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November 2020

Here we are in November, on the cusp of an election that has the world on edge because we can no longer trust that justice, truth, and democracy will prevail, and my nerves are so frayed that I’m not quite sure what to do. Mere meditation is helpful, but it’s not everything, and with weighty matters like this up in the air, its beneficial effects last for just so long. Sadly, aside from voting, there’s not much I can do, and my brain has to catch up to my heart to ease that worry and tension. There is only so much one person can control, and it’s often even less than we’d like to think. And so, in these tumultuous times of danger and uncertainty, I will do my best to close my curtains to the outside world of negativity and doubt, of anger and ignorance, of uncertainty and disagreement – my focus will be on beauty and peace, on the simple haven within my own heart and home. On with the last days of October 2020… 

Fall ascending.

One year of not drinking alcohol. 

The prettier the flower…

The royal purple.

Purple reprise.

My meditation expanded to 26 minutes just in time. 

Anecdotes of goblins and great men.

Lace on fire.

Dearly purchased pleasures.

A woodland walk when the veil is thinnest: Part One.

A woodland walk: Part Two.

And a woodland walk: Part Three.

Happiness is reflective.

Words of the late hero Elijah Cummings.

Milk silk.

Hunks of the Day included Devon Sawa and Luke James. 

Milkweed is a wondrous native plant, providing food and sustenance most notably for the Monarch Butterfly (in its striped caterpillar form). Its handsome foliage – fresh and green with just a tint of gray to its underside – stays robust and stalwart (with the possible sacrificial leaves for the caterpillars) and pendulous soft pink blooms (favorites of butterflies and bees) makes it the perfect plant for blurring the lines between wilderness and cultivation. No surprise that the showier Butterfly Weed is a close relative (and its blooms are equally adored by the aforementioned visitors).

Most wondrous of all may be the seed pods, which are magnificently architectural before and after dispersal. Here they are caught in the act of launching, each silky umbrel ready to take flight on the flimsiest of breezes, seeking out some nook of earth in which to spend the winter mulling over the next stage of its journey.

“Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven; and every countenance, bright with smiles, and glowing with innocent enjoyment, is a mirror transmitting to others the rays of a supreme and ever-shining benevolence.” ~ Washington Irving

I like that sentiment – that happiness is reflective, mirroring its effects and joy to those all around us. Far too often, I take a cynical view on life, and when you’ve been disappointed and let down by humanity that’s to be somewhat expected. However, I’m also a believer in setting the tone for your life, and your day, and the power of intention most definitely has an effect on all sorts of manifestations. With that in mind, let’s begin the month of November on such a note of hope, and a note of beauty, as captured in these sky shots from a few days ago when the moon was almost full and the clouds reflected the setting sun in such pretty fashion. 

Be the beauty as it may, November does not enter in completely peaceful form. Last night we had a full Blue Moon, Mars is in retrograde until November 13, and Mercury is in retrograde until November 3. I’m attributing these astrological dynamics to Andy’s variable moods of late, and the general uneasiness and insanity of these past few weeks. I’ve been hanging onto the minutes of my daily meditation to keep me as calm as possible, but with election day coming up and all the ensuing mayhem likely to erupt, I may have to take more drastic measures. 

There now, I’ve gone and given in to the malady of pessimism when the whole point of this post was to enter a new month on a note of hopefulness and positivity. And so we take that turn upward, we leave behind the moods of madness and melancholy and turn to places of repose and peace. That is something over which I have complete control – not the actions of others or the failures of humanity at large – only myself and my processing of events. Leave others to get bogged down in the muck of their making; freed from those binding traps, I shall make my own way, and it will be a happier journey because of it. And so we say hello to November ~ I will ride your chilly wind with a warm heart and a pleasant countenance. Peace doesn’t always have to be found within – sometimes you can conjure it from the flimsiest of raw materials. Like a moon in the late afternoon sky…