HollyDays

HollyDays turns 1 year old tomorrow! Click Here to read the very first post on HollyDays!

And, Happy 4th of July to everyone as well!

Here’s the tomato plant, well over 5 feet tall, and the cucumber plant.

And here are the developing fruits (the quarter by the cucumbers is to illustrate size).  

Central Ohio                Ash Cave           Conkle’s Hollow   Wildwood Metropark

Wildwood in Autumn      Double Rainbow

Just wanted to share some pictures of our beautiful state that I’ve taken over the years. Click on the images to see them at full size (you must click your Back button to return to HollyDays). Click on the links below the pictures in the top row for more information on these locations. Note–the final image in the series was captured on the 4th of July a few years ago. It’s not night time–the darkness in the margins is one of those famous midwestern thunderstorms, which is what created the double rainbow.    

Check out the musician(s) of the week!

Collective Soul

Click Here to see Collective Soul’s “The World I Know” video!  

Click Here to see Collective Soul’s “Shine” video!

Here are the latest pics of the patio plants, both of which now have blossoms and some baby fruits!

Today is my wedding anniversary, but this post isn’t about that. It’s about personal choice and choices. Let me begin at the beginning. Lately, I’ve been checking out some of the online Pagan forums, because I’ve been feeling like I might need more of spiritual community, or at least some reliable group to bounce ideas off of when I’m unsure about one spiritual thing or another. What I’ve found though is that I think there are some very good reasons that I am a solitaire. I’m not knocking the forums–I’m very glad that they exist, especially for young pagans and other followers of so-called alternative paths, because I think that young people in particular can really benefit from the sharing of ideas. That’s why I make my students do all that group work–to push them outside themselves and to force them to hear how other people feel about certain issues, because young people can be both myopic and quite stubborn when they get their minds around new ideas, and it’s good to hear more perspectives when you’re in the process of forming your adult opinions about things (and also so I can get a break from lecturing–but that’s another story). I’m not saying that older people don’t also benefit from sharing ideas–obviously they (we) do–but I haven’t seen a lot of the kind of free sharing of ideas I’d like to see on the forums I’ve investigated. Read more »

George Carlin died yesterday of a heart attack at age 71–he DID NOT “pass away” nor will he be ”laid to rest”–not the least of which because his giant legacy as a commentator on all things pop-cultural in the United States will keep on cracking us up for many years to come. I sure am going to miss him though! Absolutely one of the smartest and funniest guys ever to prod the American psyche!  

Check out the musician(s) of the week!

Five for Fighting

Click Here to see Five for Fighting’s “Superman” video!

Click Here to see Five for Fighting’s “100 Years” video–this is the song my husband and I chose for our first dance at our wedding.

I don’t normally do links-only posts, but I wanted to draw attention to Dennis Kucinich’s recent introduction of a resolution to impeach George W. Bush, and to the nicely done Toledo City Paper article on the topic. From my end–Applause for Kucinich! 

Click Here to visit Dennis Kucinich’s home page.        

The altar is decorated and the evening picnic is planned for Friday–and it looks like the fickle midwestern weather might actually cooperate. I started a five-night candle lighting ritual tonight, and find myself feeling both soothed and energized by all of the bright yellow and gold of the season.  Just in case I become too busy this week, a very Happy and Blessed Midsummer to all!