SECTION II - FAMILY ISSUES
4. Promoting Pagan Family Values - Selene SilverWind
5. Pagan Parenting - WindSeeker
Promoting Pagan Family Values - Litha
By Selene Silverwind
Slvrwind@aol.com
Summer has arrived at long last. Through April showers and June
gloom we have waited, looking forward to the hot days of the
season ahead. Most children are about to be released from school
for the next three months and eagerly await their freedom. This
is a busy period of family vacations, outdoor parties, and summer
fun. And it is the perfect time to promote a few Pagan family
values.
Crafts are a favorite activity for young children restlessly
roaming through the house looking for something to do once their
abundant free time has become tedious. Before they have a chance
to perch themselves in front of the TV and Playstation for the
duration of the summer, distract them with the opportunity to
make sand candles. No beach required. But if the beach is
available, by all means make this activity part of a day trip.
See the next article for detailed instructions on the sand candle
creation process. While many children are out of school for the
summer, some of them will be participating in day care or summer
camp programs that welcome participation from parents. Gather
poster paints, cheap brushes, glitter, sparkly beads, feathers,
glue, and thick paper plates for sun faces. The children will
enjoy a chance to exercise their creative muscles as they paint
and decorate the plates after their image of what the face of the
sun would look like if it had one. While they wait for the plates
to dry, serve lemonade and yellow cupcakes with orange frosting
for a snack and explain what the Summer Solstice is. Once the
plates are no longer tacky to the touch, add hangers to the back
by stapling a length of string on opposite edges of the plate,
leaving enough slack to allow the face to be suspended by a
single thumbtack. Position the staple so two inches of string lie
below it and tie the excess onto the string above the staple to
keep the string secure. Another option is to use packing tape to
attach a long, thin dowel or unsharpened pencil to the back of
the plate to create a stand for garden planting.
This is the perfect time to flaunt the beautiful pay off of your
hard labor in your garden with a traditional garden party. Invite
neighborhood families and other friends to dress up in their
prettiest summer frocks and come for an afternoon frolic with
iced tea, lemonade, cucumber sandwiches, and brownies. Any
neighborhood children who have made sun faces should bring them
and put on a sun parade or dance for the gathered adults. The
summer is a time for fun and relaxation, so make the most of it
before it fades once more into winter.
Making Sand Candles
By Karyn Finnell
Fill a bucket with damp sand or, if at the beach, dig a hole in
the sand until you reach sand that is damp enough so that in no
longer caves in. Poke a few holes in the sand with a stick (3 for
a cauldron style base or 4, one in each corner). These will
become the "legs" of the candle. Wrap a wick around a
stick and dangle the wick into the hole with the stick resting on
the outside of the hole.
Carefully melt the wax over a fire or stove using a double
boiler. An old coffee can in a pot of water serves well as a
double boiler and it saves your good pans from becoming ruined
and covered with wax. You can color the wax with crayons. Peel
the paper completely off the crayon and gently drop it into the
melted wax. The more crayon you put in the wax the darker the
color will become. Stir gently to make sure the color is well
blended in the wax.
Once the wax is melted and the crayon is blended, slowly, so as
not to cave in the sand, pour the wax into your sand hole. Let
the wax completely harden in the sand. When the wax is fully
hardened, dig around the candle and ease it out of the bucket or
ground. Lightly dust off excess loose sand, leaving the outer
part of the wax covered with sand. If you made legs on your
candle it should stand on its own. Other shapes can be made with
a child's hand or foot pressed into the sand, or any other object
that makes an interesting indentation. For more advanced
candle-making, you can press sea shells into the sides of your
sand hole before you pour the wax in. They will stick to the wax
as it hardens.
Warning: when the wax melts it is VERY VERY hot. Never leave it
unattended on a fire or stovetop. Wax also has a tendency to
splatter, much like grease, so be careful. You do not have to
bring the wax to a rolling boil in order to get it to melt. Take
your time and be careful. You will have much more fun if you are
safe.
