WOOD CRAFTING Part 2 The Ledge continues ... Installment #4 Lokea Bird

I have saved the sharing of Part 2 "The Ledge" until now. Soon, the Ledge will become a history that will be recalled with selective tinkerings. The vessel of authorship is a collaboration between the sources of knowing and the the dense network that might be called perceiving reality. The fairy tale of Wood Crafting wrote itself while the life we had known up till that Spring became part of Nature's cycles. Neither Pete nor I had ever experienced the deep quiet, deep dark and starry skies or the richness of life that teems in the woods.

My spiritual life has always been rich, and my imagination broad. Life on the Ledge took hold of me and truly began to reassemble my hold on what is important. This next installment describe the character Lokea Bird come to rest on the ledge in the woods.

WOOD CRAFTING

Written by Mokihana Calizar
Copyright, 2009

Please enjoy the tale for your own pleasure,
but do not reprint it or copy it for any other purpose without permission from the author.

(see the sidebar for my contact info)

Lokea Bird

Weariness wore her like wet wool, shoulders rounded into her full chest, Lokea was tired. The years of wandering had filled her with sights and sounds from dozens of places on the Great Planet. It was her destiny to seek and find the many ways in which mortal kind had used, or abused the treasures of Grace. The slightly sadistic humor of The Creators, as I view mortal destiny, lies in the erasures to coil memory The Creators leave when humans are born. Unlike the eggs and hatchlings of covey and warren where newly birthed Wood Crafters arrive fully aware and with total memory of their warming and their grace, human coil is braided with a miniscule space … a missing link. I have been taught to remember the space as an erasure and a place where mortal will resides. Remember Geoff the Grand? He was a Grey, a blend of mortal and more. His story of reassembling hints at the adventures to come for Lokea Bird during her days and nights on The Ledge.

A great sigh of relief dropped from Lokea’s heart. “Made it.”Lokea exclaimed. She held tight to her friend Briscoe and both did a jig of celebration on the hard driveway between The Ledge and The Family’s mansion. Briscoe and her mate Baines were part of the mini-caravan following the dandelion wagon from the city to the woods. Briscoe and Baines, like Anna and Joshua were friends of a life-time. These were loyal and unwavering friends who took Lokea and Pat into their homes when no safe harbor existed. Without question and with open-hearts Briscoe, Baines, Anna and Joshua embraced without judgment. The Creators and the Fairy Folk watch episodes such as this. Lokea hung back on The Ledge after Baines and Pat had secured the vardo into place. Tears filled her old eyes, still vibrant though less brilliant. “Thank you Ke Akua and all the residents of this place,” her prayers were silent, conned as she had been taught she filled the space with her acknowledgment.

Tutu and Traveling Frog listened. Traveling Frog turned to look into the sky, searching for Tutu’s face. He saw in the lines of the ancient fir a smile of recollection. He saw the prayers enter the deep crevices of the ancient fir’s thick skin as she absorbed the appreciation. “Ah,” T.F. sighed to himself. “Family.” A round brocade purse with a zipper for an enclosure held the small collection of jewels Lokea still called her own. A heavy circle of yellow metal, a bracelet, lengths of colored beads and several shiny stones hung from golden filigree. The narrow pathway cleared around the vardo did not disturb the seedlings that sprouted below Tutu. From the brocade purse Lokea drew four pieces. Two shiny orange stones dangling from gold filigree were hung from the tiny limbs of a seedling hemlock. Along with the stones Lokea hung a silver ring with an oval of pink quartz. “Hope you like them!” She said, this time using voice. Two other jewels, these long thin ovals made of mother of pearl were hung on the branches of a small pine. Other treasures, sea shells from her ocean home were offered as indicators of the places from which she had lived before. “To let you know my lineage,” she said continuing her ceremony. That done, Lokea Bird raised her arms with conscious memory of her linkage to All, flapped her outstretched arms and spun in circles before nearly losing her balance. “Almost too old and worn to do that,” she said to no one in particular, felt a grin bubble across her face and satisfied with her offering went to the celebration beginning inside the mansion.

