Two topics tonight! First, I have one of those physical reactions to places associated with Arthurian legends. One of the places I got the “vibes” from like on the Sacred Springs was Avebury, in England, especially Silbury Hill. I guess it’s not surprising, since it’s one of those places with “ley lines” (which you can believe or not).
AI representation I asked for.
I’ve read enough about King Arthur and those times to know that we have little idea what the people then were up to, if they were real. But it’s attached to my ancestry, so I find it interesting. Really, the ancient Celts seem like a bunch of angry people who liked to fight, and English history after 1066 didn’t make English folks seem more sympathetic, at least the ruling class. But I’m thinking whatever my ancestry is, there were a bunch of pagan misfits, like me today.
Hail and farewell, Suna, says AI Arthur
Anyway, the blog prompters asked, and this was my answer. It may not even be historical.
As for Queen Goldie, last night she triumphantly mounted the stairs and came up to sleep with me.
It’s hard to sleep wedged up against her with Carlton at my feet, but I appreciated the opportunity.
That was a surprise. Being a dog, she hadn’t thought about what goes up having to come down, so her descent was a bit scary. But she was all right. We ordered some stair tread carpet to keep her from slipping if she tries again.
Looking a bit dazed after her descent.
Dr. Amy said she wanted to see Goldie again today after reading about her adventures. We got her in the car, and Lee took her to the mobile clinic. Goldie got more IV fluids and an antibiotic shot. She still has an infection going on, though Amy said she is obviously much improved.
Giving blood is exhausting.
One thing’s for sure, Goldie is eating again, which we take as a very good sign. I’m hoping she keeps up the improvement. She has a whole family team looking after her!
And Samhain blessings to all you folks who keep up the old traditions.
What’s something you believe everyone should know.
Life would be better for all of us if we realized that we are all one big family on this earth and that we all have a place in the Big Picture. That’s not just people. It’s the whole ecosystem.
I try to think of the Big Picture frequently.
Maybe we’d all live and let live if we bore this in mind. We humans have different cultures, as do other sentient beings. It would sure be nice if there were more coexistence.
Storms are coming.
Who am I kidding?
I sorta wish the wind would just blow me away. But I’ll manage. You try, too.
Oh I needed today. Words have failed me when I’ve tried to describe what I experienced, but I’ll try to summarize.
San Marcos River
This morning I attended a field session at the location of the former Aquarena Springs tourist attraction, which has been lovingly returned to a more natural state by Texas State University and is now the meadows Center for Water and the Environment. Before it was an attraction, it was a site of a gristmill. Before that, it was a sacred site for native people who believed they were born from the springs.
This is the spot.
I’d met the descendants of this tribe at a conference years ago. They talked about the Sacred Springs and how it had magical qualities. That’s why I wanted to attend the session on Field Environmental Philosophy As An Approach Towards Mindfulness and Reconnection With Freshwater Ecosystems. That’s a mouthful.
Headwaters of the river.
Oh my goodness. The session, which was led by three philosophy professors, was exactly what I needed to put together the seemingly disparate pieces of my spiritual practice, personal philosophy, and scientific interests. It’s biocultural conservation. The techniques the presentation demonstrated show how you can integrate mindfulness and connection with nature and scientific analysis. Bingo. That’s my goal.
Learning and listening
I got a bit overwhelmed just standing at the sacred site. It felt like one of “my” places. I was deeply comforted and quite moved. One of the professors noticed. I said I felt connection, like ley lines. He said that’s because many sensitive people say the same thing! Eureka. I found my Texas home spot at last. (I know of two others, one in Florida and one in Wales.)
Later in the day
I no longer wonder if I shouldn’t be identifying birds while doing my breathing exercises. I feel validated in my drive to perceive the world around me in all the modalities. It’s just a great feeling.
Sunset and cypress
Anyway, we did an observation exercise then came back and talked about it. I think the philosophers were ticked that so many of us were blown away by what they were sharing with us. There were so many great pieces of feedback and questions. I have many reading resources to look up now. I’m stoked.
Glorious old growth trees.
I enjoyed hearing the birds and looking at the beautiful plants on this site, too. The university is doing great work to preserve this area.
The rest of my day was full of fine conversations with new and old friends and even some rest. I met interesting people in the vendor area and learned from them. Fascinating stuff about night sky preservation, fireflies, raptors, and native seeds. Bonus was meeting a woman who’s just published a book on karst and caves in this area, another interest of mine!
The Texas Master Naturalist annual meeting kickoff was back at the springs. I enjoyed the glass-bottom boat tide very much. I’m glad they kept the boats from the tourist days. Here are some fish and turtle photos.
