Two Soggy Pillows

There was a moment in time when one of my old lives was dying, and one of my new lives was emerging from the darkness. Similar to when the butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, I too began to sense the change, and realized I had wings. This time of change also penetrated my dreams.

When I was a child, and I dreamt that I was being chased by a foe, whether it was an animal or another unknown being, during these dreams I was always just fast enough to outrun whatever was chasing me. Until years later, in one of my dreams, this changed.

I dreamt I was running from a large, teeth glaring, claws slashing grizzly beast.

Running with all my strength!

My heart pounding, my body aching, and no matter how fast I thought I was, this time the beast caught up to me.

I was mauled, bloody, and battered. I was alive. I was in tough shape but I was alive. By some miracle, I had outsmarted the beast and gotten away, and I even managed to save the two pillows I was carrying.

These pillows were made of feathers, and had become soaked with water from a river I had crossed at some point in the dream-filled night, the weight of their load seemed too much to bear but letting them go was not a choice I was willing to make. I gladly carried their heavy burden. I willingly risked all to keep them safe.

That beast took my innocence, and taught me that there is evil in this world. You cannot always outrun it but you can outsmart the evil.

These encounters will make you wiser. You will be stronger. You will heal, and you will learn how to spread your wings and fly.

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Yes We Can

We will say that we cannot, until we have proven ourselves incorrect.

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Moon Man

The world had covered me with sadness, and darkness muddled my thoughts. I had fallen to the center of the Earth, hidden from sight, forgotten, and was about to be consumed by fire. Only the smallest amount of hope remained in my heart. I looked back to the surface, one last time. Astonishment reached my senses; I could see a narrow glowing band of pale light, and a shadow reaching down, taking form. A rope.

“Who offers me this rope,” I called up towards the pale light.

“It is I,” the Moon Man replied, and his voice sparked an unexpected ray of light in my chest.

Securing myself to the end of the rope, I began to climb, making my way around rock-faces that offered only a few handholds. The Moon Man extended words of encouragement and with each successful step upwards, I began to gain strength.

Nearing the crust of the Earth the narrow band of light grew brighter, darkness was being replaced, and I could see the world was aglow with the light of the moon. There were fragments of sadness clinging to the edges of the world that I thought I had left behind but with each passing moment, an increased peace began to settle around me.

Standing on familiar ground the Moon Man reached out his hand to me, looked into my eyes, and said, “Even though you are home your journey is not over, now you must learn to fly."

“I cannot fly.” I barked in disbelief.

“We all have the skills of flight,” he said, “But only a few are given the courage to do so. I am here to teach you about that courage.” He led me down a narrow path that opened up to reveal a sage covered cliff and a valley below.

The Moon Man reached out and took my hand in his, this time his touch tingled my skin, without another word we leapt off the edge. We flew off the cliff and towards the valley floor, without wings, without fear. I let go of his hand to explore my newly acquired courage.

Feeling a rush of freedom, I soared above the trees rustling their leaves, and effortlessly climbed the next ridge, when I looked back the Moon Man had disappeared. Feeling a sudden sense of fear I returned to the cliff wondering where he went and why had he left me.

"I have not left you," came his voice from somewhere in the distance as if he had heard my thoughts. I turned towards the path and could only see his shadow among the trees.

"Your courage belongs to you and will be with you always,” his words lingered in the cool evening air.

As he turned to go, I asked, “Why did you choose to help me?” There was no answer.

The way home was long and lonesome but the thought of returning down the narrow path to the sage covered hill, in the hopes of flying with the Moon Man again, kept my heart light with a shy smile on my face.

“Thank you Moon Man for saving me from Earths lonely depths, and for giving me the courage to fly.” I said to the shadows along the path. “I will watch for you the next time the moon if full so that we may again fly together.”

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Gentle

A charming book. Quite lovely in fact, with polite examples of how one might deal with their earthly possessions.

A hungry shredder for all things paper. A friend who has always wanted a such-and-such tool for woodworking or those extra kitchen gadgets that end up in the back of a drawer and never manage to get used.

The words of advice are solid yet the title should be enough to ignite your mind and heart into action.  After all if you don't clean up after yourself, someone else will have to.

Time for some serious culling in our home. Time to revisit old memories and then lay them to rest.

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Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

With everyone's eye on Paris since yesterday, I too wanted to share our photos of this gorgeous landmark and symbol of hope. The below photos are from our family trip in 2007.

Our prayers and thoughts are with all Parisians today, and the coming months, as plans for the repairs start to take shape.

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Soon It Will Be Spring ~ for Real

Soon it will be spring (for real) in the north-land of the Last Frontier.  Until then I might be holding my breath day-dreaming of color outside my front door.

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When a Life Lived was too Good Not to Share

When a life lived has been well written about, and too good not to share.  Schluter - Balik Funeral Home in Iowa published the obituary for the family of Tim Schrandt, please do yourself a favor and read a bit about Tim's life.

Tim Schrandt

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