How long dear One?

How long dear One
will we separate ourselves from you?
And judge others while we remain estranged from those in isolation who attempt and sometimes succeed in tragic acts?
What terror?
Has our country killed children equally beautiful to American children?
What unspeakable evil?

We talk and talk as if we have already finished our life of reaching out to those who seem unloveable, different or remote.
We view an act without perceiving the origin of the drop that has rippled out to touch us all.

Violence is the result of an excess of emotion and desperation and hopelessness.
Apathy is the other end of violence and it can be just as shattering.

We weep dear One and yet we do not understand our own importance in bringing down this loneliness that is toppling us all.

It is easy to hold our children close at these times and thank the stars that pardoned us but can we embrace the other?

Can we gather up the lost or straying brothers and sisters and welcome them into our own before their grief explodes into shards of interrupted innocence?

Luna started puppy class last week and was a star, (and also the most enthusiastic). She is now 20 pounds and luckily, less likely to nip. Her new regime has us feeding her by hand as reward for following commands like sit, stand and down.

Booty loves school so much that she said to me, "I wish I could live at school".

Mr. D is still in seeking mode.

Today I will attempt (again) to register my car. I have obtained my smog inspection and have the necessary papers.

This morning I got a sub call but when I returned the message after 5 minutes no one picked up. The teacher must have changed her mind because she was at school when we arrived one hour later.

The weather has been warm and lovely.

I backed my car into a brick wall last week.

I am agonizing over the California credential and the means to obtain it, but have registered for the CBEST (California Basic Education Skills Test) as part of the requirement.

Was a bit disappointed that the closest grocery store Safeway does not have an organic OR natural food section. And that Shell has installed media screens on their gas pumps so you can't avoid the absolutely inane. Two more places to avoid in the future.

We are so lucky to have many options for our Art of Living group meditation. Last year we would have had to drive for an hour into Seattle. I hope to make it to the 730 in Castro Valley.

Just received something in the mail from my sister. Hmmmm. What is it?

Sold the red armoir, the washer and the dryer. Getting rid of the things we are not using. This will continue.

American Pit Bull puppy

The American Pit Bull Terrier, once a symbol of the ideal family dog, has been much maligned of late due to changes in people-dog culture. These changes have affected all breeds but especially the work breeds like the APBT who are strong and stubborn but also extremely eager to please.

Our puppy is smart and cuddly but also (at 3 months) extremely mouthy and jumpy. For an adult this is extremely manageable but for guests and children (our 5 year old!) this is a major concern.

Training and research has begun in earnest and unfortunately because she has not finished her vaccinations we have to do this without other dogs or the places other dogs go.

One site that has been very helpful has been Bad Rap, which is an advocacy group for Pits. There are many links on their website that have been really informative especially in the areas that I am focusing on (mouthiness).

The hardest thing I have found so far about training Luna is training our 5 year old who wants to do all manner of things with the puppy but is overwhelmed by her spiciness and enthusiasm. A nip from the puppy can be scary to a little girl and I am on high alert to make sure that we address this issue.

Chew toys= Good chewing
Play that does not involve jumping/biting for things we hold in our hands
= Puppy Learning more of what we like
Leash+new people= Necessary for avoiding mouthy jumpy behavior
Little girl +mommy at all times= More opportunities for correcting puppy to puppy behavior

Is there anything more precious to a dog lover than her snoop's snout? Our little lululuna is a dear little one. And I have been a bad mommy taking her for walks before she finished her immunizations. The vet tech ripped into me for letting her walk on the floor of the vet office. Oh my. I have forgotten my dog mommy rules.

I finished my first triptych- Nicho Home.

Mr. D is off to India today to keep his dad company and to help out after his dad's emergency surgery (a Scooter crashed into him and broke his back in several places). Thus we are again without the da.

yellow jacket.

Name change request.
Instead of yellow jacket.
"Fu@*&%$ Bast=^( "

This might clear things up with those who may not be familiar with the species.
Crawling up into my jeans and stinging me. Didn't find the FB until I frantically took the jeans off in the back yard and turned them inside out.

There he was crawling around. Seemingly unaffected and unharmed. Inside my jeans.

Not for long.