Glass-bottom bowman ride.
After the boat I went into the aquarium area in the building on site. They had examples of all the fish we saw in the river, plus the Texas River Cooter turtles. The garfish were so cool. Plus there was an eel. I love aquariums.
Aquaria
I came on back before the nothing began and joined my friend Mike for a drink. I wish we could see him more often. I caught him up with the rest of our chapter members and he caught me up with his naturalist and ethics work.
I still have time to blog for you! Enjoy this dump of more photos of my day at the aquatic center.
A maple tree!Great EgretGiant black WillieArmy webwormCypress kneesTurtle and fishPrettiest poverty weed everWetland beauty.
Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?
Until my recent bout of Covid, I hadn’t had a lazy day in a long time. In recent years, I’ve just felt better if I was active. I just didn’t sit around a lot. when I was sick I genuinely had to just lay around. I hated it. But I did it.
Mantids are good at stillness.
It reminded me, though, that there is good in being still and not doing something for more than the daily meditation time. I’ve been trying to let myself have more time with no agenda and no “have to do” urges. I’m usually full of those.
Goldie says she just “has to” adorn the fake rug.
That’s the closest I get to lazy days. I am working to balance my daily agenda with more loose time hanging around with Lee or the horses. I think both man and beast enjoy me just being me. I do, too. And I think I feel rested!
Join us on this beach, Suna! (The pond is drying up.)
I think my productivity is better when I don’t stack activities on top of each other after all. I was getting pretty frenzied there for a while. I’m still getting in my steps and exercise, so I’m glad I’m feeling okay about not being so physically busy. It’s a more balanced approach.
I stopped to watch the sunset.
Next: letting myself do nothing mentally when I’m not meditating. I’m always birding, knitting, reading, writing, editing, or something. Right now it’s helping me avoid intrusive thoughts about the near future. So I’ll keep my mind occupied until November.
Best typo in a long time. Find it!“It’s” written in stone!Editing I wanted to do today.
Once again, my friend Ann thrusted a book at me and said she knew I’d like it. She’s very good at selecting reading material for me. Ann said there was a part in it about Burning Man, did I know anything about it?
It was hard to find a usable photo of burning man. This is a temple. From Pexels
Well, yes, I know people whose adult children go, and my jewelry friend got married there. And I get the concept, but never had an urge to go. Too much sand and too many drugs for me. I really hate sand and wind combined. It gets everywhere. And most of my life I avoided psychedelic drugs. I was afraid of messing up the only brain I had.
It gets everywhere. From Pexels.
But, that’s neither here nor there. The book Ann gave me was Wild Old Woman, by Joan Maloof, a great writer about trees and nature. This memoir, more about love, sex, spirituality, and adventure, was self published this past summer.
And yes, indeed, this was a memoir that resonated with this weird old Suna woman as I’m sure it did with Ann. Bonus: I learned a lot about Burning Man, among other places. I don’t plan to go, but Maloof sure learned a lot there.
Sometimes memoirs are interesting because the writer does fascinating things or meets famous people. This one intrigued me because Maloof experienced many life changes and spiritual insights, and she reacted just like I would, for better or worse. That felt a little weird. I appreciated her honesty and openness. She’s a real, fallible human with many strengths, but who likes to examine her failings as endlessly as I do.
One of the best parts of the wild old woman’s tale (she is a couple of years older than me) comes after the narrative ends and Maloof finishes her dream journey to Bhutan. She provides two “meta” chapters that outline how the book took shape, was reviewed, and was published. I just loved how this section provides insight, especially into what’s not in the book and why.
I learned something in this section that gave me a useful new understanding about a certain kind of very frustrating relationship, one I have experienced as well. This relationship is with a man who keeps pushing her away and pulling her back, while her brain recognizes the pattern but her heart understands why he acts the way he does. It’s called a trauma bond. Here’s what she discovered:
I learned that it was more of a one-way thing. Someone alternates being kind with being unkind, and the bondee sticks around waiting for the next dose of kindness-sugar. P. 199
That explains an extremely embarrassing relationship I was enmeshed in when I was much younger. I knew the guy had issues and was toying with me, but I kept coming back, hoping for more kindness.
Maloof pointed out that her research said that the only way to get out of a trauma bond relationship is to completely cut it off. And I did that. I was in contact once more when I was older, and the person started right back in with the poor me, everyone is out to get me stories. I didn’t reply.
I’m just happy to know there’s a better word for what I went through for a few years than pathological obsession. I feel closer to closure over this regrettable and embarrassing period of my life. It’s hard to admit I could be so gullible, but I was young and inexperienced. I have worked years to forgive myself. I mostly have done so.