WOOD CRAFTING Part 2 The Ledge continues ... Installment # 3 "Shiny stones"

We are gathering the chattels of our life, bundling up our stakes, and reassessing our store of energy for one more venture. We have a hitch-up date in mind ... within the week we will trundle ourselves south and east to the central region of Oregon state. The season on the Ledge draws to a close.

Pete is in high motion as he must be and has for all the time we have been together in the fall. PReparing for a move, he is focused on systematic progress. I count on his process and move through my own forms of preparation. Yesterday evening I took time with the 'AINA here ... the space that nurtures us. I said my prayers of thanks, and did my hula of appreciation, acknowledging all the beings for making space for us. Where Pete is in motion, I emote the full body of feelings that come each time it's time to say good-bye. For a wanderer, I am not easy with good-byes.

The fairy tale WOOD CRAFTING was written with my fingers and the mind of the Muse from the Ledge. She has helped me author the tale you read. Place is a sacred source of connection and I have always known it matters how place is treated. The installment that follows is more about connection between time and place and beings.

WOOD CRAFTING

Written by Mokihana Calizar
Copyright, 2009

Please enjoy the tale for your own pleasure,
but do not reprint it or copy it for any other purpose without permission from the author.

(see the sidebar for my contact info)

Shiny stones

So the spring of this great cycle had indeed begun with new beginnings and continuing destiny. Traveling Frog and Calliope Salamander were greeted on the trail-head beneath The Ledge with a cacophony of questions and the steel-blank stare of Traveling Frog’s Queen, Bernadette. “What ruckus stirred from The Ledge? Who camps there? Are more trees to be felled, warrens crumbled and more mansions raised?” The clans were filled with curiosity and though always a hospitable lot, they were not without a healthy sense of reserve considering the memories of Diaspora the wee folk lived with caution. “Come to the wagon for food and conversation tonight, just after the sun’s light is dimmed. Calliope and I will answer all your questions and then it will be time to prepare for the migration.” Lord Traveling Frog saved private conversation for his partner the Queen who watched and listened from the open hatch of the split front door of their home.

Bernadette’s steely eyes softened as Traveling Frog hopped to the porch of the lavender painted vardo that was indeed a near duplicate to the wheeled home now perched on The Ledge over looking the pond of Ever. Traveling Frog slipped off his outer footwear and hung them neatly on the tiny hooks pegged on the front wall before opening the door to step inside. He reached for his mate of destiny and embraced her with the same warmth he’d felt as a Rook. “It’s a fine evening, darlin’ a grand time for welcoming new family to the glen and to The Ledge.” Bernadette helped Traveling Frog with his cape and cap, hung both on the corner stand and sat at the table she had already laid out for tea. “What do you make of it my dear Froggie? Such large folk tucked into a wee wheelie home, and from the snips of gossip flying through the glen, these mortals are past the period of sapling and more aged than young. Family you say. Just what is it you know that secures you to that choice of word … family?” “Let me have a sip of that delicious tea you’ve been a brew’n bonnie bonnie Bernadette, and a taste of …?” Traveling Frog sniffed at the warmth of scone piled onto a platter in front of him, “It could only be the sweet young pine flour scone.” The sharply brewed dandelion tea and sweet pine flour scone flecked with dried huckleberries were a perfect contrast of tastes and to see his satisfaction with the late afternoon snack softened Bernadette’s impatience. She sat back, more at ease herself, and poured her froggie a second cup of dandelion tea. “The mortals on The Ledge are no strangers to the whole story of Ever my dear. These are the old ones we have been waiting for all these many cycles. Who among the many could or would find the small space on The Ledge a fit place to call ‘home?” Who among the many could or would at their stage of living mortal on the Great Planet choose to Reassemble in this fashion?” Traveling Frog gestured with a sweep of his arms and both his wings to amplify the significance of his description. “Wife oh wife of my own, the female come to live on the sloping space above is a Bird …” Traveling Frog’s eyes widened and his head rocked and again his wings lifted him off his seat and this time he spun in coiling circles that left a track of stardust lingering in the space beneath the arched roof. “This is the girl now grown nearly full-age, with the memory of Covey seeded deep in the braid of her now loosening coil.”

