December 29, 2006

As we close this year, I would like to leave you with a message. Although you may feel it pertains to women, I feel it also emcompasses men.

Drawing Water From The Well

I went down to the well, like Leah and Rachel, like Miriam and Rebecca. The women of the old testament were always meeting at wells. Things were welling up inside of them, inside of me. I was looking for women with whom I could draw water - quench my thirst, cleanse my soul, mirror even a reflection of myself. Who was I? Certainly more than this empty space, this longing, this searching. Like an empty cup, a chalice perhaps, waiting to be filled. I long to bear the libation, a sacrament we raise to our lips. Let us taste the communion.

We are all sometimes women alone, waiting for this chance to come together. It is a marking point on the mythic map of our journey. We have wakened to the calling for something deeper, something we call up from the earth, from our bodies. As women we find ourselves rooted in our bodies. We can't escape them, so we embrace them. This is the beginning, when we turn inward to draw up water from the well. We will meet at the Source.

I will also close with this quote from E.B. Browning -

"With stammering lips and insufficent sounds, I strive and struggle to deliver right the music of my nature".

And Anais Nin said, "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Have a Blessed New Year,
Donna

Day after Christmas

Hello dear readers! I hope your Christmas celebrations or other Holiday celebrations were all that you had expected. We missed our families a great deal but spoke with almost all of them on the phone. Maybe next year we can remedy the situation in some manner. We did enjoy a fine turkey dinner at the community center here in the park with our neighbors. Ralph and I were seated at a table with 12 others who were all french canadians. They are all bilingual to a degree which is a good thing since we (shamefully) are not. We enjoyed ourselves very much. Ralph made rye rolls which were a huge success and he is now being pursued by several french ladies to provide the recipe. Conversation, laughter, good wine and good food crossed any cultural barriers there were. We now have many new friends and invitations to come north across the border.

I now have WiFi at the coach since I spent a few bucks and had my pc repaired. The Apple will not work here. It is so much better. Now I can be more creative - Look Out! I will try to post some pics. I have taken some new ones but seem to be slowing down in the photograph department which is unlike me. Please note the picture of my new Christmas present from Ralph. I have wanted one of these very tacky palm trees for a couple of years. My dad would be proud of me. We, my sis, my brother and me, come by our desire for tacky lawn ornaments genetically through our dad. He was a master at many things but one special gift he passed to us was the desire to put up tacky lights. This palm will ride with us now and be displayed in the large windshield of Bearfoot IV everywhere we park. We do need a sign too. We will work on that this summer at the Island where all the tools are.

We just returned from a bike trip in the rain. It started out cloudy but soon the clouds became one big black one and down it came. It was a cold rain so we hustled back but did manage to get in 10 miles. The sun is out now and it is lovely but I still have my sweats on warming my muscles.