These guys help.
Sadly (in my mind) Maloof is still going through the push and pull, though distanced. Maybe it’s okay. On the other hand, she’s still living alone and free, running her wonderful nonprofit to save trees. We all have things to work on, even us chronic meditators.
This I know: if I send calm thoughts out, breathe deeply, and center myself, life’s a lot easier. It’s certainly made life with the animals better. All that nature walking really has helped!
Morning beauty
Today I spent a lot of time with the horses. We tend to end up in a feedback loop of good vibes these days. Watching them interacting gently calms me down and me being calm makes them easy to work with. I’m very glad the period of stress and pain for us all is becoming a dim memory.
Just being friends.
I enjoy watching them showing signs of affection. It’s mostly Drew, Mabel, and Dusty, though.
This is so sweet.
Apache seems to take his leadership role very seriously. At least he’s friendly with me. My daily hugs and exercise are good for us both. We’ve worked hard to get in synch and I can tell he’s in better spirits now.
I’m in charge of this crew.
I’ve tried giving him his medicine in gel caps. It takes away the smell, but then he goes and chomps on the capsule and tastes the pill. We will figure something out. Maybe I should stick them in bananas.
One happy family…err, herd.
I finally got to where I could make myself clean out the chicken coop and run. The chicken killings were hard on me. But today I murdered all the cocklebur and birdseed plants that had grown up in the main section. That was a very unpleasant task, especially since it’s gotten hot again suddenly.
Plenty of chicken space now. What I removedI cut down the ones behind the coop, too. This is the other half. I’ll tackle it this weekend so we can use both halves.
I also cleaned the evidence of poultry genocide in the coop building. I wore a mask, so I didn’t get sick like last time, and I used my horse poop shovel to clean the floor. It was really tricky maneuvering the bulky shovel but I managed.
Not perfect, but better than it was.
There is a chance new chickens will magically appear tomorrow. I will insist on keeping them penned up. I’m not sure if Bianca will join them now that she thinks she’s a horse. Even she has calm vibes now, and she used to be a jumpy hen.
I love horse food, especially Dusty’s pellets. Bianca just hangs out with her buds.
No dog news. They all seem stable. That’s better than it could be, so we will keep enjoying them.
Here’s an admission, one we probably can all relate to in our own ways. I can embrace two conflicting beliefs and feel fine about it.
I hope Carlton isn’t judging me for this.
I’ve always been quick to smugly point out cognitive dissonance in others when I spot it. It does make you feel like you’re intellectually superior, like you’d never do such a thing. But I bet you do.
I’m pretty sure Goldie IS judging me there from her recuperation spot.
Here’s my example. I’m not at all comfortable with violence. War disturbs me deeply, as does killing of other humans in other situations. I can’t fathom why my friends and neighbors want to arm themselves so they can be ready to kill at a moment’s notice. I’ve no tolerance for domestic violence. Yeah, quite the pacifist wimp, I know.
They smell something suspicious. Me.
But today I watched three professional American football games enthusiastically, especially when the Dallas Cowboys were playing. I enjoy the strategy and athleticism of the game. But there’s a lot of hitting, pushing, falling, and hurting involved. Hmm. How on earth can I love football and hate violence?
Ow. Photo from Pexels.
There’s no good answer. Part of it is the culture I was raised in, which is a subset of American culture that lacks the gun worship, but has the sports enjoyment feature. It’s just how I ended up.
I’m a mix of values and beliefs I got from my parents, schools, mentors, and books. Photo from Pexels.
I could work on being more consistent. Alternatively, I could just live with it, just like all those Christians who hate people who look or talk differently, or the law and order folks who are fine with electing a lying criminal as their leader. Our minds work in mysterious ways. Asking humans to be logical and consistent is probably asking too much.
It’s pretty common to hear people say, “I’m not religious, but I’m spiritual.” I don’t think it’s a way to avoid the hard stuff, or a convenient cop out. It’s true for many of us ruminating, pondering types who just don’t like rigid rules.
Eryngo (Eryngium hookeri) showed up here! I didn’t know it was native.
Organized religion is not my idea of a spirituality nurturing institution, probably because they’re institutions more than pathways to spiritual growth. Any group that thinks it has all the answers turns out not to have them.
Also new in the fields is Soft Goldaster (Bradburia pilosa)
So, I draw my spirituality from the life spirit around me, in the rocks, trees, wind, animals, and ineffable sparks of realities just beyond my perception. You know, like viruses used to be for humans. A tradition I once followed mentioned an interconnected web of life. My spiritual practice honors that.