Traveling Frog lifted a shiny orange stone from the floor beneath the table. It took all his strength to bring it to the table. The stone dangled from a filigree of gold. “She has begun to leave gifts along the footpath they have made around their wee home. The woman called Bird comes with the memory of kin and kind and knows that in falling a part she makes room for us to join in. She is callin’ for the dreams, and brought with her a panther to help her through the in’s and out’s.” The talk about the glen already warned of a sleek black cat new to the land. “Heard you have already beckoned to the panther and made a promise of loyalty and protection.” The Queen’s talent for gleaning the sounds of her world, and beyond, was her grace. She had honed listening to an art. Bernadette reached for the shiny smooth stone and looked from Froggie to the stone with greatly softened eyes. She moved her fingers slowly over the stone and seemed to caress the little gem that was no bigger than a rain drop … but, it was very, very heavy. “She left gifts of shiny stones did she?” Traveling Frog nodded, “Yes, the Bird has left gifts of shiny stones.” “Did she leave a pair of shiny orange stones?” Bernadette turned to Froggie, knowing full well what the answer would be. Traveling Frog smiled, hopped to the stand where his cape hung and reached into the hidden pocket sewn on the under-side. The twin to the first shiny orange stone filled his hand.

Photo Credit: Carnelians from Wiki Commons

fall song for Shenia

i am feeling a bit of the tatter

no matter Shenia the whole is a whirl

soft is the color of fall coming quickly
the ledge is appearing to disappear

when will the froggie go in for the winter?
soon when the frost is thick

am i so long in the tooth to forget ?
no not so long, not so long

count backward instead

Astrology from the Makua O`o ... Jupiter the planet of luck, champion of dreams

Jupiter planet of luck, champion of dreams

Last evening tide, just before the sun set Pete and I took a short drive to make a cellphone call. A roadside spot five miles from the ledge, where a single straight grown fir rising so too do the bar of cellphone service rise. We were calling some pals letting them know we are preparing to venture south and east. These same pals were one of the first stops along the route of friends who had our backs when MCS was disassembling our old whirls. The pals weren't at home when we call, so we left a message.

In place of chatting with those friends we were blessed with a sun set and a moon rise of Harvest Luck. Last night's Harvest Moon was fully present, though not yet in her full illumination because at the same time in the west the sun was electrifying the sky. A very busy and bristly common brown squirrel bounced on the branches of a wild huckleberry outside Scout's window. The squirrel was oblivious to us, with much more important things to do for sure. What Pete and I count as a lucky break is the dual kick of moon and sun as a celebration blessing for all the hard work we have invested in the journey to create a life from Kolea Nani.

Jupiter has been brilliant in the night sky for weeks. This is the planet of expansion, luck and also considered the champion of dreams. Our home on two wheels was born from dreams. Jupiter plays prominently in my natal astrology with the planet of dreams parked at birth in my 11th house, the house where hopes and dreams, visions and connection live... this is a double whammy of dreaming as a source of knowing for me. I posted the article about the difference between learning and knowing yesterday. It was a way for me to put thoughts on the wall that I know ... a faith-based activity. The gift of a sunset and moonrise simultaneously are Jupiter and sun and moon together an indicator of dreams coming true.

We are packing up Kolea Nani and heading for the pass. We are going to Oregon to join our MCS friends in the next stage of community building. It's been a process of back and forth, ups and downs just like that common brown squirrel, we have been preparing for winter!