PAGAN PARENTING
by WindSeeker
Summer Solstice, Litha, Midsummer, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain:
-longest day of the year, and the shortest night; when the sun
reaches his apex in the sky, and the days will now grow shorter
as the light begins to wane.
*********
To Celebrate the Summer Solstice with your young ones, try this;
Earth Puppets
Materials:
Use natural items found in the yard, tape, and glue.
The easiest kind of puppets can be made from a twig. Select a
twig that
forks. You now have 2 arms and a handle to hold the puppet with.
Find a fallen flower, and tape the stem to the handle for the
head. You can also tape the stem of a fallen leaf to the handle
for the head. For clothing, wrap a leaf around the handle, and
your puppet has natural summer wear.
Another puppet can be made with a pine cone. Glue the pine cone
to the
forked twig, for the head. Dried and fresh grass make loads of
hair styles, beards, and mustaches. Use seeds or small rocks for
eyes, nose, and mouth. Make clothing out of leaves and bonnets
out of flower petals or acorn caps.
Use a large box or table for the stage, and enjoy the show.
Treasure Boxes
Materials:
Sturdy cardboard box, natural items for decoration, white glue,
med-size paint brush.
This little box is for the youngster to collect
"treasured" memories from summer. Start with a large
shoe box and lid. Let the child collect some items from the yard,
the park, and/or the beach. Glue flat items to the box, and place
the non-flat items inside. To give the box a more durable finish,
brush on a coat of white glue diluted with water. Encourage the
child to tell stories of where the different items came from, or
make up stories about the contents.
Wheelbarrow Planter
Materials:
1 plastic detergent scoop, 2 large brightly colored buttons,
white
glue, 1 cup potting soil, seeds.
Take the plastic detergent scoop and poke a couple of small holes
in
the bottom (adults only!) with a nail or a needle. Let each child
pick out two brightly colored buttons for the wheels. Glue wheels
onto the sides of the scoop so that it sits at an angle. Once the
glue has dried, let the child pour 1/2 cup of potting soil in the
scoop, place in a couple of seeds around the sides of the scoop,
and pour in the rest of the soil. Slowly add water to the soil
until soaked through. Place on small dish in sunny spot. Watch
the new life grow from the seeds and spring forth from the soil
just as life springs forth from the Goddess.
Litha Spiral Candles
Materials:
Decorating wax strips or preprinted wax logs, plain ball or short
pillar candle(s), craft or butter knife.
Have your child choose a couple of colored wax strip
combinations. Cut
each strip into 2 pieces 2 3/4" long and on piece that is
2" long. Lay a short length of one color over a longer
length of another color and roll them into a tight spiral log,
1/2" in diameter by 11/2" long. When you've got eight
logs use the knife (adults or older children) to cut each log
into as many slices as you can. Firmly press the wax slices all
around the outside of the candle, starting at the base and
working up. Continue placing the slices as close together as
possible until the whole candle is covered.
*********
Stories
Here is a site that has lots of stories,
http://www.mylittlecorner.com/wicca/topic8.html
which include such titles as:
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Gaia
The Green Lady
The Princess and The Golden Shoes
The Maiden Fair and the Fountain Fairy
*********
Pagan books for kids and families
http://members.aol.com/harmnone/page2/index.htm
*********
Fun Summertime Recipes!
Peppermint Ice Cream
3 lb. coffee can with plastic cover
1 lb. coffee can with plastic cover
Rock salt
Crushed ice
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
Red food coloring
Crushed peppermint stick (about 3 T.)
Place 1 lb. can in center of 3 lb can. Fill 1 lb. can with ice
cream ingredients. Layer crushed ice and rock salt around the
small 1 lb. can. Cover both with their plastic lids. Sit in a
circle on floor and roll the can back and forth for about 15
minutes.
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Apple Volcanoes
-Apple
-peanut butter
-raisins
-knife
-teaspoon.
Cut off top of apple. Using spoon, scoop out core of apple. You
and child: Fill apple with peanut butter and top with raisins.
Note: If this is to be eaten later, brush apple edges with lemon
juice to prevent browning and wrap in foil.
