Home is the place where I am lying in my own bed, the cats rustling outside my door, or purring on the bed, and the 3/4 moon rides high in the clear sky, so bright I can walk around on the land and notice to my amazement that there has not been a killing frost, and I still have Nasturtiums, beets, carrots, eggplant and zucchini in the garden! and I can notice by the light of that same moon that the ash trees are already bare of leaves, and the maples still have most of theirs, though I won't know till daylight what color they are.

In other words, home is where I returned to today after a month away.

I am very happy to be home.

(though my heart has sojourned far and wide and pieces of it are flung all over the western slope of the Rockies from the desert to the deep blue sea)

When I was three I remember seeing the Moon. When I was 13 I saw a comet for the first time. Sometime in between, I rode the Milky Way out to beyond where God lives, and it scared me. So that is who I am, Galaxy Girl, Star Bitch, see her, in that painting in my icon, (all grown up).

This is how I stepped on to the expression of my path I am walking today:
Brother Jesus sat me down on the ground in a Sweat Lodge and said to me: I like this, it feels good. Do you like this? I said yeah I like it, I really like it, Wow, do I like it!
And Jesus said, then let's keep doing it.

One thing led to another and here I iz!

This comet is Hale-Bopp, not my first, which was Comet Bennett.

Some of Wisdom is from Grandmothers. Some comes from New Mothers.
New Mother Halle Berry was named the World's Sexiest Woman by Esquire Magazine.
Here's what she had to say:

New mum HALLE BERRY is set to send temperatures soaring with candid comments about her sex life in men's magazine Esquire.
The actress has just been voted the Sexiest Woman Alive by the publication and, in an interview to accompany her front-page photo spread, the confident Oscar winner insists she's red hot in the bedroom.
Berry says, "You know that stuff they say about a woman being responsible for her own orgasms? That's all true, and, in my case, that makes me responsible for pretty damn good orgasms.
"(They're) much better orgasms than when I was 22, and I wouldn't let a man control that. Not anymore. Now, I'd invite them to participate.
"I've learned my tricks. I know what I like. I do not wait around. I initiate. And I'm not all about frequency; I favour intensity."
Calling into the Oprah show in America on Friday (17Oct08), Berry revealed she felt inspired to talk openly about her sex life after Esquire named her their sexiest woman.
She said, "I was astonished. I was like, 'I've just had a baby. Don't you guys know..? This isn't the year to pick me for this.'
"I thought, 'Well, you know, it might be a really good year to talk about some things and talk about what sexy really is.'"
And she joked, "When I mentioned the big 'O' I'm sure when people first read it (article), they thought I was about to talk about Oprah."
Berry admitted that if her romance with boyfriend Gabriel Aubry ever ended, she wouldn't be looking for a toyboy to satisfy her sexually.
She confided, "Men in their 20s? Forget it."

Here's the link.

while I answer some questions I have been reflecting on:

What have I learned from moving?
It's not about the place, it's all about me that needs to change.

Where have I been looking?

Under Rocks.


Of What are you a connoiseur?

Pie


Thank you, it feels good to get that out of my system. Now I can write about my trip.

In August of 2007 I met my first Gaians, Keith, Aley, Sue and Rich, who all came to Camden Hills State Park near my home for a vacation. I wrote about part of that visit here.

This summer in July, I met John in Atlanta and Stacy in Chattanooga on my Sun Moon Dance trip. We have written bits and pieces of that visit in our various blogs and photos. It is a meeting that is still birthing visions, so it hasn't had much press. Here's two pictures:






Stay tuned for Part Two.

In August Mary and Keith came up to visit their Friend Annie who recently moved to Portland. We gathered the metaphorical  Catherine and her family, and the Albuerquean Forrest, and Fran, his mother to join us at the Museum of African Culture Street fair.

We enjoyed music, art, food, each other, and were blessed by Museum Director Oscar Mokeme, who is a Nigerian Shaman.


Oscar in Mask

Martha in Phoenix. Martha is who she is on Gaia. And she is a risk taker. Not everyone would walk into the ASEP conference and act like she felt right at home (Martha, we have to talk soon!)




