bloodteethandflame

A life in threes

And 12…as well.

It’s been 12 years now, since I had that little ceremony at the house of a person who is no longer a friend (who, perhaps, never was), and while I have inwardly debated if this day should still have meaning, I realize that in these past few years, my stubborn foolish heart keeps wanting to mark this day as a meaningful one.

Even if it is still true that I don’t sense Them as readily or as easily as I once did.

Even if I feel like a bit of a hypocrite to be in despair over the effects that I don’t experience from the work that I haven’t been doing these last five years.

As a matter of fact, in all honesty, I have been in a rather deep depression.

Still.

Looking over the trajectory of the last year (or two!) I feel as if I’ve had a lot more bad days than good days.

The Year of the Snake was difficult and even more energetically static than the year before.

I don’t think I’ve shed anything or transformed in any way.

If anything, I wonder if I’ve sunk deeper and clung harder to all of those situations that I’d wanted to release, out of fear, or perhaps, out of a misplaced need to cling to a particular sort of misery simply because it is familiar to me.

As a matter of fact, to consider that, if this is the Year of the Fire Horse – a time that calls for bringing dynamic movement into one’s life – I’ll admit that I’ve not only lost the plot, but I’ve dropped the reins of my life once again.

(And unfortunately not in that way of conscious surrender that They had asked of me so long ago.)

Fuck.

So.

Let’s just jump to the part about this morning’s pandoramancy/divination (cos even if I feel empty, I still find myself reaching out once in a while)

So I asked in my way for a message, for a sign, and then I did that simple little ritual that I still find myself doing, hoping for a moment of connection.

serotonin by girl in red came up

Ah, yes.

Well.

How incredibly, hauntingly apt.

Intrusive thoughts, indeed.

All of it.

cue the lump in my throat.

(Oh You know me…)

And then, as it goes, I asked aloud, loud enough to have startled my elderly dog, though not really caring if the bicyclists riding past thought I was just some sad, crazy person with the ear buds, suddenly blurting into their cellphone:

OK. So what is the answer to that?

Please tell me what You’d like me to know.

And then, it was Our Lady Peace, Clumsy.

Gods.

And then I cried, unsure if it was out of terror or gratitude, out of disbelief or relief that THAT was the response.

Coincidence? Apophenia?

Perhaps.

(Is the universe rarely so lazy?)

I don’t know.

Happy Anniversary, indeed.

33

“What are you afraid of losing, when nothing in the world belongs to you?”

                                     – Marcus Aurelius

~~~

February 6th was my 33rd wedding anniversary.

I’ve been having trouble putting my thoughts into words lately.

But, suffice to say,  I found the song that seems to encapsulate my relationship with V right now:

  Delicate Dark by Rose Betts.

The whole song hurts, but these lyrics hit me especially hard:

Will I break first or will you
Both of us turning into
Shadows we ought to cut loose
Delicate dark in this room
Will I break first or will you

*sigh*

Someone else’s words…

“Though I’ve always loved Wendell Berry’s poem “The Peace of Wild Things,” I often lament (at the same time as I understand) its movement away from the human, and one night after reading it I heard these words:

Poem by Joseph Fasano

I try to keep hoping.

I keep telling myself that something can be done, something must be done, and it rings and rings in my head when I cannot sleep at night…

Things can be done.

Things must be done.

It’s not going to be easy…

But we must believe that we can do these things.

And then

We must do these things.

New Year Wish

In-between

This is where we’re at -in that liminal time between Yule and New Year’s…

Because it ain’t over yet!

And here are some ideas from Patheos’ Lisa Wagoner on making the most of these liminal days between Yule and New Year’s

Enjoy!

27 November 2025

Whatever your situation, where-ever you are – I’m sending YOU  lots of love today ❤️

Zero at the bone

This morning

At 5 AM.

I was lying in bed,

inwardly debating if I should get up to go to the toilet

( as it so often happens roughly around this time each day)

or if I should just go back to sleep for another half hour

( because it didn’t feel like I had to go that badly.)

The house was dark and quiet, with no one else awake

( but me, and only partially so )

When suddenly

Alexa*

Blurts out:

Oh, hello! So glad to have you here!

At volume 8.

Entirely unprompted.

.

.

.

You’d best believe that I was lying there, chest pounding, and * fully awake*  wondering what in the hell could have brought THAT on

Only to see the green glow of the device lighting up AGAIN

Hello! So glad to have you here!

And I seriously thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

Damned creepy technology…

*shudder*

~~~

I have read so many horror stories of voice assistant tech going off unprompted at the strangest times – and yet, this is the first time that it has happened to me.