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Dirt in a Cup
-Chocolate pudding
-Oreo cookie crumbs
-Gummy worms
Glasses (clear plastic are best)
Prepare chocolate pudding mix as instructed on package. Fill
glasses 3/4 full of pudding. Sprinkle Oreo crumbs on pudding.
Stick gummy worms in crumbs. Voila!! Instant cup of dirt with
worms to boot!
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Funky Fruits
What you need:
-12 pieces small fruits
-whipped cream
-water, enough to cover fruits
-1/2 cup sugar
-pot
-spoon
-blender
Put all fruits into pot & cover with water. Cook on low heat.
Let cook for 45 to 1 hour. When it's finished cooking, add sugar.
Cool until @ room temperature. Blend in blender until no lumps
remain. Serve topped with whipped cream. Serves 15.
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Mango Madness
What you need:
-1 cup milk
-1 medium mango, peeled & cut
-3 teaspoons honey OR sugar
-lots of ice cubes OR a few ice cubes & 1 scoop vanilla ice
cream
Put all ingredients in blender. Blend on high until no lumps
remain. Enjoy!
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Outrageous Orange
What you need:
-2 cups o.j.
-3 tablespoons powdered milk
-1 tablespoon corn syrup
-1 tablespoon sugar
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-3/4 cups crushed ice
Mix all ingredients in blender. Serve.
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Banana Bonanza
What you need:
-1 ripe banana
-1/2 cup chopped fresh fruit OR drained canned fruit
-1 cup fruit juice
-1 cup flavored yogurt
-dash of nutmeg (optional)
Cut banana into chunks. Place fruit, yogurt, & juice into
blender. Blend for 5 seconds. If still chunky, blend for an
additional 5 seconds. If not, pour into 2 glasses & top with
a dash of nutmeg.
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Camping Recipes:
Hamburger on a Stick
-1 1/2 pounds ground beef
-1 egg
-1/4 cup bread crumbs
Mix the ground beef, egg and bread crumbs together. Take a small
amount of the mixture and wrap it around the end of a long stick
that has been cleaned. This works best if the meat is about the
size of a regular hot dog. Roast over the fire until the meat is
done. Serve on a hot dog bun
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The following recipe is one my oldest daughter taught me how to
do: her class did a bunch at school one day. The only difference
is, that they used the JUMBO chocolate chips and melted in the
oven.
Banana Boats
-6 bananas, unpeeled
-chocolate bars, broken in pieces
-1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows peanut butter, (optional)
-heavy duty foil
With a sharp knife, cut a slit down the length of the banana,
being careful not to cut all of the way through. Open up the slit
a little and stuff with chocolate pieces and marshmallows (and
peanut butter if you'd like). Wrap the banana in foil and place
it on your campfire coals. Watch closely and check often. Banana
boats are done when chocolate and marshmallows are melted. Unwrap
and dig in!
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Eggs in a Nest
-1 Servings
-1 piece of bread
-1 egg
-salt and pepper
-butter
-Chopped green onions(optional)
-a circle shaped cookie cutter
First butter both sides of bread and place it in a fryingpan then
take the cookie cutter and cut a small circle in the center of
the bread.Next crack the egg into the center. Fry on both sides
until egg is done and the bread is browned to your liking.Finally
sprinkle the green onions and the seasonings of your choice on
top and enjoy.
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Walking Salad
-One apple
-Peanut Butter
-Raisins
-Peanuts
-Chocolate Bits
Remove the core from the apple. Stuff with peanut butter and any
of the ingredients listed above. Wrap in plastic wrap or ziploc
bag. Makes a great hiking snack.
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Herb Recipes.. Use your freshly grown herbs:
Info and Edible Flowers recipes:
http://homecooking.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa052598.htm
*********
LAVENDER AS FOOD (Info and Recipes)
http://www.lavenderfarms.com/food.htm
*********
Lemon Balm Lemonade
http://www.creativeseasoning.com/Recipes/FruitDrinks.htm
Serves: 6 Preparation Time: 15 minutes. This is an
easy-to-prepare summer drink. The lemon balm and the lemon juice
are excellent complements to each other.
