We are free, not because of documents, congress or even the President.
We are free because of the extraordinarily brave men and women who serve our country (and the families who keep the home fires burning).
Today is the day we say Thank You.

PS: Go Navy!

The Queen of Swords – sharp as a tack, quick with a line, fluent in the language of forked tongue. She is the Queen you don’t cross, you don’t even think about crossing her, she is tough as nails with a silky soft side reserved only for those closet to her. The friends who have earned the right to be part of her inner circle (think Rose Nyland & Blanche Deveroux) will never have to wonder if she’s in their corner or not.

I am an ardent fan of the Golden Girls.
I adored Bea’s turn as Femputer in Futurama.
About 15 years ago I saw her at the Metropolitan Opera House. Bold as ever and larger than life she diverted from the script and started to ad lib; culminating in the orchestra’s drummer granting what I completely believe to be the highest honor possibility – a rim shot at the Met.

She stole the show to be sure. I can’t even recall what Opera it was. I think it may have been the Daughter of the Regiment.

Rest in Peace Bea.

The Tarot Queen Poll votes are tallied and the winner is:
The Queen of Pentacles

The Queen of Pentacles

A woman who can look at the world with compassion, who takes stock of her place in the world; accomplishments and goals yet to be achieved. An Earthly and Earthy woman, with a maternal streak and a penchant for organization. She enjoys materials goods as they represent accomplishment, but keeps her head squarely on her shoulders. This Queen pays cash, sticks to her budget, and is generous with her wealth, but won’t tolerate lazy or selfish behavior. Money loaned is just that – a loan and she anticipates being paid back – and is willing to help those she holds dear to achieve and excel.

Happy Easter
Happy Passover

Spring has come to New Jersey. I went for a hike this morning and found myself stunned – as it seems I am each and every year. I am always antsy for Spring and yet it sneaks up on me. Like all of the sudden Forsynthia are a riot of yellow on the trail, daffodils and hyacinth are lined up and smiling and flowering trees are starting to bud.

And… the fairies are waking up and they want to PLAY. At one point I shut the volume on my iPOD and just listened to the world around me. It’s so powerful and so subtle all at once, to just listen to the natural world around you and to allow yourself to indulge in the symphony of birds.

I feel more resolute than ever to get the mental clutter boxed up and hauled to the curb – Spring is here and all is reborn.

Which Tarot Queen do you most identify with?

Click here and make your opinion heard!

I’ll leave this open for seven days and post the results next week.

Disclaimer: this post has little to do with Tarot.

The best and worst part of my job is all of the traveling. Over the past three weeks I’ve stayed in multiple hotels, eaten countless restaurant meals, exercised in strange gyms and have been home barely long enough between trips to do laundry, check the mail and pay the bills.  I’m glad to be home for most of the next couple of weeks, glad to spend time with Qui-Gon and be planning a vacation; to be able to catch up a bit.

One thing that became clear to me while whiling away my delay at Seattle Tacoma airport is this: physical clutter is so much easier to rid oneself of then mental clutter. Truly… I can easily visualize all of the goodies on the top self of the linen closet we want to sell on ebay and I might even be able to get Qui-Gon to post them online and field the questions. The physical is easy. It’s the thoughts that I really need to tackle.

After I catch up a bit on mail, email, tweets, bill paying, workouts… and sleep. Maybe I’ll make sleep the priority and tackle the rest tomorrow.

Seattle Center: Space Needle & Ferris Wheel

I am a day or two late with these greetings – Happy Ostara to one and all.
Ostara dawned as anything BUT Spring like in my neck of the woods, with snow showers and biting cold, but days have warmed up nicely since. The days are growing longer (I’ve been able to run outside after work) and warmer and neighbors are starting to tend gardens that have been barren too long. This is the time, traditionally, to seek a fresh start. Pitch the clutter, renew your spirit & celebrate the spring goddess Ostara.
Ostara, whose name means “shining or rising towards the Sun,” is celebrated on Spring Equinox. At this time of year abundance reigns and fertility – bet you guessed that with all the eggs & bunny rabbits!
Spring cleaning is well underway here and I am working on selling some items we’ve never used on ebay. Swords are the suit of the season and I’ll be rededicating my study, wearing mossy greens and lilacs and choosing my words with care.

I am a blessed woman.  During my sophomore year of college I met a lady who was destined to become one of my dearest friends and her mother is one of the greatest astrologers I have ever  met. Her mother, who I call Mom, explained the rule of the New Moon Wishes.

Every month on the new moon write out 10 wishes and post them in a spot you can see them. I tack mine to the corkboard above my alter, but a plain slip of paper on your alter, clipped to the fridge or even the bathroom mirror works. As in all things, be creative and sincere – and focus. Intent is everything!

At the next New Moon give a prayer of thanks for your answered wishes and list 10 new wishes for the new cycle. One thing I happen to notice is that while some wishes aren’t granted, I gain persepctive during the moon cycle and often adjust / change / rethink some desires and I say a prayer of thanks for those things that I changed course on.

I miss celebrating Full Moon with a group.  I am actually surprised how deeply I miss it, but the reality is I do and I miss being in the groove of such rhythm and celebration.

So, for the February Full Moon (yes, I know I’m late with this post) I celebrated with myself.

I decided to keep things simple, light a candle and keep lighting it most nights of this fm to fm cycle. I also pulled a Major Arcana card to meditate on, learn from this cycle. This is something I’d been feeling the pull to do for a while, immerse myself in single card meditations.

I used a deck I love, The Inner Child Cards; this is a beautiful deck with bright colors and some fairy tale themes. So, the randomly pulled card: Strength. In this deck the depiction is Beauty and the Beast; every time I look at the card I hear the song from the 1991 animated movie – “… tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, beauty and the best…” It’s so persistent I’ve thought about looking up the exact lyrics and / or downloading the tune onto my iPod.

The first lesson I’ve had is quite a literal one; stop wasting time and get back my strength. In November I started to slack off BIG.TIME with my exercise routine which include lifting weights. I am making moves to reclaim gym time, because lifting heavy weights makes me feel stronger – inside the gym and out. When I started to slack off I was squatting 135 to 145 pounds for 3 or 4 sets every time out. My strength has plummeted and I’m down to 95 to 105 pound range, but I’ve been told the strength comes back quickly.

I also need to get my strength up and get my courage going to send out a grad school application.

The Beauty and the Beast theme also suggests I gather strength where my marriage is concerned and kick myself into gear. Yep, all of this insight in a mere week since Full Moon. Thankfully, I’ve got three more weeks to learn and implement.

I was away on business, but now I’m back.

Some photos for your enjoyment… musings when I’m over the jet lag.