The Ivy Has Stolen My Hair, The Wind My Words...

the weather is all wrong tonight

the leaves skitter across the roads, dry and brittle as old bones
the wind gibbers and chitters as it whistles madly through the the bare branches
by the old torn up apple orchard, water pools black and thick as old blood, dripped down the hill from the corpses of the old trees
in the sky, a sliver-moon, thin and sharp as a knifeblade hangs, slicing the skittering clouds that dare to get too close

the night is more suited to all hallow's eve than march, fall instead of spring

the seasons are all out of order and it's playing tricks in my mind tonight

Supporting Small Businesses Rocks, You Should Go Do It...

Two shiny things...

One, from the "Go Support An Awesome Budding Local Small Business" files, my friend Sarah has decided to take the leap from part-time massage therapist to full-fledged, full-time practice.  The truly fantastic thing about her business is that she really wants to give a little something back to the soldiers by offering low-cost massage therapy (the benefits of massage therapy are huge in treating not only tension and stress, but also in helping reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and many of the symptoms of PTSD...something that is hugely needed for returning soldiers).  The trick?  Starting a business is expensive and she could use a little help.  She's set up a crowd-sourcing page at Start Some Good and I would love it if people would go help my friend get the funds she needs to go do something so needed.  Here's her page: Blue Star Healing Touch.  Go!  Help support a good cause!  :D

The other cool thing is that recently some 500 forgotten folk tales were "found" and released to the public, which NPR did a story on.  I think I'm kind of in love with the Easter Weasel, and I so very much hope that copies of this eventually make their way over to the US (otherwise I seriously need to learn German, so that I can go over and get a copy of my own).

Hmm... maybe I'll go start searching for a decent German course, anyway.  Ya know, just in case...

A Clearing in the Woods

Foot-sore and dusty, the ragged hem of her skirt fluttering in the light breeze, she paused on the road. Had she really just seen that flicker ahead?  Were her eyes playing tricks on her again?  Sighing wearily, she started walking again, picking her way around the sharp stones and muddy holes in the hard-packed road, making her way toward the elusive shimmer of color and light.

As she drew nearer, the road grew less rough and uneven, and the shimmer solidified, until suddenly she found herself standing at the edge of a clearing.  There, to once side of the road, stood a small green vardo.  Not far from it, a dark bay horse watched her curiously.

"Hello?" she called.  The horse made a whickering sound, but there was no other response.

She approached the vardo cautiously.  One could not be too careful, after all.  "Hello?"  She called again.

A flicker of white caught her eye.  There was a note tacked to the door.  On a closer look, she saw, with a shiver of mixed apprehension and excitement, that it was addressed to her.  Nervously, she took it down, and opened it, curious.

"All that you see here is now yours, to bear you more easily on the Road. Care for them well, and they will carry you far."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she sank to the step of now-her-vardo and wept for a moment, combined exhaustion, gratitude, and joy, before wiping her face dry and drawing in a deep, relieved breath.  She noticed a small basket of apples on the small step next to her and, slipping one in her pocket for herself, she chose another one and walked to the horse.  She held it out to her, and after a moment of contemplation, the bay took it, crunching contentedly.

"I guess we're in this together, now, you and I, huh?"  she said aloud, as the horse chewed on the apple.

The horse shook her mane and walked to the front of the vardo, and stood before the hitch, looking expectant.

She laughed.  "Alright, then.  I guess we're back on our way, are we?"

She made sure the vardo was secured, then hooked the horse up. As she settled in to the driver's seat and took up the reins, she paused once more to look at the dark, rough road behind her and sighed.  Shaking herself, she looked at the lovely green of the vardo and started laughing.  To the horse she said "Let's see where this next stretch of road leads us, shall we?"

As they stepped out onto the now-level road she wondered aloud "I wonder what your name is..."

Hooray for once again being independently mobile!  For the first time in nearly a year, I have a car of my own again.  Isn't she pretty? :)

Small Businesses in the News!

I love it when small businesses start gaining notice and get a bit of a media boost.  Especially when said small businesses are artists!  These folks are not too far away from me (next state over) and do beautiful work with ogham (maybe a small weakness of mine ;) ) Go!  Check them out!

Ogham Art (website)

Public Radio clip

News article.

A Little Snippet

The V, border of Tipperary & Waterford Co.'s

This morning I find myself missing the little fairy glade I found, so many years ago...  Someday, I will get back to my beloved Eire and wander through the sheep-paths under the great rhododendron trees until I find it.  Until then, all I have are photos and memories...

Singing the Bones, Part II

There is a line from a Tori Amos song that always gets stuck in my head when I start thinking about business planning and contemplation... "Icicle, Icicle, where are you going?"

Where am I going?  Where am I starting?  Where do I want to be?

Not here, I know that.

So where, then?

Well, I've got a pretty good idea.  See, I want to start here, with one of these:

theflyingtortoise.blogspot.com

Ok, I'll settle for one of these, if I absolutely must:

generic camper X

Really, though, I'd prefer a nice, pretty vardo instead.

I want to get one of these, and I want to grab my camera, a few days' change of clothes, a notebook and laptop, and I want to go have adventures.  I want to photograph new (to me) flowers, interesting city streets, gorgeous landscapes, and all the other little oddities and eccentricities I find, and then I want to share them with people.  I want to sit in the deserts of the Southwest and listen to the coyotes sing and make friends with gila monsters (ok...I want to actually SEE a real, live gila monster).  I want to have coffee in a cute little cafe in Washington and have philosophic conversations with the locals.  I want to sleep, once again, in the shadow of Devil's Tower and listen once more to sound of drumming on the night wind.

I want to get paid to do this.

Still can't figure out how to get from here to there, though.

*sigh*