I have moved over to ....

Amazing Bongos

Just a change. Still working on the layout, but everything is pretty much the same as it used to be. Come and visit!

Make a Smilebox greeting

thinking bout changing my blog...

lately,
I have been thinking about changing my blog name. The title, I mean.
When I first started the blog,"earthensoul" I was in a full-time pottery degree class. I also had a tiny Lilly grant that funded my first semester, so, I wanted to write about the connections with clay, earth, and my soul, spirit, faith.

I love that. but did you know that "earthensoul" is some weird character on some weird witchy (don't get me wrong, I love Wiccans) game site...and also a new-agy name for spirituality and childbirth site....
anyway.

So, this is my question. If I switch to a different blog, do I go away from Blogger? Can I still be a revgal? How does that work?
Is there a better "blog" program that I would like? Would I know the difference?

I am thinking of two names: Broken Bowl and con Alma (which means with soul) or La Tierra con Alma which is earth with soul in Spanish, but I don't really speak Spanish.

I am not good at this naming stuff.

Opinions?
Opine away!

national art day at my house!

it is monday.
it is my day off.
it is not yet 10 o clock am
and I have done all I really need to do for now--
(o.k. not true, but the kitchen is mopped, scrubbed, and cleaned, bed made,
living room picked up, and the professional junk removers have already been here to removed a pile of dirt in our driveway that was growing flowers --don't ask--and the dead fridge in the basement. so what about those other errands...and exercise? don't ask)
in any case, after I take my dear doggies for a spin through the neighborhood, today becomes officially national art day at my house. I am going to make some tiles and bowls and platters in the basement and I am going to collect all my sources that inspire me and put them in a beautiful scrap book and I am going to make a bracelet or two and maybe some earrings.
just because I want to.
and because the floors have been mopped,
and the dirt is gone.

I love days off.

this whole enough thing is working....

literally.
I might not be getting all the nitty gritty chores done,
but choosing to not do one more thing before I...whatever, fill in the blank....is lovely.
I might be making myself too "calm" though....;-)

My other thought for the day.
Beloved was out of town for five days. When either of us leave the nest, it is a lot of work to keep up with the menagarie, but that is a given.

What isn't a given, though, is that by about the end of the third day, I am deplorably tired and lonely--even though I interact with friends, talk with neighbors, catch up on emails, whatever. Not tired from the work, but just feeling like a piece of me has been missing too long. It's like I can't do anything except what I have to...(which is plenty). Monday and Tuesday were LOOOOONG, and I felt depleted. Less than five minutes after picking up Beloved at the airport, I felt like I could take on the world. Sigh. I am so amazingly blessed.

That's it for now. Off to order Sunday School Curriculum.

Enough

Today
this week
my goal... Or should I say practice?
Ok
my practice is going to be to give myself enough time. Often I try to squeeze in so much into my minutes that I end up rushed and unaware.
I've started this morning.
I printed my sermon, etc last night. (yes I usually wait til Sunday am just to give the Spirit more time :-)
this morning has been so full and reflective and it is just 8 am.
I want to explore this more, but right now I am going to finish getting ready so I can get to church early to give myself enough time there!

Joy comes in the morning , holy One...
May your joy be complete in me this morning.
Amen.

wet and soggy

Today
I spent way too much time at the studio. Well, I loved it, but I had a few other things to do. Beloved is out of town for a day less than a week, so there are many chores, not to mention my work, to consider getting done. In any case, after tearing myself away from glazing and clay, I did a few errands, and by the time I got home it was time to offer all animals an early supper. So, I did.
After I cleaned litter boxes. Yes, boxes.

Usually after they eat, the doggies expect their walk. I had not exercised yet, so I got all my gear on--you know, my "frog bra" from Title Nine that guarantees no bounce (which is true, it is a major masher, but I need it), the right socks, wicking shirt and capris--I decided I would jog again today, because it felt so good yesterday. (jog, not run--we are talking 11 minute miles here folks). I have been alternating days between Shredding and jogging, but I felt like I needed a jog today. The skies were threatening and the wind was picking up. I really wanted to do my exercise first, to avoid a possible storm, but then, the doggies were looking at me with those puppy dog eyes....

So we walked. 'Round the block. A bit of a shortchange, or compromise--depending on where you are sitting in stadium.

