"When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty" ~ John Muir

Desperately, madly, astoundingly, obsessively, passionately, enjoying the new series. This series, is about what I love best, and few things fill me with as much joy and happiness as wild places.

One of my favorites, amongst many, by Ellen Kushner. Her show, Sound & Spirit is one of the best things happening on public radio, in my humble opinion. This episode was about the music inspired by Lord of the Rings, and the wonderful worlds created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It wraps up with an amazing song by Brooks Williams, from his 1992 album, Back To Mercy, featuring the song, All That Is Gold. I hope to learn to sing this song.

I record and listen to Ellen's shows while in my workshop, spraying masks, drilling bubble wand handles, etc. The work is loud, hot, and repetitive, so it helps to have good words flowing into my brain. Take an hour sometime and listen to this, you Tolkien fans out there. Very nice.

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

Let's turn on the Way Back Machine and set it for June 26-28, 2009 at the New York Fairie Festival. A first year festival with a whole lot of spirit...and a little rain...make that a lot of rain!

But the site, the land, the location...oh goodness...it made up for the weather.





( Come along to a visit to a new faerie land... )

I love the Chesapeake Bay. I miss living near it, but I love our mountains as well. Wish I could have both, maybe someday, if not the bay, then another water's edge. It is where the land and the water meet, that I love best. The shores, marshes, bogs, and streams. I think we, human beings, are like that. A synthesis of water and organic material, active, swampy, and full of life.

Marcy Dunn Ramsey is an artist who captures this.

http://marcydunnramsey.com/

I have only experienced her work in person a couple of times. Just tonight, Maryland Public Television ran their Art Works This Week special with her segment. The third time I have seen it and love it every time. Mrs. Ramsey captures the edge, the abstract, where water, light, plants, and shore interact to become these remarkable vignettes of pattern. I thought I would share her with all of you. Here is one image, from one of the galleries that carries her work.
www.massoniart.com

"To absent friends, lost loves, old gods and the seasons of mists. And may each and everyone of us always give the devil his due."

Tonight I am raising my mug to Hoss, an old and dear friend, BOG Brother, who seems to have passed away during Pennsic. Hoss was the Keeper of the Tree Booth, Dragon and Unicorn Leather Mugs at MDRF. Wanted to pass on the news to any on my friends list who may not have heard, and take a moment to remember him. Hoss was a pretty special guy. Irreverent always, and kind hearted to all who deserved it. Quite famous for installing a fart noise maker behind a garden gnome in his booth, with a remote control. Loved to get patrons with it. Put up with BOG every year, stomping about behind scenes and making a fuss, I think he really enjoyed being an honorary BOG Brother. Had depths to him that I never got to fully know, but I knew they were there. Thanks Hoss.

Hoof & Horn, Hoof & Horn, All that dies shall be reborn, Corn & Grain, Corn & Grain, all that falls shall rise again.

"This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls."
- John Muir

The Potomac Celtic Festival happened way back on June 13-14. Luckily, the weather was MUCH better than Last Year and ultimately the show was much less eventful, which is like a weird pun for an event write up. Any way, here is a nice picture of our booth and the grounds to warm things up...which is what we actually were glad didn't happen!



( More pictures and such on the other side of this link... )

moar funny pictures

I don't often post LOL's but this needed to be shared. I think I need to go pet my cats now.

Terribly behind in my posting. However, I have been adding pictures on Facebook, so if we aren't yet "Friends" on there, please send me a request.
http://www.facebook.com/Shane.Odom

I haven't added a post for Potomac Celtic Fest back in June, or New York Faerie Festival. I promise, I will get to to it, but until then, here is a recent custom order we created to tide you over.

Our "Root & Twig" Tree Mask, as a Quaking Aspen



( More pictures and some of our inspiration behind the cut... )

As it is, every 4th of July, I would like to offer you all a prayer, a wish, a blessing, a hope for a Peaceful Life and Community of Spirit. We are literally all one Hue-Man Family of Rainbow Light! We must remember this, it is fundamental to our continued existence. We are the Universe Looking at Itself, and we better learn to love what we see.

I write this, because right now, in the mountains of New Mexico, a vast community of humans is celebrating this at the Annual Rainbow Gathering.
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Home-for-the-gathering

I met my wife a the Gathering, many years ago, found myself, and got grounded, hard. So I try to remember what is really important on the 4th, an perfect time to remember these principals.

This is a paragraph from my entry last year: http://wildwose.livejournal.com/28157.html

"So the Gatherings are this vast panoply of the human experience. Certainly they have there seedy underbellies, as all of human culture does. But above it all, floats this higher ideal of equality and spirit. Much like the American Dream that the Nationals celebrate on the 4th, the Gathering has a standard that ultimately each participant must strive towards. When Thomas Jefferson wrote these famous lines, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.", I believe he understood his own and his culture of the times, hypocrisy. Yet, the lines speak so eloquently to the future ideals that appeal to all humankind. I find it a wonder that this simple letter, this Declaration of Independence, intended to be only between the signers and King George of England, has come to represent the American soul and to be used as proof of our higher goals. Those rights aren't given to us by our government. They are our birthright as humans. It is our governments responsibility to protect them for us and through this ideal, the rest of the the planet. Despite our prejudice, our addictions, our bad habits, and misunderstandings, each time we are challenged to live up to these ideals, sometimes with much back sliding and abuse, we ultimately do the right thing, as a people and perhaps a family. It is a wonderful fact that in the spirit of new equality that the early Americans referred to each other as Brother and Sister. Perhaps again one day."