We have been keeping busy unpacking and parenting our new puppy.

We have been learning the new routes to the grocer, farmer's market, parks and all the good places that most folks only have to learn once or twice because they don't move so much. It is exhausting and I don't mean to complain but I do experience no small jealousy when I hear people talking of gardening or vacations or just lounging around during their time off. I will straighten up my attitude folks. Really I will. Just as soon as I open my last box for at least 5 years. Until then, prepare yourself for a little whineberry tea.

Booty has been plucking and strumming my old guitar and we have been eating most of our meals al fresco. Just the way we like it. So, all is well and the sun is treating us fine.

We knew, when we were traveling south from Tacoma, that we would be getting a dog on arrival. We just didn't know how or when.

Our first night on route south, (after the movers had packed most of our things and we had cleaned our slate of Tacoma), was clean and lovely. We stayed at the Willow-Witt ranch in Ashland, Oregon. This place is a paradise of fresh air. Nestled in the hills and away from the hustle of the much frequented and quaint town of Ashland, is a place of goats, chickens, pigs and gardens. It was a balm for us after our dusty7 hour  drive. We cooked in the outdoor kitchen with vegetables we picked from the garden. We bathed in the outdoor shower. The moon was full and shone on the wooded knoll like magic. Perfection.

We were graced with a thorough and warm educational tour of the place by a natural educator and farmhand, Tim.

Our short stay ended with tears, because we had to leave our friend Izzy (we named Luna Izzy), the border collie lab who kept company with us on our last day. Sad to leave her but happy to know she was a rescued dog who was living her fantasy. Imagine her joy when jumping into the pig pen to wrangle some piglets.

What more can I say but that when we came to Oakland to settle in and find a dog, the first one we came upon was already named Luna. How strange is that? To have named your own dog but not really named her, just predicted her in a way.

The hills of Ashland are so much harsher in climate that the town itself but the air that we breathed upon the elevated land was glorious and despite its meager warm months (2)  we believed its inhabitants were better off.

Our next stop was a nightmare of sorts. Mr. D got lost in the hills of N. California and nearly had a cardiac event. Because of his absence (2 hours) I nearly had a nervous event. And because of Booty's near death horse backriding experience I felt like I had nearly lost both my family members in the same day, (not to mention her none-too-favorable experience). It turned out to be pretty much a complete wash out. So we left early to put some distance between us and the experience. Incidentally, the place at which we stopped was called Coffee Creek ranch. A "supposed" dude ranch that was short-handed and had to rely on an elderly gent, (who had broken his back in 5 places) to serve the meals.

Our movers came on Friday and promptly forgot where they placed the nuts and the bolts of all of our things. This was funny especially since it involved our bed and its assembly, (we had been sleeping on the hardwood floor).

Finally, today there was a clear path from each room to each room so we ventured forth to find a DOG.

And what a dog we did find.
Ten minutes from our house.
A black and white Pitt puppy.
Beautiful temperament.

Even Mr. D was smitten.
This little girl, Luna Molly, has instantly taken a hold of our hearts.

I ask the question

Why?
"Honey Bucket"? What is it about these two words that bring to mind a portable toilet? I can understand Pine Hollow or something that recalls memories of going to the bathroom in the woods but who has EVER peed in a bucket of honey? And how does honey make peeing (or pooping) any nicer? Even an untouched Honey Bucket won't smell of honey. It will smell of disinfectant and plastic. Further, who in their stable mind would want to enjoy a bucket of honey (maybe not the whole thing) in the same way one would "enjoy" the "Honey Bucket" ? There is absolutely NOTHING in the word honey that indicates a place to relieve oneself. A kind of travesty if you ask me.

Z is for Zealand


In Norse mythology, (my A-Z theme) the island Zealand in Denmark, was created by the goddess Gefjun after she tricked Gylfi, the king of Sweden, as told in the story of Gylfaginning.

As the story goes, Gefjun diguised herself as a beggar woman and treated the king of Sweden to a great kindness. As repayment he offered her all the land in Sweden she could plow in one day with 4 oxen.  She happened to have 4 great oxen as children (fathered by a giant) and brought them to plow a great plot of land. They plowed so deeply that the land was cut free completely from the earth. With the uber-oxen she removed the land and transported it to Denmark, and it became the island of Zealand.

