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I've been quiet for some time now recovering from a hip replacement last July and the second replacement (other hip) in February. You would think that down time would have provided all of the time needed to write, but foggy mind doesn't make for clarity. Now, it's time to write!

I've been spending time of late in trying to think of ways to help during this COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary isolation that has resulted to keep people virus free or at the least minimize transmission and exposure. Our Tradition has postponed or cancelled large gatherings. Our coven has cancelled open events. I have cancelled workshops. And, we are all navigating new ways to remain in touch. So, I wanted to use this post to offer some suggestions: 

It's the little shadows that linger out of view, the waking me up at 3am, the subtle touches in the middle of the night to let me know that you are there, but invisible.

I know you are contacting me to let me know you are there.  I know you are bringing me information about someone that I do not want to hear.  But you don't tell me.  I see you as you wear a hat, sometimes you even look like Odin and I hear the call of his ravens, sometimes like Jesus, sometimes just a white feathery being, and sometimes as a small dark spot or shadow lurking outside of my field of vision.  But you are always the same.  I don't understand why you take all these shapes, but I know it's you down deep within.

My friend’s mother died this past spring.

The stroke happened suddenly and her passing came a few weeks later.  Despite a lot of preparation for a worst-case scenario, the death hit the family hard.  My friend had a difficult relationship with her mother (something many of us can relate to, I’m sure) and her ambivalent thoughts and emotions have been complicating an already difficult grieving process.

My friend announced her mother’s illness to our group, but she kept the news of her mother’s passing to herself.  She had been out of town a lot to be with family, and it was only recently that I saw my friend since her family tragedy.