Yes, I’m connected to the Prairie Boopie
I also try to express my connections to all around me in how I live my life. I get most of my ideas from teachers like the Buddha, Jesus, and Starhawk, but I’ve received guidance from many other teachers, some of whom didn’t end up with a religion purporting to represent them. Pay attention and you’ll find the wisdom to lead you to peace and clarity in all sorts of unexpected places from surprising messengers. Some may be horses or dogs.
Or cattle or birds
Speaking of them, I do find that the presence of my animal companions fills a void I experience in even wonderful periods of travel. I’m so glad to be back to feel Goldie’s giant, rough paw on my face or Mabel’s warm, curious breath from so much higher than Dusty’s even-tempered nudges.
And us. We teach you many things.
Home is where you ground yourself, and I have finally reached a point where the Hermits’ Rest centers me almost as much as my hometown in Florida did. My spiritual center needs that grounding. I spent half my life without it! It’s good to have a home again. Yes. Now my love for all existence can grow and be shared freely.
Scruffy but lovable house. The land is home!
Right now the ranch has been taken over by cicadas. I’m glad we only got one eruption here and that they won’t be here too long. Maybe I managed to miss two weeks of them by leaving! I can barely hear birds!
I didn’t say anything.
On the other hand, it’s easy to meditate around them. It’s like singing bowls, only more grating.
Today was excellent. I got lots of work done AND enjoyed Sedona. Waking up at my normal time, which is 5 am here, lets me have a lot of time left over for fun, so today I enjoyed all things rocky.
This is on resort property. It’s nice.
The fun started when we went to the condo place and got help booking some tours for tomorrow and the weekend. This way Lee won’t have to drive and can actually see the Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon. There happened to be some lovely women selling jewelry and I got some small things there.
The tree ring I’ve had for decades.
We drove around Sedona and stopped to get some views of the red rock formations all around us. The drive between Oak Canyon and Sedona is breathtaking.
They just stick up.
One place we stopped was the trail head for an equestrian trail. I hope to go hike it, since it’s probably not too steep. I was happy to find out that our National Parks pass covers the entry fees for the hikes. I’m glad I went into a hiking shop to figure that out. I also got the ideal Texas hiking pants: long but weightless. That will keep bugs off but breathe.
Tie your horses here. Horse trail
In Sedona, we had dinner (Texas time) in a place with delicious fresh food and a wonderful view. We met some other diners who it turned out lived near me when I was raising my kids. We then saw them at the nearby crystal shop. I love me a good crystal shop. No, I did not get my aura read.
View from restaurant
Finally we went to a store with real Navajo rugs, which made me swoon. The big Two Gray Hills ones were very impressive. Someday…
Lee talked to this guy so much he froze.
We drove through the fun touristy shop area, found some not-wealthy people housing, then went to the western part of Sedona where there are banks, grocery stores, and non-woo woo establishments for people who live there. Still, very pretty. Lee met someone in the bank who knew where Cameron was! This whole visit has been full of things like that.
And after I finished reading my novel (report tomorrow) I went on another bird walk. My only new bird was a Scrub Jay. Note: It sure smells good here with so many trees blooming. I took one of Lee’s allergy pills, so now I’m fine in the sinus department.
Another Say’s PhoebeGolf course water area So nicely landscaped Upright prairie coneflower Mexican Cactus Fly (Copestylum mexicanum) – really pretty iridescence in flightProbably a house finchOrnate tree lizardAnother oneCount the crowdHummingbird Hummingbird Hummingbird!
I wanted to finish this book before I went on vacation next week, so I indulged myself and spent much of the day today finishing Weyward, the debut novel by Emilia Hart (2023). My local friends who are in a book club together kept talking about “the book” and how they knew I would like it, so eventually it got passed on to me.
Of course I liked it! If a book had “Suna Shoukd Read Me” on its cover, it would be this one. It’s even set in the area from whence my ancestors came (Cumbria). And there’s a Viscount of Kendall hereditary title in the novel, which is totally made up.
But it’s the women who are linked by strong blood ties as well as ties to nature that draw you into the story. Like many novels, there are parallel plots in different timelines that eventually come together. And there’s a thread of the supernatural that’s not over the top.
Basically, I enjoyed Weyward because it felt like it could depict a distant branch of my own family. I just have to root for a bunch of dark-haired, dark-eyed, weird women who understand nature better than those around them. They are just like me, only more so.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes strong female characters, fantasy novels that aren’t over the top, and clean, consistent writing. Of course, I think a large percent of my friends have already read it!
Now I can give the book back to Ann, who can return it to her son, who kindly embossed his name on page 100, like I used to do.