😱

*catches breath*

*unplugs all smart devices*

_______

*(that ubiquitous voice assistant technology that I begrudgingly refer to as ‘the faceless woman’ )

Here’s the 4(0)11

Here’s a little humor for your Monday…

Artwork by Nathan Pyle

20 years ago, I worked in a supermarket, and worked in the produce dept for close to a year, and I’m not gonna lie — of all the PLU (Price Look Up) codes I typed in daily/endlessly – that 4011 PLU for bananas is the only one I’ve never forgotten 😆

Apocalyptic

So I’ve heard it said that the world is ending…

Either *sometime* today (9/23) or sometime tomorrow (9/24)

[Or perhaps, even the day after that  on 9/25  — which also strikes me as totally appropriate as a fan of Douglas Adams, since 9/25 is a Thursday ]

But considering the way that things have been going in the United States and the world at large  — resulting from the various forms of political, environmental, and cultural chaos —

I will admit that I personally would look forward to the world ending for the following reasons:

  • My life hasn’t been going all that great – thanks to some increasingly debilitating medical issues affecting my physical, mental, and emotional health
  • Which, in turn, has led to me experiencing some particularly emotionally exhausting relationship issues (which some psychologists claim are disturbingly common for married women experiencing physically debilitating medical issues)
  • And hey, isn’t all this what is supposed to happen at the Autumn Equinox? How appropriate would that be if the whole world ended at the exact cosmic point in the year when one is spiritually tasked with letting go of all spiritual and communal detritus that limits individual and community growth to make space for a world that is new and better?
  • However, the ironic icing on this proverbial cake is that I look forward to this apocalypse simply because I’m scheduled to serve jury duty on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025, at 7:30 AM.

Before anyone comes for me, while I’ve long felt that jury duty is an important civic duty that I have always felt honored to perform as a citizen of a free and just society…

I hate to say that for the first time ever, I don’t want to serve jury duty simply because I am fscking tired *

I am physically, mentally, and emotionally overwhelmed by those first two stated reasons (three if you count the impact of overall US/World chaos that has been having on *everyone* right now)…and honestly?

Yes, I am exhausted in mind, body, and spirit.

(As is everyone else, obviously (*gestures at well, all of the world right now*))

So, all I’m saying is, maybe we should embrace this one.

Because it certainly feels due.

~~~

But I know that ultimately, it won’t, as tongue firmly planted in cheek, I present you with this little truth…

Oh, it’s definitely been more than 5 times for me – I was born in the 70s 🫩

So, yeah, folks, as a tired, frustrated, spent nearly 55-year-old human being living in this post-capitalistic hellscape…

I say

Bring

It

On.

So, to all of those armchair prophets and evangelical preachers: I can’t be the only one asking you to STOP with the predictions and the promises!

As well, though I know I’m at the risk of being slapped upside the head, I have a request for my sweetest friend and most patient teacher

Please please…End it already, won’t you?

Because I feel ready

#readyforRagnarok

_____

*Not to mention that for some bizarre reason, I have been summoned for jury duty (in Florida) every freaking year for the past five years.  (All civil/local cases) Though, this time is the second time I’ve been called this year because this past March was a civil case (which was cancelled at the last minute) but I have been selected to serve on a federal jury on 9/24 — but if I am selected, I can’t be summoned again for two years, thankfully. So, while I’m not tired of serving, I am sick of being summoned so often 😒

Autumn Equinox

Same, same…