Interesting week and a new opportunity

So this week has been very interesting. It was a training week. I spent the week working with our partner agencies at Triangle United Way, sharing with them the new application process, and training them on the logic model. The logic model is something that as a program evaluator, I simply love. The beauty of my training is that I try to really make things interactive with folks and I tend to use my energetic skills more here than I do anywhere else lately. Today I work with the local Meals on Wheels staff. It will be great, I'm helping them by facilitating a staff retreat. It'll be good.

The other interesting news is that I got my first academic paper accepted at a conference. I'll be going to the Association for Research in Nonprofit and Voluntary Associations in Philadelphia in November and presenting some of the research I've been doing. It will be good. I'm excited. However, it does mean that I have to add an additional paper to the workload in the fall. Yikes!  

Oh! And lace is tough. I can't seem to get past the first row of the pattern I'm tryin before screwing it up and frogging the thing. It'll take practice and I have a new admiration for those who do lace work.  

Checking in

Gosh, it has been nearly a month since I last wrote anything in the journal. I've noticed some other folks have used this method in their blogs so here is the bullet point catch up.

• Last weekend a few of us went to a memorial service of a dear friend and founder of the SpiralHeart Witchcamp. It was a lovely memorial. 
  
• I've started planning a vacation the first two weeks of August. I'll be flying into Seattle, spending a few days there, going to Vancouver for a Psychic Skills Workshop, then spending a few days in Vancouver.
  
• The girls are good, they love sitting in the open windows.
  
• The cardinal's nest is empty. I'm not sure what happened to the baby birds.
• I finished up school for the semester and that means I'm on summer vacation.
• I've been able to sit at the spinning wheel, which hasn't occurred for nearly two months as the semester closed.
  
• Work is getting extremely busy.
  
• I started knitting my first piece of llace, a lace scarf.
  

That's a quick version.

Sitting vigil with mama cardinal

I have a Nandina bush in my front yard right outside the windows between my kitchen and dining room. OFten times the cats sit on the window ledge and watch out the window. About three weeks ago, they were transfixed on something in the bush. Usually, that means a bird is hopping around in the Nandina. However, there she was, mama cardinal sitting on her nest. Well at that point she was standing on the edge and the cats and I watched as she settled in for the evening. She has been sitting in that nest hour upon hour, since. There's only been a couple of times that I've looked out and she was gone, for food no doubt. However, I managed to glimpse daddy feeding her one afternoon. We've all been sitting in vigil, wondering what is happening. I'm hoping for the best. This morning, it was so cute, as I was backing out the driveway, daddy cardinal swooped down to the car as if to "take it on." HA!

Anyhow, the last couple of weeks it has stopped to make me think about the nurturing/birthing process. We as humans never take the time to sit in vigil as we are giving birth to creative endeavors. What would happen if we sat and nurtured the process along as the mama cardinal does. It's a lesson this mama cardinal's vigil has taught me.

A Sunday Drive

Well, I thought I'd share with folks a bit about the Dragon's Cauldron trip to Jackie's Farm, Raft Swamp Farm. It was a lovely day and it took us about 2 hours, but 6 of us piled into 2 cars and drove to Raeford, NC. We were greeted by  Jackie and Kate, who met us there. We walked the grounds past the windmill, which pumps the water they use for irrigation. They have a bit of a garden, but most of the acreage has cover crops, including Crimson Clover. Oh what a lovely site to see acres of that stuff. There were peas too. We met Jackie's husband, Louie. He demonstrated how a bee hive works and instructed us in beehiving 101, and demonstrated vermicomposting. We walked the property, including through the woods to the swamp. It is an amazing ecosystem. We looked at house plans and blessed the ground right where the kitchen is to be. One of the most astounding things was what had to be the oldest, largest tulip poplar tree I've ever seen. I've no way to describe it. The magic of farming and community building. Lovely. I hope others who read this will add comments.

Shamanism

I haven't done a lot of training in a while. With my initiation process last year and teaching local classes, I have made little time for continuing to build my own skill sets in the world of mystery. However, I had the opportunity this weekend to take the Core Shaminism workshop with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. I've completed day one and go back for day two later today. It is familiar, but a bit different. The focus yesterday was finding and working with a power animal. I've had animal spirits come in and out of my life, but the Wolverine has shown up this weekend as a powerful animal ally.