Zealand  is the largest island (7,031 km²) of Denmark (the 96th-largest island in the world and the 35th most populous). Zealand is connected to Funen by the Great Belt Bridge and to Sweden over Amager and the Øresund Bridge.
The capital of Denmark, Copenhagen, is partly located on the eastern shore of Zealand and partly on Amager. Other cities on the island include Roskilde and Elsinore.

Gefjun is a fertility goddess especially associated with the plow.
Some of this passage was found on Wikipedia.

This A-Z blogging challenge was a great help to me, in inspiring me to work in a deeper way on my Norse Mythology play. Thanks to all the visitors and fabulous bloggers out there who put the A and the Z in AMAZING blogging.

Our fourth grade play will end like this:

A´s for the Aesir  (poem by Michaela Macha with some slight changes)  

A´s for the Aesir, to which we now sing,
B is for blot and the best that we bring,
C is the circle in which we now stand,
D for the deeds of our hand.

E is elation whenever we pray,
F is for Frigga and Freya and Frey,
G is the Guardian and Gjallarhorn's round,
H is for Heimdall’s pure sound.

I is Idunna, of Bragi the wife,
J is for Jord, who nurtures all life,
K is for Kvasir, the wisest of wits,
L for Lofn and love she permits.

M is for Midgard, the earth which we tread,
N are the Nornir who spin our thread,
O is for Odin, the Wanderer old,
and P is for poetry bold.

Q is for questing, for riddles and tales,
R is for Redbeard, the master of gales,
S is for Sleipnir the thundering host,
T for Tyr and the hand that he lost.

U is uniting of hearts when we meet,
V are the Vanir, the friends we greet,
W, well where wisdom is sought,
Xchange is what pays for the draught.

Now we have come to the end of our song

Next time I hope you can all sing along

Y is for Yggdrasil, mighty World Tree,
Z the zeal of you and of me.

All the cast:

By the love in Gimli land

By the strength of Mjollnir firm in hand

With the sight of Odin’s one good eye

(Pause) We wish you all

a kind Good-by!

 

 

Y is for Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil is the tree of trees, the Ash tree that covered all 9 worlds in Norse Mythology and offered itself up to all life. From it sprang the two humans Lif and Lifthrasir who survived Ragnarok. Odin hung from Yggdrasil when he discovered the runes.

"An ash I know there stands,

Yggdrasill is its name,

a tall tree, showered

with shining loam.

From there come the dews

that drop in the valleys.

It stands forever green over

Urd's well^"

In the poem Grímnismál (where Odin disguised as Grimnir informs Agnar), Odin says that the ash Yggdrasil has three roots that grow in three directions. He details that beneath the first lives Hel, (the ruler of the underworld), under the second live the frost giants in Jotenheim and beneath the third lives mankind in Midgard. A squirrel named Ratatosk must run across Yggdrasil and bring "the eagle's word" from above to Nidhogg the dragon below.

“For every gift a curse.”

  From Rune Secrets 

Gebo – “Gay-boo” – Literally: “Gift”

Norse Mythology is my A-Z theme and today we examine the meaning of the rune X:




Key Concepts: gifts, giving, taking, trade, sacrifice, process of exchange, balance, compensation, equilibrium, law of reciprocation, altruism, the gravity of equals and opposites, generosity, hospitality, honor

Divinations: Generosity, gift, magical exchange, honor, sacrifice, divine vision; or influence buying, greed, loneliness, dependence, over-sacrifice, unbalanced behavior, dishonesty

Governs:
Mystical union and ‘Sacred Marriage’ between partners
Understanding of the true meaning of gifting and binding
Giving of oneself from within
Favours, contracts, obligations, debt and oath-taking

Notes:
Gebo is perhaps one of the runes which has the most lore. When we say X-mas, the X is unconsciously representative of this rune. In the Havamal, the Cosmic Law of Compensation is written as ‘Better not to over-pledge as a gift demands a gift’, and ‘No man is so generous he will jib at accepting a gift in return for a gift’.
The exchange of gifts, whether physical or otherwise, is a highly meaningful act, as is the idea of trade. It is associated with magical rings, which give kings the ability to share powers with their followers, as is expected of leaders. The need for exchanged energies and powers to remain equal in amounts is at the heart of the rune Gebo. In the Havamal it also says ‘A man should be loyal through life to friends, and return gift for gift; Laugh when they laugh, but with lies repay a flase foe who lies.’  It was the ancient way of expressing ‘what goes around, comes around’.

