Imbolc ritual fun

My friends met this afternoon (Sun Feb 3) to celebrate Imbolc, Brigit, and the return of light.

Maggie led us in a dance, and I asked everyone if I could take photos.  I don't usually during a ritual, because it's kind of a sacred thing.  But I waited till after the dance was done, and asked the participants if they'd show me some of the fun movements.

Yes, we were singing a bit of Irish poetry, "May the road rise up to greet you..." though I messed up the words many different ways.

 Dolls that we brought lay around the little table for our altar in honor of Brigit.

 Our altar was central in a circle of women, including a bowl of pure water and lots of stones.

My little figure of Brigit stood on the altar also.

We all got to help make the whipped cream for the bannock cake.  Oh it was so delicious!

Then the women made their own Brigit dolls.  What a great afternoon. Did I mention singing? Eating? sharing good wishes? blessing the mantle of Brigit?  I did leave a bit early, since my cough was kind of making me tired.

Thanks to the Unitarian Universaist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley for hostessing this ritual afternoon for Inanna's Daughters.  Thanks to the leadership of all the women who came, and especially Linda Metzner!

The light of Imbolc

Brigid, bright and firey one.

Here's a great little song about -
Don't be afraid of the light that shines within you

Luka Bloom 2008

Shared on another blog, Here.

Movement into still photos

I've already posted some old home movies changed into still photos.
But I'd love to share this one series with you, as prompted by Sepia Saturday this week.

Home movies/transformed again (Repost from January 29, 2015)

My dad started taking home movies in the 40s, with a spring wound Keystone projector.  It took 16 mm rolls of film, but when the roll was finished you'd take it out and insert it again and run it through the camera again, getting two 8-mm runs.  Always doing the switch in a closet so the film didn't get exposed, of course.

We had mainly black and white photos, but there are some surprising ones in color.

My dear son, Russ, took the originals and had Walmart's genius people put them into a DVD and then showed them to all my offspring at my 70th birthday.  It was probably pretty boring, especially with the strange sound background the Walmart guys had added.

So last night I pulled out the video, which hadn't been of any interest for years, and decided it would be nice to transform it into some stills so I could share them (and archive them) here.

Ever try to take pictures of a TV show?  Right...the black bar of death crossed most of the attempts, even when the shot was paused.

No, I didn't want to copy into a video format either.  I may try that sometime, but not yet.

Anyway, out of my attempts, and from the first 12 clips, I did get some good shots, though the originals were a bit fuzzy.  I don't know if this was original resolution, or not having a good TV screen.  And I've since reduced the resolution so I can post them here easily.  Ever notice how long it takes to post 2m photos here?

So I'll give you first a series of clips of my grandparents.

 Ada Swasey Rogers and my grandfather George Elmore Rogers, taken in about 1945.  She was around 59 and he was 68 at that time.

Location is their home in Houston, Texas, which they might have just moved to, as 3 years previously (when I was born) they had lived in San Antonio, TX.

My parents and myself were visiting from Dallas, TX.

Their sons Chauncey and George (my father) were having a good time playing with various cameras, and included catching each other telling stories.  Since the camera wound down after about a minute, they were short stories!  More next time!

I posted a lot more stills from home-movies in the following posts in 2015.

Resurection of a plant

Just as it sat on the balcony in the cold for the last 3 months with freezing temperatures for many days and nights...but given some water, and the warmth inside...now just look what this amaryllis is doing! It's alive!

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And I'm thrilled to see 5 more blooms on the orchid.  It continues to give such joyful color to drab days.

Turning 60

A friend had a recent birthday.

It was the most momentous thing to happen in her life (at least for a while).
I've shared many experiences with her, and she just exudes joy whenever something special happens, and has similar emotions of sorrow and anger which I've witnessed also.

So she prepared at least 6 months for her turning 60.  Her daughters were involved and organized a party with all her children and grandchildren and various in-laws and girlfriends, and a few of her old friends.

I was happy to take part in an adult version of a children's birthday party.  But I skipped playing bingo.  And I took many of the pictures!

The grandchildren enjoyed playing around, running in circles, teasing each other, throwing things, especially the balloons.

We enjoyed a light lunch before the cupcakes...

A happy year is wished for Teresa from all her family and friends.

Paradigm shift...

Borrowing from another blogger...many thanks, Mystic Meandering.

He was surprised
to see the gray clouds,
for the sunrise was clear
with blue sky, and he
assumed, as he always had,
that the sky moved
as the sun moved, east
to west, yet here the clouds
came, traveling west to
east, and he thought of
the trajectory he imagined
his life took, of birth
to death, infancy to old age,
and he wondered if he
had missed something,
if the winds moved
differently than he supposed,
if death also traveled
toward life, if there were
more currents than he
could imagine; and if
imagining itself, setting
a distinct course, one he
planned in advance, kept
him from seeing, if he
were at this moment
actually growing younger,
at the same time he grew
older; if he was in fact
moving in ways he could
barely sense, into another
life, into other worlds.

