Coffee is good, m'kay?

[nolawitch58]

Last evening, we initiated Ken and Trixie to Second Degree Wiccans. At the end of the ritual, we were all sniffling and blubbering from the intensity of emotions. I know my voice cracked at several points while calling quarters. The words relating to loss and renewal became more than mere example after spending two days cleaning the cemetery. The evening ended well with everyone going out to dinner.

We had originally planned to go to Outback. When we got there, the parking lot was jam packed and the wait for a table would have been over an hour. We then went to Steak and Ale, which had a 45 minute wait. Applebees was down the street and the wait was less than 15 minutes. Much better. An integral aspect of fhe culture down here is eating. Throngs of people at restaurants attest to the fact that people crave normalcy...and tasty food. Some people are working so hard on getting their homes cleared out, cleaned up and rebuilt. They don't have refrigerators and stoves and other appliances to cook with and they need restaurants for sustenance. They need to sit and be waited on. They need the normalcy.

Before I headed out the door last evening, the Siamese had crawled into my lap as I printed out something for Vel because her printer isn't working. The cat smelled bad, like feet and ass. What the hell? As I was grabbing my keys, I looked under the kitchen table to find an open bag of valerian and the cat rolling in it. One of the perks of cleaning the cemetery was that the Herb Import Company next door had thrown out a bunch of stuff that we had scavenged from their trash. We divvied up the herbs among ourselves and each made quite a haul. I put my bags on the dining room table until I could find a place to store them. The cat(s) had other ideas. He/she/they deliberately fished the stinkiest herb out of the bags to tear open and roll around in. Crazy animals.

Well, let's see how much I get done today. I've got to clean the car for our trip back up to Alexandria this weekend. Corpsman wants to get out of town for a few days and I think it would be good for my sinuses, which are getting better slowly. We're going to buy new bicycles today. I've got to finish my article for Illiad. The trash goes out tonight. And I want to get the bathroom cleaned. If I have time, I'll install another stick of memory I got for my birthday into the computer. Other than that, we'll see what sort of other things I accomplish while procrastinating doing the other things.

Comments

[drgndancer.livejournal.com]

Cats like Valarian, It's related to catnip and has a similar effect on them... More sedating, but still drugged and loopy.

Happpy Happy!!

[lab-rattus.livejournal.com]

Hey, Happy Birthday. I had no idea or I would have baked a cake.

Have a safe trip up to Alexandria.

Re: Happpy Happy!!

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Thanks. saminz got me a cake and I think my mother-in-law has a cake somewhere in my future. She and Corpsman were plotting something behind my back.

The inside of the car is vacuumed and the windows are washed. Now I've got to drag the hose from the patio to the driveway and wash the outside. I prefer not to travel in a filthy vehicle. Maybe it's psychological, but I think the car runs better when it's clean.

[ms-issicran.livejournal.com]

I can't begin to say how awe-inspiring you are that you've brought so much normalcy back into your life under these circumstances. It's so very obvious you lead by the example that so many around you need. You amaze me.

*blushes*

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

When things are askew, I crave normalcy; when things are normal, I crave weirdness. Funny how life tends to be that way for me.

To be blunt, I've got no reason to bellyache and moan about my circumstances when so many people have lost everything. If anything, I should work ten times harder and pitch in to help others more often. That effort would truly make me worthy of such praise.

[thenewt.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday from us here in Canada!

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I hope you're having loads of fun and that the weather cooperates with all your outing plans.

Loads and loads and loads of fun are being had. :)

[thenewt.livejournal.com]

The weather is crappy, but thankfully we don't have many outings planed. (The only outing planned right now is the one to go meet Illiad for a coffee. (If we only can get a time and place set for it...))

[thewrongcrowd.livejournal.com]

You sniffing and blubbering? awwww. :)

Well at least you know the valerian was good. One of mine is busy "gardening" in the plants that were brought inside at frost. At least she let the portulaca finish making seeds.

Have a great birthday ... and remember to carve out some time for yourself.

*sneaks a 6-pack of Leinies into the virtual frig...enjoy!*

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm getting to be quite the softy in my old age (thenewt Do not say anything about my incipient geezerhood today!) I get weepy lately for the strangest reasons.

Who? Me?

[thenewt.livejournal.com]

Insinuate that you are old? Have never done such a thing, and wouldn't dream of ever doing it. ;)

You are way awesome....

[saminz.livejournal.com]

Hope your folks there plot some relaxation and peace for you, as well...!

