all together.

One of my goals was to be more articulate, personally and professionally - and you're reading one of my creations right now. I'm also passionate about social justice and taking responsibility.

Today, I made a second call to my city hall, and spoke with the city manager about a sidewalk that's been broken into pieces and tossed in it's hole, for two years. This week, the homeowner dumped woodchips in it. This street is the main route to the middle and high schools, and along the parade route of our little autumn parade. More importantly, we have zoning laws that are supposed to prevent this danger.

Also on the menu was the uncut weeds - thigh high - surrounding the Charter One Bank in the downtown. Now, I listened to the usual council won't enforce/we have no money blah blah, but I did get my point across regarding the sidewalk. Also commented that I may be showing up at city council, since city manager says they are the culprits who won't enforce our zoning.

Am I buying this? Not so much, because I'm a veteran of local government and especially zoning. But by expressing concern in a polite and professional way, I got his ear, and a possible invitation to sit on the downtown development committee. I've always said, put the complainers on the committee. Good for me.

And Charter One - yes, he said he'd get that baby trimmed up. ("They are not being good partners," said Karen.)

So you know I'm a passionate reader and closet novelist. One set of neighbors - both elementary school teachers with Master Degrees, tossed two cardboard boxes of like-new kids books, in the trash. They're moving - thank you Higher Power - and it's bad enought they don't recycle, but tossing books? You're teachers for heavens' sake. And, they just finished nattering to my husband about how much money teachers have to spend on their classroom.

I made a kamikaze raid on their trash and will deliver the books to my library this week.

So, why is this my harvest? Because I finally feel the courage to speak my mind, and have the 'knowing' that I can do this (act) in a responsible manner. It's standing in my power, from the heart and acting with Spirit.