W is for Wodensday

Norse Mythology is derived from Irish, Scandanavian, Icelandic and Dutch folklore, but it is deeply embedded in our language and culture.

Woden is Scandanavian for Odin. So, Wednesday (Wodensday) was named after Odin, the father of all the Norse gods.

Incidentally, the other days of the week, Tuesday is Tyr's Day (The god that sacrificed his hand to chain up Fenrir wolf), Thursday is Thor's day and Friday is Freya's day. All from Norse Mythology.

V is for Valkyries
In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja "chooser of the slain") is one of a host of female figures who decides who falls and dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freya's afterlife field Fólkvangr), the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin. There, the deceased warriors become Einherjar. They drink and toast to their comrades (and sometimes their enemies) and in the morning they rise again to battle.

Valkyries were a symbol of death and represented demi-goddesses of the slain. It was said that, if you see a Valkyrie before a battle you're sure to die. The chief of the Valkyries was the goddess Freya (Valfreyja = "Mistress of the Slain").

U is for Utgard

In Norse Mythology, Utgard is the citadel of the giants in Jotenheim. In the 4th grade play my class is performing the last Act is in Utgard where Thor, Loki and two humans Thialfi and Roskva will visit and be tested by the giants.

Thor, the hammer wielder, was thinking that when he got to Utgard he would show the giants a thing or two but what Thor doesn't know is that the  place is full of magic and spells, a literal palace of illusion. Because of this, Thor will not be given the opportunity to embarrass his gargantuan hosts.

The well of Urd is one of three wells in the 9 Norse worlds. It sits in Asgard, the highest seat of the worlds. Next to the well the three norns sit, one of them being Urd, or the norn of the past. A drink from this well brings youth to the drinker. It is here at the well of Urd that the gods in Asgard met for council.

T is for Thor.

No mysteries why Thor has been chosen for the A-Z challenge of Norse Mythology. He is the most loveable of all the gods although he does a lot of killing, (of giants).

Thor is famous for his hammer, Mjollnir (see the M post) which he uses against giants. But he is also the protector of thralls, that is humans. Thor always had a soft spot for the human condition and actually took two humans, Roskva and Thialfi to Utgard, where he planned to kick some giant butt. 

In the story Thor and Loki had stopped the night at a poor family's sod home and slaughtered his goats for dinner to share with the starving family but on the condition that no-one break any bones, (he was going to bring the goats back to life in the morning).

Below an excerpt from the 4th grade play, The Contest:

The family of humans

ate well that night

But all warnings were forgotten

After that first bite

Thialfi cracked a thighbone

To suck out the marrow

And for this temptation

He drew fate’s arrow

 


Thialfi, who had a gift for running, was brought to Utgard and raced against a giant named Hugi. What no-one knew was that Thialfi was really running against Thought, a contest he could not win.

S is for Sleipnir

Sleipnir is Odin's horse in the Norse Myths. Sleipnir has 8 legs and is the fastest steed in all 9 worlds (see previous post N for a list of all the 9 worlds).

Early on in the Norse tales the Aesir and Vanir gods had a battle in which the wall of Asgard (the Aesir stronghold) was demolished. The two forces made a truce but the wall was trashed. The gods in Asgard were concerned that without fortification the giants might take advantage.

One day a man came promising to build the wall for the Asgard folks but at a hefty price, the hand of Freya (the most beautiful Fertility goddess) and the Sun and Moon. The gods initially balked at this price and Freya was furious. But Loki (the mischief maker) persuaded them to agree but with restrictions, that the builder must have no help and that the work must be completed in 3 seasons. The builder agreed but asked for the use of his horse. Reluctantly, it was agreed.

