Soul Communication

Our soul speaks to us in symbols--in our waking and dreaming life. It isn't always easy to know what those symbols mean, or to even know we are supposed to be looking for them. I used to think that our life was already mapped out and we were sort of helpless passengers on our journey. I now believe we make some general agreements before we come to this lifetime about the lessons we will learn and the people we will meet. How we will learn those lessons and find those people is a result of our free will and how well we interpret the symbols our soul is giving us.

I had a powerful dream two night ago. I don't know exactly what it meant but I was affected by the beauty of it all day. In my dream, I discovered this gigantic pomegranate tree, with the characteristic shape of a pear tree but much larger. The bark was white like a Sycamore. The leaves were almost gone, but those that remained were yellow and yellow-green. On the lower branches of the tree and on the were tons of pomegranates. It was set against a gorgeous light blue Fall sky.

I was thrilled to discover this tree and the house next to it, which was ours but we had forgotten about it. I went to find my mom, who wasn't really my mom (you know how that goes in dreams) and as we were looking out the window at this majestic tree, a song started playing--a melancholic alternative sounding song about a Pomegranate. Does anyone else hear songs in their dreams they've never heard before? If I had musical talent, I could actually do something with them!

Anyway, maybe that dream had a simple meaning--that I should eat some pomegranates, but maybe there was something more. I'm going to keep working on it. I did enjoy creating this pieces of art in response to the dream. My picture of the tree isn't quite what I saw in my head but that's how it goes.

I can think of some examples in my waking life of powerful symbols that I missed. I was very, very sick in college for about six months. I was hospitalized for strep throat, 2 weeks later I got pneumonia, two months later my appendix nearly burst. During this time, I was dating a guy that was CLEARLY not for me, but I was ignoring the obvious signs so my soul stepped things up a bit with the illness and said, "Hey lady, listen to me! Get out already!"

My dreams are always so vivid; I often remember them for years. Sometimes they are predictions of things I eventually see or people I will meet. I had a dream a couple of months ago that I was walking in this scary cellar/basement type place and was seeing ghosts or something creepy. I was trying to stay calm and this voice said to me "A thousand rays of love" and this light shot from my chest and I wasn't scared anymore. I woke up and wrote that one down because it sounded like the title of something. I looked it up but didn't find anything.

Imagine my surprise when I was the Festival of Arts last month and I saw this picture by local artist David Spear! I stood there in shock. In the picture is a guy with light shooting out of his chest! That was weird. I wrote to the artist and told him my story and asked him how he found the inspiration. It was from a Picasso quote that made no sense to me, but still very cool all the same.

Dreams are the ultimate form of soul communication and I definitely would love to spend more time figuring out what mine mean!

Ride the Obama wave....

I love this photo! I don't know if it's real but it's beautiful. I think Barack Obama is an amazing person and I can't wait for him to be our next president (if he doesn't win, we're moving to France!).

I just read a lovely interview with Barack's sister yesterday. Makes me like him even more!

The Fall color I was looking for...

I got a tip from a photographer to use the vivid setting on my camera and it's made a huge difference, capturing things the way I see them! And lucky me, we woke up yesterday and our maple tree was like "lava" according to Kai! Lovely.... Now it really feels like fall!

Five (oops!) Four Years Later

The passage of time is easy to see when we look at our children. Here's Kai at 18 months and in almost the same spot in our yard 4 years later, still wearing red and still wearing boots. Even though he's grown, some things about him have not changed.... (Thanks to Jevon for catching my error. I was making time pass by a little too quickly--math was never my strong suit!)

Images of Fall

Oh, how I love fall. And the colors haven't really exploded yet--you've got to love those long drawn out Missouri seasons. There's just something about the quiet, the crisp blue skies and wispy clouds, the lack of bugs, the wind, and I could go on. The first picture is of the rain through the windshield by my friend Jenny's house. The second is by the St. Louis Arch--it reminded me of France. Then a picture of the stunning beans we found inside the scarlet runner bean pods. I had no idea that beans were such a brilliant color before they dried! The fourth is also at the Arch; how strange to see flower blossoms in the fall. Next we have some trees reflected on my newly washed deck and finally a cool mossy tree in St. Louis. After living in a dry, dry desert for over 4 years, I can't get enough green!

We are eying a gigantic empty for-sale-by-owner lot in town that backs up to an even larger green space that is owned by the neighborhood association. We could build our eco-friendly home there and I could have my herb garden and Jevon can grow the fruits and veggies (hey, I can't do it all!). And best of all, we would be in a real neighborhood (the kind where people sit on porches, go for walks, and really interact) and within walking and biking distance of two parks, horse stables, a health food store, and downtown. I think Jevon could even safely drive a moped to work. Did I mention it's next door to Access Arts? Kai and I (and eventually Tea and maybe Jevon) could walk to our art classes! I'll keep you posted.

"Hey Mom, take a picture of this!"

Life through the eyes of a child is such a gift. Kai was washing apples this morning and yelled at me that I needed to take a picture. (Tea woke up and saw a moth outside and wanted me to take a picture of that--I guess they see me taking a lot of pictures). Anyway, what a great shot! The most exciting part is that I am finally figuring out how to use the manual settings on my camera and this is especially helpful when I'm taking shots indoors and don't want the flash to go off.
Tea's clothes didn't stay dry for long.... I love the shot with just her arm and the apple in the faucet. There's probably something artistically wrong with a photo with just an arm, but to my amateur photographic eye, it looks cool.

I don't know if I can ever move back to South Dakota after living here. The growing season is almost six months long and the amount and types of food you can grow here is amazing. The Farmer's Market is a feast for the eyes! We've been picking hickory nuts from our backyard, black walnuts from the park, and I've been drying lemon balm and making lemon balm, echinacea, and thyme tinctures in addition to the apple juice and apple pies we made today. We went to a Chestnut Festival last weekend where there were local trees and plants, pecans, chestnuts, black walnuts, elderberry concentrates, goat cheese and wine and beer. We brought home 3 pounds of pecans, some blackberry wine and muscati wine, and elderberry extract. We're going apple picking at a place about a mile away on Thursday and I'm picking up 50 pounds of locally grown sweet and white potatoes as well as a turkey from a friend tomorrow. Ah, I just love this place and I love the feeling of knowing I have a bounty of locally grown food in my cellar and freezer for the winter. It's just too depressing to shop at Hy-Vee and eat that lackluster produce in the winter!

Chamomile Caterpillar

I couldn't figure out why my chamomile was blooming and then dropping it's petals so quickly. Today I found out why. It's a tiny little caterpillar that has adapted itself to look like a flower or maybe it covers itself in chamomile petals to camouflage itself or to store them for later. Either way, it's hard to be mad at such a smart little thing! The last pic shows it on the yellow part of the flower (I'm sure there's a fancy name for it but it's escaping me right now).