When we returned, I popped on my ipod shuffle and took off. Wind picking up even more. Dark Skies. More wind. Me, jogging to Natalie Cole...thinking," oh this will blow right over me, I am invincible, I will go the whole way, I don't have to stop at the track and do some laps and go home, I can do the whole route I have mastered twice this week...." and BOOOM!!!! A powerful downpour, rain whipping into my face so now I am jogging with my eyes closed because I can't keep them open because the rain is slicing into them....

And I get drenched. And my little shuffle, soaked and expired. Dead. Sigh.

And there is no existential meaningful point to this story.

It is just a report on what I did today, and how I figured out that God is not going to stop the wind and the rain for me so I can go jogging. Not that I expected that....

Jus' sayin.

in a no word state of mind....

This past month has been very, very good. After returning from Israel, I have gotten into a groove where I am getting a lot done at work (could get more done, I realize, but hey, it is July)...have been enjoying walking the doggies religiously every morning before I do my other morning routines of house straightening, kitchen cleaning, I have been exercising--and feeling good. Shout out to Cheesehead who blogged about being Shredded a while ago, and I found the 30 Day Shred Workout by Jillian Michaels on On Demand....and that has made me strong enough to actually jog a tiny more than 3 miles everyother day. I think, too, I might be losing a little weight!

But that isn't what I sat down to write. What I sat down to write about is the fact that lately, when I have sat down to blog, I find I am in a "no word" state of mind. It is easy for me to pop something whimsical on the page...and whimsy is good. I believe in whimsy.

But I also believe in words, in Word, in digging and wandering about in my heart and thoughts to wonder, in words, out loud. Or, I mean, out blog. Blog out loud? Write. But the words, the subject, the wonderings are not there...I worry about being shallow. O.k., I don't worry about being shallow. I don't want to be shallow, but I guess if I wonder if I am shallow, than I am really not, because I am at least deep enough to understand what shallow is.
Good grief. Now I am sounding like Paul. "That which I would not, That do I do, I wish I wouldn't do it, but I'm already through...."
Hah! Now I just compared myself to a great New Testament author. That would be Narcissism!
Cracking myself up here.

Back to the "no word" state of mind. Perhaps it is fear, I feel, wandering in the formless void within me...maybe I don't have the courage to let Spirit hover over that formless void, to let Spirit breathe, create, and speak what is within, to help me find those words, in their time. Oh sweet One, I pray for the grace to contemplate and meditate and give myself time
in this wordless state of mind.

And, to allow whimsy to be o.k.
Amen.

everything reminds me of my dog

I looked for a video on youtube with this song by Jane Siberry, but there wasn't really one. In any case, the song got me through the last few minutes of my jog this morning. The song makes me sooooooo happy!

thinking about progressive youth ministry...

..and what the heck to do with our TWEENS next year for Sunday School. I am not going to waste money on buying the Sunday School curriculum, because, as one volunteer noted, she was "underwhelmed" with it.

Found some good blogs out there through a very good site for progressive Christian educators called Different Voice

It has some great links, and I resonate with the core values.

What about you? What do you use for Sunday a.m. resources with your 6-7-8 graders?

no sun in boston today....

and I am so hungry for sun these days,
I guess I will just look at places where I was in the SUN this summer!
This is Haifa, in Israel

Cheesehead in Paradise: Who am I kidding?

Cheesehead in Paradise: Who am I kidding? here's the thing. don't have children...can't believe I haven'...but not gonna happen...but still
the mommy in me
her heart is breaking
with you.
xoxoxo

luv me some meffa

o.k., so, yeah,
I live in a neighborhood where the elder italionos slash someone's tires because they don't agree with interracial dating (Rephrehensible)

I live in a neighborhood where people don't pay their water fees


I live in a neighborhood where people think "r" is pronounced "ahhhhhh"

I live in a neighborhood where people who grew up here don't wear bras....

I live in a neighborhood where dogs bahhhhk incessently, fried hair abounds, and watching out for your neighbors is blood. serious. evem if there is no blood in common.

Tonight,

my dear NEENIE aka VEnus, aka grossy sidewalk surfing for smelly and indescribably non-edible but tasty garbage animal remains/refuse treats searching amazing canine took herself on a walk down a very busy street.....

was recovered by young women (16 ish?)plumpish native ( as in oh sweetie, please, bras are good for you...) sweet teenagers who had a sense of...the least of these....

and all I can say is,

oh my. I love Meffa...you mafia accepting, sweet doggie loving community of Boston.


Thank you. yes, thank you, and bless you.
amen.

on the lam

While I was gone, I got a letter from the local library that said...pay your overdue fines or risk legal action.
I knew the library police would catch up with me!