7 cups (1.65 liters) water
1 cup (236 ml) lemon juice 1 cup (500 g) sugar
¾ cup (7 g) fresh, minced lemon balm
Combine water, lemon juice, sugar, and minced lemon balm. Allow
to chill and steep for at least two hours or overnight. Just
before serving, strain out the lemon balm leaves. Serve over ice
with a whole lemon balm leaf in each glass.
Note: You can substitute pre-mixed lemonade for the water, lemon
juice, and sugar.
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*********
One of my favorite places in the summertime is being in the
woods, here are some fun things to do with your kids in the
woods.
Summertime Projects
from FamilyFun Magazine
WEB OF LIFE
PROJECT: Playing a game that explores the roles of plants and
animals in the forest.
GOAL: To help kids understand the web of forest life.
AGES: 5 to 12.
MATERIALS
Ball of string or yarn
Scissors or jackknife
Plain white stickers
Pen
When you ask kids what a forest is, the usual answer is "a
place with lots of trees." This activity, adapted from
Joseph Cornell's SHARING NATURE WITH CHILDREN, is designed to
show a child how trees work together with other plants and
animals to create an interdependent ecosystem. It works best with
a group of children, but it can be played with as few as three.
Before you leave for the woods, pack up a ball of string,
scissors, stickers and a pen. At an opportune moment during your
forest visit, propose that you all play a game. Have the children
stand in a circle, and begin by asking them to name a tree that
grows in the forest. Give the end of the string to the first
child who speaks up. Ask the kids to name an animal that depends
on that tree for food or shelter. Now hand the ball of string to
the child who suggests an answer, thus creating the first strand
of your web of life. Then, see if anyone can name an animal or
plant that depends on the first animal, and pass the ball
of string to the child who answers. Continue until each child has
answered a question and is holding part of the web of string,
thereby representing the plant or creature that he or she named.
To help kids realize how forest inhabitants are interconnected,
ask them to imagine that a fire has wiped out all the trees in
this particular forest. Have the child representing the tree tug
on his end of the string and tell each child who feels a tug to
give a tug in turn. Very quickly, each child in the web should
feel the impact of the loss of the tree.
To make the web more intricate (and the game more interesting,
especially if you are playing with only a few kids), let each
child stand for two different members of the web. As the kids
suggest ideas, write the names of the animals or plants on the
stickers you brought along, and place one sticker on each of the
children's hands.
As you play several rounds (roll up the string between each
round), encourage the children to entertain more complex
connections. Try to get them to build a web that spans the
different layers of a forest. (See the Forest Glossary.) For
instance, the raccoon lives in the canopy--but feeds on frogs and
mice that live in the field layer. Mice live on insects, and
insects feed on the rotting wood, new leaves, and fungi of the
litter and soil layers. These, in turn, provide nutrients for the
trees, which provide shelter for squirrels -- and so the cycle
goes.
A COMPETITIVE GAME
Trees and plants must compete for the things they need to
survive: sunlight, water and nutrients. To play a game that
demonstrates this to kids, you need paper plates (one per
player), at least 18 slips of colored paper (six each of blue,
yellow and brown), and at least three players, ages five and up.
Scatter the paper plates on the ground roughly 3 feet apart and
have each child stand on a plate. The plate then becomes her
"roots," and she becomes a tree firmly rooted to that
spot. Explain that the slips of colored paper are natural
resources: blue slips are water, yellow are sunlight and brown
are nutrients. Scatter the slips on the ground evenly around the
kids, then yell "Go!" The children must snatch up as
many slips as they can--without moving from their plates. When
they are done scrambling, ask if they have one of each of the
resources necessary for survival. Talk about where trees and
plants find the resources they need. What might prevent them from
getting what they need?