Gaia has decided not to let me up load any more pictures tonight so I am drafting the text while I am on a roll, and will add photos later if I can get "permission".


From Phoenix (after my trip to the Tucson Desert and the Temple of Wombn, I flew to Spokane Washington. There I was welcomed by Janine, Lauren, and Sora and spent a wonderful two days in Northern Idaho.

Us at Lake Pondereilles.

I took a slow trip to Seattle, chasing trains and eating apples across Washington State, and getting lost in the Cascade Mountains (not physically lost, I just lost myself in their magick!)
There Keith and Aley welcomed me again, in their new home in Seattle, which was on the verge of becoming their old home. I am still blessed and delighted that you could make space for me while you were in the ceremony of moving office, moving house, and starting the first day of new classes at the community college, just for starters. You two are so precious. I don't have any pictures of that visit with you, which is why I started with you in Maine.

I do have  a picture of a train in Seattle

And the ONLY Peridot!

Let me stop here to say what a mirace this trip was. Imagine people who only know me from words and pictures opening their doors to me, giving me food and a place to sleep, and welcoming me. The "friends" album became real friends, and the world became a cozier, more loving place, because you all lived it for me. I love YOU!

Peri wrote about our visit hilariously and briliantly, so I'll refer you to her report:

And I am especially amazed that she welcomed me and we played so hard while she was still stove up from her car accident. Peri, I am glad you are reporting new wellness and getting back to mobility and pain free living!

Maybe the oysters were good medicine. Here are those pictures Peri talked about:

After visiting Gaians everywhere, I returned to Sandpoint, Idaho, where I was again embraced by a community who had never met me before. Like the Sun Moon Dance Story with John and Stacy, this one is still incubating medicine, so I won't speak much detail. It is a big part of the miracle journey and is a profound influence on my work back here at home. It was also one beautiful moment after another, for a string of  10 nights and days. I have to mention the nights, cause Orion woke me up every night, even when it was cloudy. One rainy night I thought I'd sleep and at 3 am, I awoke to see Orion gleaming through a break in the   clouds.

One day we took a field trip to a quartz dig over by Priest Lake. I think by the time we were at the dig we had crossed the state line into Washington. All I can say  is that after a few hours digging in the dirt under the roots of great cedars and hemlocks, I am bitten by the rockhound bug. I love rocks and that is my favorite part of gardening, digging up rocks. Now I know I want to explore Maine's mineral digs. There's tourmaline in those mountains. After the quartz dig, the party broke up and Hawk and I went up to the Roosevelt Grove of Ancient Cedars to commune with the ancient ones. No pictures, too sacred. If you have a chance to go up there, go!

Another field trip was to a friend's organic apple orchard, Talache Orchard on a hill above Lake Pend Oreilles. When they said, we are going to pick apples, I though. Nice.
I was blown away by this orchard overlooking the lake. It was an example of how everything about this trip was extraordinary beyond my imagination. The apples and the tarts I made with them were also extraordinary. I made pies in four states and 6 different kitchens on this trip. I digress.

On Sunday we invited the community out to a sweat lodge. This was importance as it was my first public sweat lodge since my mother died. Like the rest of the 30 days, this one lodge brought my year of grieving to a completion and opened the door for my continued service. It was good medicine the folks at Sandpoint gave me. A real honor to let me pour for their prayers.

Cedars were important throughout the 10 days. The sweat lodge was built completely of cedar branches taken from downed cedar trees that were still green and flexible when we found them. We spread cedar on the floor mixed with mint for the people to sit on. It was gorgeous. The air in Northern Idaho is as clean and tonic as any I have ever breathed.

It has been good to remember my  days in Idaho.
I don't have many pictures because my camera broke while I was there. But not before I took these pictures of a sunrise, and my friends at the orchard.

Satya-Seer is coming to see me in Maine on Wednesday.
That's enough for now...
But wait,
There's MORE!
There is always more. Stay tuned, right here,
Right now,
Where  ever YOU are!