Richard Wehrman
From: Being Here
original title: Traveling

This poem gave my existance one of those tugs, (paradigm shift) and I thought, I could look for another current, perhaps one coming sideways, or maybe I should think of how I move sideways.  The first thing I'm paying attention to is how much mess I can make by spilling things, or not seeing quite what's where I'm stepping.  I just clean up and keep on moving, but I am thinking "sideways."

I love that this poem doesn't say anything about where that different direction might be, and actually is looking at becoming younger.  I'm not so much interested in that concept, but see that it's also possible.

This is why I love poetry!

Standing by the car

Early years with cars...

1937, my father stands by open window of car being driven by his younger brother, Jimmy, while his mother (Ada Rogers) sits as passenger.

 Dallas Texas, 1942.  My grandmother (Ada Rogers) and father (George Rogers Jr.) and grandfather (George Rogers Sr.) standing in front of a car (not sure if it's my father's or the grandparents.  The grandparents were living in San Antonio at that time, but visited as there was a child soon to be born (me!)  I would guess it's a Studebaker, since that's the only brand my Rogers family would own for the longest time...probably till it went out of business.

 My mother (Mataley Rogers) sits on the running board (YES, that's what they were called) while my granparents work on the Victory Garden.  In 1942 the US had only been at war less than a year.

There I was (left girl) about to turn 8 years old (1950) with little sis.  Why my father got the car into the pic is probably saying a lot about his values! I would imagine this is one of the Studebakers he owned.  We moved to St. Louis Aug. 1950 in time for my birthday.
Beow...here I am with sis again (different dresses I think) which means it was probably Easter, 1951. On the campus of Principia Upper and Lower School.  It's a different car already...just look at the grill work and a one piece windshield in the second scene.

I don't know the location of McGlung's Drugstore.  I probably got this old photo from Appalachian Coal Fields on Facebook.  But as I was looking for old cars, this one caught my eye, not because of the store front.  Not because of the various clothes the men and boys are wearing.  But what caught my eye was the back wheel with chains on it.

When we lived in St. Louis, there were a couple of winters that my father put chains on his Studebaker so we could get around on snowy days.  But his wheels were much different by then (50s and 60s).

Below are family members around the new Studebaker.  This one is sporty, a two tone blue, with white wall tires.

Perhaps these photos of old cars will have something in common with the prompt photo from Sepia Saturday this week.  Come on over and see (or contribute your own) the selections that others who have a collection of old photos are sharing this week!

When the moon eclipses, it doesn't matter how cold...

We seldom see full moons here in the mountains, because there are frequent clouds whenever they happen.
So I started peeping at it around 7:45, and there were stars visible too...but of course I can't quite get my little Nikon to see them.

 Isn't this one neat, with 2 orbs that came to visit?

The camera sends out some kind of infared signal to focus on things, and it really had trouble with the moon.  I think the lens might have gotten a bit of condensation on it as well.

I found myself sneaking outside every hour, and I didn't even bother taking photos that didn't show a thing...which of course meant bundling up since it was in the teens by then, and sometimes blustery too.

 Around 10 there was a shadow cast on the lower edge, and a camera which wasn't held exactly still gave it a nice mellon look.

I went to bed around 10:45, and loved that it was starting to have that reddish tint, but it was too cold for my old bones to come out again later.  I'm so glad some others did!

Here's Jim Polling's capture (had a better zoom, but still hand held!) of the full eclipse.

And here's my new favorite by Martha Fabre Hale on Facebook...

Oh the moon is full and it's cold outside!

So I've made my little newly transplanted violets, and the orchid, a kind of "green house" where I'll leave a light on all night to keep them warm.  They are near a window, and with such low temps, (forecast is 10 degrees fahrenheit.) I dare saw the area inside the window will not be any 65 degrees.  Maybe this will give them a bit of tropical temperatures (as they like best.)

 The rosemary is hardy enough to stay in the windowsill.  The heating unit is directly to the left on the wall, so it will keep the room somewhat warm tonight.   The management has asked us to keep some water running so pipes don't freeze.  Good idea.

So I'll put new batteries in the Nikon and wake up around 11:30 to see whatever eclipse I might see.  Actually I hope to see the moon itself earlier.  I'll show you my efforts tomorrow!

Flowers make me happy

 A gift is much appreciated!
Transucent. Variegated!

 A Phalaenopsis

 I promised myself to take good care of it.  And learn how to keep it healthy.  It came in such a small container!

I do hope it continues to bloom.  Winter sun came through the window earlier today, but has gone hiding behind grey clouds now.  I went for a walk around the lake, only got a third of the way when I was out of breath.  Baby steps, Barb...you haven't been doing this for about a month (or two).