----------
ADOPT A TREE
PROJECT: Getting to know a special tree
GOAL: To use all of the senses in exploring and observing a tree
AGES: 6 and up
Kids love blindfold games, and this one is no exception. In an
area of the woods with a fair number of trees and not too much
underbrush, blindfold your child and spin her around. Taking a
circuitous route, walk her to a tree and place her in front of
it. Encourage her to feel the texture and irregularities of its
bark and to rub her cheek against it. Invite her to smell the
tree and to walk slowly around it, feeling with an outstretched
hand for trees or plants growing close by. If there are special
features of the tree that she is missing, guide her toward them.
Be sure she wraps her arms as far around the trunk as she can to
get an idea of its size. When she is done exploring, lead her
away from the tree by a roundabout path and remove the blindfold.
Then, challenge her to find "her" tree. After a few
false starts, my daughters each zeroed in on their trees and
repeated all the touching, smelling and hugging as they verified
that they had found their arboreal friends.
HOW TALL IS YOUR TREE?
To determine how tall your tree is, teach your children
naturalist Edward Duensing's "thumb-jumping" trick. If
you know your child's approximate height, you need only a
straight stick. Have your child stand up against the tree. Step
back so you can see the entire tree from top to bottom. Holding
the stick vertically and at arm's length, line up the top of the
stick with the top of your child's head. Place your thumb at the
spot on the stick that lines up with your child's feet. This is
your unit of measure. Now "jump" the stick up, so your
thumb is lined up with the top of your child's head. Make a
mental note of where the top of the stick lines up against the
tree, then jump the stick again, so your thumb lines up with that
new spot. Continue jumping until you reach the top of the tree.
Multiply the number of jumps by the height of your child, and you
will have the height of the tree. When we measured my daughter
Rachel's tree, we had to "jump" her height 15 1/2
times. She is about 4 feet tall, so we figured her sugar pine was
62 feet tall. Teaching this trick may slow down your hike as the
kids measure everything in sight, but it gives them great applied
practice in multiplication.
HOW OLD IS YOUR TREE?
A tree's yearly growth depends on natural variables, such as
water, sunlight, nutrients and temperature. To determine
approximately how old your tree is--without cutting it down to
count the growth rings--take a tape measure and measure its girth
about 3 feet above the ground. Each circumference inch equals
approximately one year of age.
If you have adopted a pine tree, there is another way to
determine its age. As Edward Duensing explains in TALKING TO
FIREFLIES, SHRINKING THE MOON, pine trees and some other
evergreens grow in layers. Each year, a new set of buds grows
into branches that look like the spokes of a wheel with the trunk
as the hub. If your child can see the top of her tree, she can
count the layers of branches down from the top to see how tall
the tree was when she was born. To determine the tree's age, she
can count all the layers she can distinguish, then look for scars
left from low branches that have broken off. Finally, add four
years for the period when the tree was a sapling. Remember, this
trick doesn't work for all evergreens: Be sure your tree has that
layered look before you start.
HEAR A TREE'S HEARTBEAT
For the early spring, when the sap runs, here is another
revelation from Joseph Cornell, author of SHARING NATURE WITH
CHILDREN: If you listen carefully with a stethoscope, you can
hear the "heartbeat" of a tree. Find a thin-barked tree
more than 6 inches in diameter and place your stethoscope against
its trunk. Be very quiet. Move the stethoscope around until you
can hear the crackling, gurgling sound of sap flowing up to the
branches.
SHELL PAINTING
MATERIALS
-Seashells (chalkier, white shells work best)
-Jar of freshwater (for rinsing shells and mixing paint)
-Watercolor or acrylic paints and brushes
With rounded frames and smooth, chalklike surfaces that soak up
paint, seashells make good palm-size canvases for your children's
seascapes. To start, rinse a few shells with freshwater and let
them dry in the sun. Your child can paint pictures on the inside
of each shell, letting each color dry before adding the next for
a crisp picture or letting the colors blend for an abstract
splash of color. Set out in the sun until dry.
For more ideas like this, go to Family.com. They are packed full
of ideas from Vacation to recipes!