It's a 9 out of 10 win-win situation:

1. It's sunny. (light is important for Island people!)
2. We're being welcomed. (thank you!)
3. Our friends 'get' what MCS is about. (one of them lives with MCS)
4. It's dry.
5. There's electrical hook-ups for both pairs.
6. The air is clean.
7. There's work for us to do there. (our friends build tiny safe homes!)
8. It's affordable. (we can share resources)
9. We help our friends build the shared kitchen and bathroom we both need for winter.

What's missing? Heat, so Pete will have to wear socks and maybe something more than shorts. The ocean. ( just three hours away).

We started this search in July, and we're new to this kind of search. It is kinda new because we know more than when we were trying to outrun the environment. We know MCS exists and we know what things/experiences/chemicals/actions cause it. That makes the search a conscious one. The astrology of our search does include the influences of ancient wisdom that goes beyond learning and that's the influence I like to call "Earth Sourcery and Cosmic Wisdom." This life of our from Kolea Nani is all about learning and knowing. My Hawaiian tradition led me to remember that the practice of such earth sourcery and cosmic wisdom was passed along with 9 life tools. I'll end this post with those tools and give thanks to my ancestors for passing them to me.

We have our friends here who have shared their ledge with us to thank for their willingness to and generosity. It has counted for much, and we hope we have shared equally in the process.

What are the basic life tools of Makua O`o?

1. Keep a keen sense of observation … NOTICE
2. Listen … with your whole body … LISTEN RESPECTFULLY
3. Do your best in all things … BELIEVE YOUR BEST IS ENOUGH.
4. Know that wisdom is found in many places … SOFTEN THE GROUND OF YOUR BEING
5. Question for clarity when making decisions … ASK
6. Practice patience and endurance … TIMING IS DIVINE
7. Engage in good health practices … CARE
8. Feel the heartbeat of the culture … SENSE YOUR PLACE
9. Believe in Ke Akua, for this higher power makes all life possible … WE ARE NEVER ALONE

Where is Jupiter in your chart? Do you count yourself lucky?

(more) Astrology from the Vardo: MORE LIBRA, Art and Forgetfulness

I'm loving this recent crossing over, putting astrology more front and center (or left and right of center ... off-center jt this is fun!) here on VardoForTwo.

If there was ever a time for me to be more fully me, it's now. With Libra's balanced skill of negotiating approach so fully in the sky it will help me and all the collective to get through this Full Harvest Moon in the sign of Aries, the Ram(tonight). It's important to keep that hot temper of the Ram from inciting me and loosing focus/balance at this precious time.

Safe Haven and wintering over are keening on our minds here on the Ledge, the night temperatures are quivering at 40 and the wetness makes the cold feel colder. It's only our second winter back on this continent after 15 winters back on the islands of my birth (Hawaiian Islands, for any who might not know). The adjustment period is still in the works, and to what degree there can actually be comfort ... that is debatable.

"I am usually home by November," I said to myself as I stepped outside to pee early this morning. I thought I'd be able to grow old, and older on the Islands and then real life happened and I am preparing for a winter with snow (probably) and temperatures far from tropical.

Still, the energy of the season and the skies is fueling us. It's Libra energy I'm talking about and specially youthful Libran energy that offers these two old vardo dears inspiration and insight, and hope. Here's something that has continued to provide Pete and me with hope and flexibility. It's an ancient knowing.

From Laotsu,

"The way to learn is to assimilate.
The way to know is to forget."

The conditions we find ourselves in as we navigate this Gypsy-type life offer us both opportunities: first the door to 'learning' and the second to 'knowing.' They are not the same and that's where my exposure to youthful knowing inspires my Jupiter-nature (that sense of knowing and exploring, and also, PUBLISHING). The years of learning to understand the new normal of life with MCS pushed my research buttons (Scorpio and Mercury hanging together in the 10th House where my role in society is highlighted) and finding a name for this 'thing' that just kept eluding me. "Could I really be allergic to the world?" The answers I was getting from others and from myself were "Well ... maybe." In the early stages of learning, our answers were to keep moving looking or the perfect space/place that would no longer make me sick. We were still firmly in the place of believing in a rigid architecture of place/house/community/environment. That stage of learning lasted more than ten years, miles of travel, and many mistakes (an intimate part of the process of learning).

