Ostara - Vernal Equinox

I started this blog with the intention of posting something every day, no matter how trivial. It is an exercise in discipline...unfortunately, I've never been one for discipline. 

In any case, the first full day of Spring has arrived, and what a lovely morning it is. This, after six weeks of strangely spring-like weather through February and the first part of March, and then it turned cold and snowed for two days. Gotta love it. 

Still, this being Colorado, the snow flurries yesterday died off mid-morning and even the frost had melted from the streets and cars by 10 am. Soon enough the sun was out and it became a beautiful sunny day, if a bit colder than it's been. Nevertheless it was a fine day and inspired Round One of Spring Cleaning. Clearing out the dust of winter, changing out snow-themed decorations for flowers and greens, is one of my favorite tasks. I know... kind of sad that I enjoy cleaning as much as I do. I think it's less the activity than the sense of accomplishment when it's done. 

Also, a clean house. I'm not as OCD as my mother was, but I definitely have a touch of it. 

http://www.justshortofcrazy.com/natural-dyed-easter-eggs/

At the end of the day I decided to color some eggs. I have always loved this tradition and a few years ago, I found some great ideas for naturally colored eggs, rather than those Paas kits we used when I was growing up. Turns out all you need is a cup of a coloring agent and a tablespoon of vinegar. I took some of my ideas from the gal at left (see caption for link to page), and also made up a great pink color with the last of the red curry I brought back from Tanzania a decade ago. I'm still waiting for the blueberry to get a little deeper. 

Trick if you use this method: do not do as the author did in her illustrative pictures, and put your eggs in mason jars. I tried that with two of my batches (blueberry and coffee) and they became mottled on one side. I'm not positive it was the crowding in the mason jar that did it, but I've done this before, always in bowls, and it never happened before. So I will draw the connection there. Use bowls. 

Eggs are of course a prime sign of fertility, birth, beginnings. Coloring them is an ancient tradition. I'm not sure where it originated, but it certainly does evoke the new color and growth that marks this season.  The Equinox marks the day when the hours of daylight and night are equal, the world in balance. From here the days become longer, stretching into the glorious long days that are summer. It's a time to celebrate the awakening of the Earth. Already trees are in bud (or bloom!), flowers are poking their heads above ground, grass is greening, and I even found a few new dandelions in my yard last week. 

Note: leave your dandelions for a while. They are among the first new blooms for bees. The greens are edible (if a bit bitter), and you can make oil and a soothing salve from the flowers. I made one last year that was a bit too greasy for my liking, and will look for a different recipe this year. I'll share it if I find a good one!

It's a funny thing that all my life, I have loved Autumn the best of all the seasons, but in recent years it's Spring that has brought me the most joy. Perhaps it's because Winter can be so long and cold and difficult to get around that the warming of the land is more inspiring than it was in my youth. Perhaps it's because the closer I get to death myself, the more I appreciate the notion of returning life over impending death. 

In any case, Spring is here, and it is beautiful, and it needs to be celebrated as a time of rebirth and new beginnings. In the Wiccan tradition this holiday is called Ostara, and there will be posted in coming days a thousand memes about Ishtar being the original Easter and how that Christian holiday is really a pagan holiday, but I don't want to get into all that. Besides, the Christian holiday is pretty clearly aligned with the Jewish feast of Passover, which is when Jesus' crucifixion is said to have happened. The theme of 'rebirth' is pretty clear in both cases. 

There are a number of ways to mark the day. I have been a little under the weather in recent days, so I slept too late to go watch the sunrise at the park of standing stones, but I'll go down for the sunrise tonight. Decorating the house with flowers and fresh greens is always a positive way to mark the change. If you have a yard, now is the time to clear out dead leaves and branches and think about what you'll do with the garden this year. 

If you want to do a little magic, a simple rite would be to take a white egg and write your wishes for the coming year on it, in the color that reflects your desire. Bury it in the garden, plant a flower above it, and watch it grow. 

Hail Aurora

Her rosy-fingered dawn was particularly spectacular this morning. I pulled this from the Internet because I don't have much luck capturing these shots, so imagine a scene very much like this only with a couple of houses in the foreground instead of the mountains. The colors are much the same.

I find it interesting that I live in Aurora, a city named after the old Greek goddess of the dawn (and, of course, of spectacular light shows at the poles). A few years ago, they erected a statue of the goddess on a pillar at the top of a specially created hill, just off of I-225 at the entrance to the Aurora Mall (and the Aurora Town Center, which is on the other side of the street). Sadly, this is the only image I can find of it, but there she is, greeting all who enter Aurora. From I-225 and Alameda. Heading eastbound.

There was, predictably, some controversy when this mound and statue were erected. A few folks grumbling about putting up the symbol of a pagan goddess. Not much came of it, though, and apparently the majority decided that the city being named after her and all, it wasn't wholly inappropriate to honor her in this way.

(In all reality, I'm guessing someone just thought it would be a cool statue and didn't put much thought of goddesses into it at all. Most monotheistic believers seem to think the pagan gods are not real.)

In any case, it's interesting that I live in a city named for a pagan goddess, and one who evokes my favorite time of the day as well. In recent years I've realized that everything in my life has culminated in putting me exactly where I need to be. Maybe it's a symbolic stretch, but hear me out.

My house is on Flanders street and was previously owned by a couple named Bender. My favorite cartoons are The Simpsons and Futurama.

A block from this house is Sunrise Park. The park is connected to an elementary school and has a large open field behind it where a prairie dog colony makes its home. At the top of the hill, there's a platform marking the solstices and equinoxes. This is where I watch the sunrise on the solstices, and the sunsets at the equinoxes. (And it's not perfectly aligned, no, but the fact that it's there makes me think there was a reason we looked at 40-something houses before choosing this one.)

I am passionate about the environment and the well-being of the Earth, obviously. I landed a job with the department of health and environment. The environmental side of the department, where I work, consists of the Air Pollution, Water Quality, and Hazardous Materials divisions. I'm with Haz, protectors of Earth. I am a Fire sign - Sagittarius.

It's all coming together. Haha!

Maybe it's all coincidence, but somehow I don't think so. For the first time in my life I feel I am where I need to be. Perhaps it's just a fantastic side effect of entering my 40s and realizing that it's okay to like myself as I am, to actually enjoy my accomplishments and feel satisfied with today while striving for more, to own everything about who I am and what I believe and what I want. Perhaps this really is just something that comes with age, along with the realization that you don't need to care what others think of you too much. Because the truth is, most people aren't thinking of you. What's the joke? "Dance like nobody's watching... because they aren't... they're checking their phones."

I had a get-together yesterday for the Broncos game (victory! yay!) and would like to thank everyone who came over to hang out with an introvert who seldom wants company but feels it very keenly when she asks for it and people say "not now." So, a big thank you to my friends, who accept me as I am, and validate this crazy notion that maybe we are all okay just as we are.