*********
Some Crafty ideas:
OCEAN IN A JAR
MATERIALS:
-Baby Food Jars
-Hot Glue
-Blue food coloring
-Vegetable Oil
-Seashells and anything else you can find
INSTRUCTIONS:
Combine a few seashells, some blue food coloring, a little veg
oil in a
babyfood jar with water. Seal the jar with hot glue The kids
shake it to mix the oil and water and then watch what happens
*********
Instructions for making a corn husk mother are here:
http://paganism.com/ag/crafts/huskma.html
This may be another idea to do on the Summer Solstice.
*********
Gardening for Kids:
http://www.icangarden.com/kidz.htm
*********
Curious as to what the Staff here at C&B do in the summer?
Well, Ladytoad told me this is what she does:
Summer here in Charleston means a constant battle with the
intense subtropical heat and humidity, so much of my summer is
spent in the hours AFTER sundown walking the beach, sitting on a
pier with the moon shining down on dark waters and listening to
the dolphins blowing air as they rise out of the water,
meditating, meeting with friends in outdoor restaurants and
chatting while sea breezes rattle in the palmettos, listening to
frog choruses and night-singing mockingbirds. In summer I become
a creature of the night.
ladytoad
Summer for Anni ....
Sounds!
The sounds of the neighborhood as the windows are raised for the
season (we do not air condition ... windows are open all season).
Cars ... trains ... children playing ... revving of car engines
... boom boxes ... lawn mowers ... chain saws ... ice cream
trucks ... garbage trucks ... barking dogs ... radios ... TV's
... water sprinklers ... sirens ... church bells ... birds ...
the snapping of the flag on the pole ... wind chimes ...
automobile horns and car alarms ... the clicking of the dogs'
paws across the deck.
And as the sun sets ... the absence of sound. Then cricket and
frog duets late into the night.
In the Winter the sounds of the neighborhood are muffled by the
closed windows. In the Summer all one has to do at any time is
close your eyes and "feel" a part of the larger
organism of humanity.
One of the advantages of being an Urban Pagan ... listening to
the sounds of connectedness!
Anni
Luna shared this:
During the summer I spend as much time as I can at Zipple Bay
State Park on the shore of Lake O' the Woods. I pack a lunch and
jug of the cool spring water our little town is blessed to have
as it's source of water, and head out for the afternoon to walk
along the sandy beach between forest and lake. I have a favorite
place, a big rock on the beach. When I go there I feel especially
close to the Mother. I go there to just dream or when I'm feeling
great joy, when I feel pain, anytime I need to spend some time in
thought, prayer and
meditation. I often cast a circle during my time there and I
always returned with a sense of balance. There I am surrounded by
the elements at once. I am grounded, uplifted, renewed, and
empowered by: the rock upon which I sit, the ever present wind
off the big lake, the lake itself, and the bright sun warming my
back. What a blessing this place has been in my life!
Luna
and BabooKyra,
I teach "Earth Journeys" at a very wealthy, white bread
(no, make that
gourmet whole grain bread) childrens' camp for 9 weeks.
The fact that they keep asking me back is a total mystery to me.
This will be my fifth year there.
I have 500 kids in two hours blocks of 25 kids each.
We hike in the woods where we identify plants and animals and
learn about their habits and properties; I tell them stories
about Artemis and Orion and Baba Yaga; Little Jumping Mouse and
How Squirrel Rescued Father Sun. We sing icky songs about guts
and worms. We visit a wild beehive and learn to hum to the bees
so they won't get scared and sting us.
We chant, drum, make medicine rattles and shields; we gather
leaves and flowers and make masks and dream pillows; we build
volcanoes out of dirt, decorate them with branches, stones and
flowers, and make them erupt with vinegar and baking soda; and we
blow bubbles of all sizes with wire hangers, toilet paper rolls,
string and our hands.
We take bags of powdered sugar into the woods and draw huge
labyrinths in the clearings. We walk through them, and then the
kids run, jump, and skip all over them. We erase them when we
leave.
I take them to a small waterfall with a pool under it, and they
wade in up to their waists. They get to experience wild water,
with living things swimming in it and living in the mud below. We
hike to a cattail forest, and powder ourselves gold with cattail
pollen.