The gods were alarmed at the rate at which the builder's horse was able to haul massive stones and suspected there was afoot. Three days before the completion of the wall Loki decided to intervene (with serious pressure from the Aesir). Suddenly there was a pretty filly in the fields outside the castle walls who tempted the builder's horse to leave before the work was done.

When the builder was not able to finish the wall in time he became furious and turned back into his giant form all bets were off. Thor (the thunder god and wielder of the hammer Mjollnir) kills the giant. Loki returns from his little horse "affair", (Loki had turned himself into the pretty mare and got himself pregnant by the builder's horse), with the resulting offspring, Sleipnir the eight legged horse.

He gave Sleipnir to Odin and everyone was pleased with the wall (nearly completed) and Odin's new horse.

R is for Rune








This is the runic alphabet, the letters that make up the Old Norse alphabet, which is part of my theme this month (Norse Mythology).

As mentioned before, Odin took up the runes and found their power. From Runes- Wikipedia:

The poem Hávamál explains that the originator of the runes was the major god Odin. Stanza 138 describes how Odin received the runes through self-sacrifice:

Veit ek at ek hekk vindga meiði a netr allar nío, geiri vndaþr ok gefinn Oðni, sialfr sialfom mer, a þeim meiþi, er mangi veit, hvers hann af rótom renn.

I know that I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots run.[22]

In stanza 139, Odin continues:

Við hleifi mik seldo ne viþ hornigi, nysta ek niþr, nam ek vp rvnar, opandi nam, fell ek aptr þaðan.

No bread did they give me nor a drink from a horn, downwards I peered; I took up the runes, screaming I took them, then I fell back from there.[22]

Q is for Questions

In Norse Mythology the way to wisdom (which to the Aesir is worth more than gold) is by sacrifice, hardship and seeking. Asking questions of the dead or the wise was one way to find wisdom.

When Odin traveled to Hel, land of the dead, he conjured up the ghost of a dead seeress (clairvoyant witch).
He began to ask questions in order to find out the fate of the troubled Baldur, the most beloved god in Asgard.

"Who has forced me above ground and awakened me from my death?"
"Vegtam the Wanderer. Why is Hel adorned in gold?"
"For Baldur the bright.Now I must go."
"No. You must tell me, who will slay Baldur?"
"His blind brother Hod. Now I must go."
"No. You must say, who will avenge his death?"
"Vali will be one night old when he carries Baldur's killer to the pyre."
"Who are the maidens who toss their scarves to the sky?"
"You are not Vegtam. You are Odin, old as time."
"You are a liar. You are not a seeress. You are the mother of three monsters."

As I understand it, the correct question is as important as the wisdom contained in the answer.
Who is the mother of 3 monsters?

P is for Prose Edda (Front page of the Prose Edda shown above)

The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of prose in sections excerpts from earlier Scandanavian or skaldic poetry containing tales from Norse Mythology. The work is often assumed to have been written by the Icelandic scholar and historian Snorri Sturluson around the year 1220.

It is different from the Poetic Edda which was written earlier and anonymously. But it is certain that Snorri Sturluson used a good deal of the Poetic Edda as a basis for his Edda.

The picture above shows Odin, His two ravens thought (Hugin) and Memory (Munin) Mjollnir the hammer, Heimdall with his horn, Audumla the life-giving cow, Sleipnir (Odin's 8-legged horse) and Fenrir Wolf.


Note* My theme for the A-Z challenge is Norse Mythology. All images used are either in the public domain (like the image above) or belong to me.

O is for Odin, father of all the gods in Norse Mythology

"I hung on that tree for nine nights pierced with a spear, an offering..."

You would think reading this Odin was being tortured but he did this and more to HIMSELF in order to gain knowlege and mastery of the runes.

Some of the spells Odin learned:

Help from pain, sorrow and sickness
To Blunt an opponents weapon
Unbinding
To arrest a speeding arrow
To stop the fire that will burn his comrades
To uproot hatred in a man's heart
To protect a child from death in battle
To win the heart of a maiden

Some of the names of Odin:
Grim, Gangleri, Raider, Helmeted One, Thud, Ud, Death Blinder, Spear Thruster, One-eyed, All-Father, The Hooded One, Glapsvid, Fjolsvid, Long Beard, Vidur when in battle, and at the council of the Gods Thror.