HAPPY SOLSTICE!

Okay...not quite, but almost :)

After a bit of a trek through the back woods of Union Maine we found a tree that would "due." The sun was setting and he needed a tree.

Over streams,

down a couple of fairly steep embankments

and through some underbrush that had Finn second guessing whether or not it was doable he looked up and thought...that looks pretty good. Soooo, he sawed, and sawed and sawed I quietly wondered how the hell we would get that HUGE tree from the spot where it now lay back over the stream, up the embankment (did I mention they were snow covered??) and over all the tangled underbrush. The funny thing is, he didn't even think twice. Finn, I am sure, thought it a great adventure. I carried the saw.

The tree made it back, missing a couple more branches (which it really couldn't afford to lose) and was erected in the living room. I think it was ten feet tall. I think. I wish I had a picture to show you all. Maybe I will still take one. We decorated it with lights, antique ornaments, and oh, yeah, we thought it would be a great idea to string popcorn and cranberries. Wow, is that a project. Not quite as fun as it sounds and not one to be started at six in the evening when you really just wanted the tree decorated!

Anyway, it really did put me in the spirit of the holiday with the fire, the smell of pine, and yes, we even listened to Christmas songs (I can hear some of you groan...) it felt really nice sitting on the couch admiring the very tall, quite branchless masterpiece that we had just finished.

Happy Holidays and Happy Solstice hope everyone stays warm and cozy and celebrates with those you love!!

thoughts from 3 a.m.

It's been an hour and a half and I am still awake...so I rolled out of my cozy bed to find myself here, on my couch, wrapped in a down comforter thinking about my day. My yoga teacher training ended today (well, yesterday now). Yup, we graduated. Maybe that's why I can't sleep. Too much to think about. Boy I want to call Anna right now. Probably not up. It feels a bit like those early summer grey days in my brain right now, possibly because it is four in the morning my eyes are only half open but with the haze there is a stillness that feels just right. There is a warm bed waiting for me, I think I will crawl back in.

early morning dreams....

this makes me think of the wee hours of the morning, curled up in the middle of the bed with the smell of coffee creeping into the bedroom.

sohum

With a little help from:

the oldest sewing machine I have ever used...1960 something?? (seriously).. and successfully I might add.

and:

yup....that's him

we finished:

this afternoon.

Sohum (meaning I am that I am), written in Sanskrit is one of a piece of eight that will be attached together as a prayer flag for our teachers at Shiva Shakti as a graduation gift for all of their love, support and knowledge. That's right.... it is finally time to graduate this weekend though all of a sudden I oddly feel as though I am not ready and this magic rug will be swiftly pulled out from underneath me. This training has been more enlightening and life altering than anything I have ever experienced or ever could have imagined and it has created such a solid foundation for so much future growth. As I sit and study for my final, I know this is only the beginning.

Yoga is everlasting and unbound by any rules, it is forever flowing within just waiting to be awakened, stimulated and practiced eternally! Oh it is limitless and exhilarating, inspiring and hopeful. There are four words that sum up my ENTIRE experience:

Sohum

and

Jai Ma!