What changed after the 10 years? How is the journey different?

Two years ago and especially during the last year, I finally had a name to the symptoms and it was MCS. Brought to our knees and to the wall we began to know ... through forgetting. Hmmm...odd, and funny for the answer seems to be MCS with all it's new answers to normal is teaching me to forget nearly ever thing I learned as an adult. (Pluto in Sag)

Here is where the inspiration of youth and Libra have offered us such gifts.

• My son the Libra Sun.

This summer my son traveled to France to teach the Hawaiian healing practices of Lomi-lomi. This is the young man born in the Pacific Northwest to an Aries Sun Father and a Scorpio Sun Mother. Through this youthful and blood-related example I see that some of my dreams (of sharing culture, healing and communication) will not be mine to experience. Instead, the dream will be passed into the hands of another with assistance from his roots (me). I have invested in a dream and it is my son's hands that carry the work forward.

• Leslie over at the Oko Box.

This Southern wahine is part of the MCS community who began to nurture me when Pete and I arrived in Seattle in May of 2008. Through the keys and connections of the internet I read her blog, and began to know a young spritely energy who was having fun. Ha, how can she? Her quirky and sassy attitude jumped off the screen. At first, I didn't know what to make of it.

Her artistic background was being redirected with her diagnosis of MCS and she was making her personality and her Libra sun very happy, balancing the scales in a unique and engaging way. I followed her consistently, and slowly began to comment and join the commentary.

It was her call for help to put her on a donkey that really lit the fuse for me. This gal was living her talk, and she was gonna get a donkey to get from here to there, because she cannot ride in cars no more. (Click on this to read her story). Ever since that Donkey Dream post I have known how much my old beliefs and mode of operation (MO) were losing their grip on me. They just don't fit. Leslie was just doing it ... buying a donkey, and yesterday she was preparing to put up fence posts to keep JuJuBean safe and stalled.

• Rima Staines at The Hermitage Blog

Rima Staines is a mistress (as "He is a master") of drawing beautiful images, and authors a fabulous blog called The Hermitage. During one of the dark winter times while we worked through the building of Kolea Nani, an anonymous tip came from a visitor to VardoForTwo. I think I was asking, "Where do you go when you are down or empty?" The anonymous tip was a link to Rima Staines website and blog.

If you have not visited yet, it may suit you at some point. I have been an appreciative fan of Rima's art, and more than that she and her mate and dear friend Tui are also wheelie folk who live in their Bedford van on the Isles across the Atlantic. For nearly a year I have visited, viewed and enjoyed the visual and lyrical verses this young woman shares through her blog. Through our visiting, we share the realities and the uncommon knowing of life from a microcosm called a vardo. There is kindred spirit between us now and we are better for it.

Rima celebrated her entry into her third decade recently, a Libra. She shared her birthday on her blog and there we who visited were gifted with her self-portrait and a look at her home-made birthday cake (mailed through the post by her mum!) Ah, this woman of course, could easily be my own daughter. My son is 37 so they are contemporaries.

It was Rima who commented on our blog a while back on my angst with cruel and insensitive views of our lifestyle. This is what Rima said:

Hello Mokihana and Pete, I felt to comment here as I know how horrible it is when you read criticisms of what you are doing! Really, do not worry about it.. we often say to each other how it makes our hearts soar to see an "encampment" with all the goods and chattels that surround a wheeled house. We too are concerned about our visual impact in the land and tuck things away under the truck obsessively! But isn't there something lovely about evidence of folks living outside?
Beyond that, people should be less critical of others doing such creative things and let them get on with it.