I can hardly imagine how you stand the intensity of your rituals, by the way. The only one I have participated in was enough for years :-). I get a serious headache even when Beth does cards for me... I am not sure if I envy you or worry about you, to be honest. And all the work you do for the community! Awesome is indeed the only word possible, I guess :-). Please take good care of yourself, ok? And have a good trip!

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

I'll be getting some R&R for the weekend. Chef Brad will feed us exquisitely. It's nice and quiet up there. Not very intense at all. Intensity isn't a bad thing in moderate doses. When in ritual space, it's almost a necessity. That intensity is what I usually found lacking when I was invited to Christian churches in my youth. Why go to some building once a week and be bored out of your mind by mythology and dogma you don't subscribe to? That's why I never joined any of the congregations. I know that my schoolmates were probably pressured to prosyletize the heathens or they wouldn't have asked me. It's not like they had much in common with me and wanted to hang out with me. I was simply a heathen quota number to them. Ritual needs to inspire, to bring forth emotion and to spur us to action. I never found anything like that in a church.

I just invoked Illiad on the UF board. He's got to have a look at the first half of the article I sent him so that I can finish the second half. I don't want to be fooling with that tomorrow if at all possible.

I may post from the library up there again over the weekend. I've still got my library card.

Right.

[saminz.livejournal.com]

I am aware that it needs the intensity... Maybe another cultural difference thing? I prefer to have my intenser moments alone :-). Being in company during intense moments stresses me tremendously. Then again: The absolute only purely enjoyable "hug" I ever managed in my whole life was during that ritual... (Of a non-sexual variety, I should probably add.) I just can *not* imagine putting myself through such emotional hurricanes regularly :-)!

The catholic masses I witnessed were pretty emotionally challenging for me personally, as well, by the way :-). The first one was spent suppressing giggles and reading the songbook. By the second, where these 9 year old kids were "sealed with the holy ghost" it all started to feel decidedly creepy. And ever after, I was more and more enraged - by the outrageous violence and injustice of the texts, and the apathy the congregation showed through it all... Never mind ;-). I never really was a "heathen" target, though, thankfully. Must suck...

What exactly are you doing for Illiad? Care to share ;-)?

Always happy to hear from you, of course! But R&R must come first!!

Re: Right.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Illiad wants some content written for his new website, Money For Content (http://moneyforcontent.com/?q=node&PHPSESSID=c6aa14a065fd7333d305a40878af3984). He posted a cattle call on UF for a contributor last week. I sent him an email and he picked me out of over thirty emails he got. I plan to do a good job and it will look good on my resume.

Years ago, I would be intense with the work of ritual. Only lately has the emotional aspect hit me hard. I can deal with intense concentration and energy work quite easily. The emotions are sorta freaking me out. When the city gets back on a even keel, I'm sure I'll go back to my former mode of operation. Emotional hurricanes aren't my style either.

Intensity in groups is very powerful. I've always liked that. When I go to concerts, I suck up all the energy of the group that I can. That energy is rejuvenating. The last concert I went to that had that intensity was the Godsmack/Deftones concert. I was totally jazzed after that one.

I know what you mean about the apathy of congregations. Maybe it was the quality of boring midwestern people at churches in Indiana, but there was no soul, no spirit in their services. Even the ones who were referred to as holy rollers seemed to me to be putting it on rather like a theatrical production.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I don't know why we need some rest, but we do. It's not like we've been devastated personally.

Adding my happies...

[thenea.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! I hope it's a great day.

Re: Adding my happies...

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

So far, so good. I've gotten the car cleaned inside and out. The patio has been cleared of junk. Now I have to sweep out there and put the patio furniture back out.

Happy Birthday!

[feather802.livejournal.com]

Hope you have a good trip and get to relax a little.

Happy Birthday

[tigrismus.livejournal.com]

May each year be better than the last, and may you have many.

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday, you old witch!
Hah!

If it makes you feel any better, you're younger than me. ;)

Hugs n best wishes!

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

I'm also younger than Mick Jagger. Woo hoo! Thanks.

[blackbyrd2.livejournal.com]

Ouch...

:P

Happy belated birthday, Nola!

[voxwoman.livejournal.com]

I don't know what's happened to my time these days. I feel like I'm missing out on all these things...

Happy belated birthday!

[lionsphil.livejournal.com]

Sooo...how many digits is that now? 8)



_{*runs like stink*}