So, $23 dollars later, and my record is clear. whew!

Thing is, what I ended paying for is long overdue book on my shelf. Literally, I live six blocks from the library. I don't want the book. I didn't even get beyond the first chapter.

Sometimes, I just confuse myself.

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth...

I just haven't slowed down enough this week to blog much. Well, I was miserably sick until Wednesday...but have returned to the living. Since then, I have been living double time.

I leave for Israel-Palestine on Sunday afternoon for a week. I am not taking my laptop, but will have my tiny iphone wireless capability. I will post pix on facebook...and write about everything in my journal.

Mostly though, I just wanted to say Hi ya! to everyone out there...it seems that so many of us are dealing with deep and vulnerable issues, situations, wonderings, hopes, and fears....
and my prayer for all
is that
the One we know as dear and loving
would reveal
that tender love and care
to all in tangible, real, and simple ways.

More later.....

why I might need a spiritual director.

earlier this week:

me: (at three in the morning, while on vacation)
I can't get A out of my mind. She has been on my heart and in my thoughts incessantly. I can't sleep, because I am thinking of her and her family constantly, and wanting to pray always for her.

God: (at least, I think it was God) Why don't you give her up to me...let me care for her in my arms and constant care and love....

me: You???

God: Well, I am the ONE to cast all your cares on....

me: I don't know....

God: You know I Am.

me: well, o.k., but don't mess up again. A has been through a lot.


Later, about 5 in the morning. I think to myself, did I really tell God not to mess up again???
Oh my.

sightings...

mama and baby moose
young bull moose and deer (on hike)
elk and more elk...no elk babies, though....
grizzly bear (huge guy!)
grizzly mama and two cubs (very far away, but oh so adorable)
bison, bison mamas and many bison babies
pronghorns
black bear (another big boy)
mountain goats and babies
big horn sheep (with big curled horns!!)
osprey nest and family
bald eagle (in tree, looking very, very wild and proud)
many chipmunks
and squirrels
countless hawks
and beautiful birds
still holding out for
wolf and coyotes...
xoxoxo

insomnia...

on vacation.
sigh. what's with that?
beloved and I are having a ridiculously wonderful time just unwinding from a very busy program year...

but even so, a beautiful earth mother woman friend of mine lies in the hospital...in recovery from a hip disarticulation (removal of her entire leg at the hip--like how you used to take off your barbie doll legs?) due to a giant recurrence of cancer.

going in, she and her beloved were happy that they wouldn't need to take any of her pelvis, which meant that she would be able to sit straight rather than slump...
but during surgery, the doctor needed to take that important pelvis bone because the tumour in her prosethetic femur was so high up and close to the pelvis that....well, the whole point was to get rid of the damn cancer.

hasn't she been through enough?

taking her pelvis means that some of her other organs will be compromised in the long run...I don't need to whine about that....because she sure isn't.

her mantra is, I can't be a mother from the grave, but I can be a mother with one leg.

she has a lot of recovery and rehab in front of her. I can't get her out of my prayers and my mind...even while I relax...

prayers for dear A..
for her husband, her children, her doggie companions...
oh sweet Jesus,
you know the pain of suffering,
of physical anguish,
and you bore it with grace and hope...
you have already given A unbelievable grace and determinedness (is that a word?) and relentless hope.
be with her on this journey...
surround her with strength...
please, please, please,
bless her with an uneventful recovery and rehab...
she has been dished so many blows...
and yet she keeps getting back up with fierce resolve
because that is who you made her to be.
please...grace her with an army of healing angels to take care of her....
amen, amen, amen.

MY HAIR IS DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!

The transitional style between bob and something else my style-guy did last week
IS. NOT. WORKING.
Since the receptionist can't work me in...
I think an ambush at the salon is in order.

Seriously. My dearly Beloved who adores me even admitted reluctantly that it
LOOKS. LIKE. SH...I mean CRA...TERRIBLE.

just tuesday.

I have a routine for my weekdays.
I get up, brush teeth, and then walk doggies.
Then, when I get home, I turn the coffee on...
and clean the kitchen--
washing pet food bowls, loading the dishwasher if needed,
wiping down the counters,
and sweeping and mopping the floor. Mopping as in wet-jet swiffering.
I actually love this routine...
especially time in the kitchen...
I clean not in a rush, but at a slower pace...
and it creates for me a space for meditation and prayer.
I get some good prayin' God time in that space.

And then, I am ready for my day. Or not. But at least I have had some quiet slow time within it.