Hugs to you both from us here in an approaching English autumn,
X Rima

• A final youthful inspiration comes from Amestress (I don't know her astrology) who blogs over at Life The Final Attempt (Not Really!). I recently found this young woman and am reading her views, experiences and ideas and am regularly entertained with her dancing. It's fun! Rather than try to summarize or paraphrase the latest post to hit me where I live, I'll leave a link to her post TEN GOOD THINGS ABOUT HAVING MCS.

From the VardoForTwo, this old dear knows something good is happening with Libra and youth. Just for today ... why not!



Is there a difference between learning and knowing?


The photo credit for the Hands in this post goes to a wonderful site called Hands Art Lesson Ideas

Astrology from the Vardo: LIBRA MATTERS ... MANNERS MATTER

The sun is in the sign of Libra and has been since September 22, just after the Equinox when the Earth has equal exposure to the sun and moon ... equal parts dark and light. I have just spent time visiting some of my other ether-spots thanks to my trusty laptop. I've opened up my email and found a sweet communication from a nearly-lost connection with a treasured daughter, linked yesterday's MOON, MOON HARVEST MOON post to The Canary Report Group 'Eyes on the Sky' and got my first dose of ElsaElsa astrological heads-up for the day.

Late last night before climbing under the covers I was hit with one of those toxic influences that is sometimes impossible to avoid. Rather than a chemical hit from a caustic drain opener or the neighbor's BBQ or drier sheet, toxic influences can come from words or images of threat or maligning. The issue of the insensitive and ignorant commentary about our outside kitchen living came up, again, just before I was pulling the sheets over my head. That's the risk of sharing the laptop in the confines of a micro space. Pete was net surfing and hit that submerged rock (surfers will know the anology ... know where the rocks are before you catch the wave)Short story ... the toxic hit affected both of us, again and opened a wound.

To defend and calm myself so I could open to the peace of a healing night of sleep, I asked Pete to please leave the issue for the night, let us sleep on it and take no action. Grace did come to us, I slept and was granted a gentle and healing dream. There's no need to be explicit, for those who read here, you know that I am a Hawaiian dreamer with the ability to receive deep insight through the dream. I am thankful the gods bless me with that vehicle.

After my first cup of three-leaf tea (three fresh sprigs of our pepppermint) and sunflower nut butter on toast I began my morning rounds of the net ... , I went to work. Or more astrologically, Libra had found a way to work within me. The sun is in the sky of Libra the balance-maker. I am blessed with a Libra Sun son and Pete the Cancer Moon Man is also a Moon in Libra Native. When Pete and I went to sleep our sense of security was thin: we have no next place to be for the winter, our welcome is wearing thin, and the toxic commentary from that other blog was weighing too heavily on the scale. The dream of balance that came for me, and the Libra Moon that is Pete's native moon of birth have blessed us with the grace of knowing this today: MANNERS MATTER.

An old article reposted on ElsaElsa.com today was the astrology that offers this old goat (Capricorn moon) the next ledge to leap upon. Living with MCS makes us angry a lot. There are so many incidents that can easily goad the goat in me or amp up the Scorpio Sun energy of distrust and amputation. Normally, Pete and I will find a balance and the courage to transcend adverse situations. But the thing is 'what is normal'? And, new normal changes regularly. Elsa's blog and the commentary that began a while ago, continued today and it was about LIBRA: quotes from Libra notables and celebs and thoughts from the collective who visit Elsa's place.

This clip from that article and commentary thread includes a few quotes from Oscar Wilde, a fine Libra Native. These made me laugh at my self, and I share them here (thanks Spidermoon)

Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I am saying.
I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best.
I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.
It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious...

So what do I get from the Libra energy that is present in the sky and here for all to draw on?

1. Manners matter. I will need friends and allies, and will need to learn to play fair.
2. I can't afford to burn bridges at my age. My life is full enough as it is, and the energy I do have must be directed with aloha.
3. Choose my battles. Period.
   