I am allow total autonomy, and the only time I've gotten negative
feedback is when I let the kids paint themselves with marking
pens, and some of the colors didn't come off for a week or so.
I have never had so much fun in my life.
And they pay me for this.
Blessed Be, BabooKyra
and Selene,
During the summer I go about my daily life as usual, but I spend
the entire time looking forward to the Lammas Fair camp-out
hosted by my former Circle. It's a weekend getaway in the Angeles
National Forest with games, rituals, drum jams, and more. I love
it and every year I leave looking forward to my return the
following year. One year I had the honor of performing the duties
of High Priestess for the main ritual. I don't recall most of the
ritual itself. When the Goddess filled me, she seemed to take
over. I ran through most of the ritual easily, but somehow
detached. Still, it was a mystical experience for me that I have
not yet found a way to express. The following year a friend and I
led the opening ritual, which was wonderful, but not
quite the same. I also like to take a hike every year, very
brief, but a tough one nonetheless, up a small hill to a peak
overlooking the grounds and the mountains on the other side. Even
from such a height I can't see a hint of Los Angeles, and that is
the real thing I look forward to every summer. Getting out of
this city and into the mountains to enjoy fresh clean air, being
a part of nature, and relaxing fun to cure my frazzled brain.
Then I come back home and wait for next year.
Selene Silverwind
Dor answered,
Hi Windseeker
I do pretty much the same things in summer that I do in winter
but more of them. I walk the beaches (winter it is wild and cold
-- summer it is crowded and hot), I walk the woods (winter it is
quiet and nice for meditating -- summer you revel in the bounty
of the mother), I sit out back in the day and in the night
(winter it is cold but serene -- summer it is hot and full of
insects and noises), driving for pleasure or visiting friends
(winter you contend with the weather -- summer you contend with
traffic from holidayers), during the summer I can garden outside,
during the winter I have to be content with my indoor plants. So
I do the same things year round just different ways to enjoy them
and in the summer it is easier to do some things more often.
Though I love the beach in the winter it is too cold to do very
often. I love walking in the woods during the winter -- no
insects and quiet but the summer it is full of life as everything
blossoms and grows, my heart
opens to all the growing bounty of nature. I can sit outside in
my backyard all year but it is cold and wet in the winter and
during the summer I can listen to the crickets and frogs, and be
eaten by the mosquitos :-). When I take a drive in the winter I
have to be careful of the weather but in the summer I can open
the windows to smell the fresh air and just drive -- especially
on the back roads where you don't get as much traffic. I love my
garden in the summer -- fresh vegetables growing and pretty
flowers with wonderful smells and herbs to use in cooking and
such. So I do the same things all year round just in different
ways and degrees.....and love each for its variety.
Blessings and Love
Dor
Am me, WindSeeker,
I love the summer!! I love the heat and the bright sun and long
days! Summer is when you see the beauty of the earth. I like to
go out with the girls and collect some of the natural decorations
the earth offers. Already got tons of rocks from the river's
shore.. using them for my flowers and herbs...pine cones, pussy
willows, wildflowers etc etc etc! Summer time is family time:
school is out and I get to spend more time with the girls. We
love to go to the beach and swim in the cool waters of the north.
I love the smells of summer time: suntan lotion, fresh cut lawns,
flowers of all types, BBQ's, I enjoy BBQing... everyday!! Another
thing I love is the town festival, tons of entertainment, but my
fave is the midway, with all those rides!!! Hehehe I also love to
go to garage sales...always amazes at the deals I get...already
got a gas BBQ for 10 bucks. 2 tenspeeds and 2 kids bikes, indoor
outdoor grill, plant pots, tons of good quality clothes etc etc.
Laying in the sun, riding bikes, gardening, people watching,rain,
thunderstorms, feeling free, new agenda, new outlook... Summer is
when you shed the wintertime skin and attitude into a whole new
atmosphere and world!
It is a wonderful feeling...
(I thank all those who supplied the information and recipes, you
know who you are!!)