4. Saturn will move into Saturn at the end of October, and if I haven't learned manners, I'll get more chances for a good long while. Saturn will be in Libra for weeks or months. Yikes! Saturn plays heavily in my chart so I will be watched.

Do manners matter in your world?





Photo: The Golden Scales from Wiki Public Domain

MOON, MOON, HARVEST MOON Saturday, October 3, 2009

The Full Moon in Aries (Full Harvest Moon) will occur Saturday, October 3rd, at 11:10pm, with the New Moon in Libra arriving Sunday, the 18th, at 1:33am. The full moon closest to the Equinox on September 21st bears the name "Harvest Moon" because it is the brightest full moon of the year. Farmers are able to harvest their crops by the light of the moon and see the fullness of their labors, the fruit on the vine, the efforts of their work.

Today the heavens are emptying the clouds here on the Ledge and much of the Pacific Northwest west of the Cascades Mountains. Our first season of growing a garden on the slopes of the ledge have been humble. The three small raised beds filled with our West Seattle compost of 2008 produced a tiny harvest. We have eaten small and delicious broccoli heads, a handful of fingerling potatoes, tender zucchini, Roma tomatoes and resting on the tiles next to our outdoor sink are four mini acorn squash. Perhaps a reflection of our vardo-sized home we have grown a micro harvest.

In the bright light of the Harvest Moon we have harvests to celebrate even as we continue to search for the next, new dreaming place where Kolea Nani rests for the winter. Here are a few of the things that can be celebrated:

• I have applied for Social Security Benefits that will start coming to me in January. I'll turn 62 in November, and it's time for me to harvest the benefits of the working years. Like our garden on the slope of the ledge, my check will be a mini harvest. I will love it, bless it and use it well. It's incoming resource and that is a very, very good thing.

• We have a sweet, safe, comfortable place to be and sleep. Kolea Nani the VardoForTwo is our mini nest. The heart of our two years of planting the seeds of believing it could be done. By the light of the fullest of brightest of moons we will celebrate our work and our home.

• We have learned so much about living with less and appreciating all that is more. MCS has challenged us more than anything we have ever experienced in our combined 120+ years. Not unlike thousands of families in this country, we have paid out of pocket for every service, bit of food, tank of gas, doctor appointment, visit to the NAET practitioner, and stopped paying for health insurance last year when it was a choice between food or insurance. The choice was easy.

• Our savings have supported us to this point, and we are grateful for that. Our economy is truly that of WEE. We have learned to enjoy the best organic and authentic food we can find and put our money there. We maintain that green Subaru for she is our scout and backup when an exposure or source of danger requires a quick get-away. The old 66 Dodge truck will get her first test of road readiness as soon as we know where it is we're headed. She's paid for, licensed and insured. We pray for the gods of travel to make her a safe and stout hauler of the vardo.

• Our physical health operates on faith, good nights of sleep, connection with supportive community through the cyber-nets and blogsphere, organic food, sweet pure water and lots of prayers. All in all the journey is just plain lots of work. Our Harvest Moon will shine on our belief that a safe and sane way of life without chemicals and harmful fragrances and toxic practices is a garden-life worth celebrating.

We celebrate the gift of our talents: resiliency, the ability to make do with little, the knowledge to fix things that are broken, reuse bits and dabs of what already is, the vision to see through the dribble and know what is worthy, the ability to write the truth, and a willingness to see when we are wrong and the courage to know when we are right; the ability to stay open to learning from many sources; and the internal knowing that we are valuable simply because we are.

What will you celebrate on the Harvest Moon?

Here are a few cool links to places where Moon Words, Moon Names and Tips for Planting by the Moon can be found :

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonwords/index.htm MOON WORDS

http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonnames.htm MOON NAMES FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES

http://auntiemoon.wordpress.com/gardening-by-the-moon/garden-club-presentation-gods-heavenly-clock/colleens-notes/

PLANTING BY THE MOON A CANADIAN GARDENER’S NOTES