Well, one more May festival to go. I am so far behind on catching up, I might be going backwards. However, I like to post a festival report for every event we do, and it has been a busy season. This one is the last of our Month of May festival, and we have actually just come home from another one, but that will come later.

Like the previous festival, the Maryland Faerie Festival was celebrating it's 5th year in 2009. The show had a set back last year, with a scheduling conflict for the site it using resulting in it being held in June. That weekend turned out to be one of the record breaking dangerously hot periods in MD last year and there were severe complications due to it. I wrote about it Here. The show survived and thrived, and as is often the case, will need a couple of years to reset and reboot. But they sure made a great start of it this year and excelled despite the rough weather, because, well, it has been a wet spring.



( Following the bouncing bubble.... )

The 5th Annual Greenbelt Green Man Festival was on May 8th-10th. Excellent little show. Happens in historic Greenbelt, Maryland at the Art Deco Roosevelt Center. We have attended 3 of the last 4 shows there, only missing a year due to car trouble and stress from our move. It's a great show, other than some logistic difficulties, and the last of our small community shows we do. Everything else is large events drawing thousands, but due to that wonderful theme, celebrating the Green Man and Ecology, and the fact that we have an excellent collector base that makes it profitable, and it being run by several friends, and getting to stay with our dear Sister/Friend Heather and her family..well, we keep coming back.



( Come along to see lots more pictures... )

But I will giving it a try over the next few days. We have just come off a a string of shows, three weekends in a row. Which is a nothing compared to the the nine weekends in a row we do at the Maryland Renaissance Festival, except....at MDRF we are in a permanent booth, the same location, a easy 2.5 hour drive, and have a nice trailer to stay in. Spring shows are an entirely different matter, each event in a different location, and a booth and campsite to set up and tear down, sometimes repetitively. The three weekends in May the weather has been spotty, and at times, down right nasty, as those who live in the Mid-Atlantic well know. Add to that, we, as in the entire family, have been fighting colds and coughs for much of it, then we have had a rough month. However, that is the facts of what we do and it could be worse...it could be raining...oh wait...it did.

However, the 18th Spoutwood Farm Fairie Festival was wonderful all the same, the 9th year for Mythical Masks, Spoutwood being our first every mask show.

You can't have any rainbows without the rain, and there are always little yellow raincoats, wellington boots, and umbrellas, and faerie friends to make up for any weather...



This is VERY picture heavy post, with lots of large format pics behind the cut.

( Lots of pictures and a few stories after the cut... )

Created by the Blessed Order of the Greenman (B.O.G) to support the Order and share our mission with the public.



Available for purchase at the Maryland Faerie Festival May 16-17. For only $3 you will not only support the Order, you receive an excellent little Journal of the Mythic Arts.

Each issue features a biography of a man who we feel represents the ethics and tradition that B.O.G supports. This issue features an extended biography of J.R.R. Tolkien, exploring his life, stories, and inspirations that helped create the epic saga, The Lord of the Rings. This issue also features a full history of the beginnings of the Blessed Order of the Greenman and the remarkable series of events that helped sprout from us a seed of an idea to a growing Fraternal Order. And we offer you a series of short bios showing the diversity of membership with n B.O.G. All of this, plus, essays, quotes, poems and more, on the Nature of the Green Man.

Please stop by the Mythical Masks booth to pick up a copy or find us at any of our festivals this year. Show Your Support For Your Local Boggie!

"Hoof and Horn, Hoof and Horn, All that Dies Shall be Reborn, Corn and Grain, Corn and Grain, All That Falls Shall Rise Again!"


Edited to Offer the Issue for Sale!:

If you can't find me or a Bogie who is carrying the Green Word, then I have created a PayPal option. I am new at creating PayPal options, so if there are any problems, please let me know immediately. Click the button below, and I will get one in the mail to you ASAP. The issue is $3.00 and shipping is $1.00. Make sure to include your address! Thanks to all for your support. Bog needs it and I hope we can live up to it! Green Blessings and Roots! Kubiando!

Just missed it by a minute, but here is a Happy Mother's Day video that we made in 2007 going out to all the Mom's reading this. A Mother's Day Bubble For you...

I get this way EVERY Earth Day, it's complicated and hard to get across.

I'll start with something happy. My video I made last year for Earth Day, of my flower photography and a John Denver song. That Colorado cowboy always makes smile.



There, don't you feel better. I don't...
( Let me explain...no, it's too complicated...let me sum up... )

I am usually the first one up in our household. Since we are self-employed and both kids are home schooled, we have the privilege and gift of not having to set an alarm clock. I am a natural early riser, often getting up by 6:30 AM no matter the bedtime. I enjoy the morning quiet and use it for writing and email. I wake the family up at 8 AM, with music and I take a cup of coffee up to Leah. I have a variety of morning mixes, songs about waking up and sunny days. Today, grey, overcast with a steady rain fall, I started with my rainy day blend.

Here are the songs in it.

"Looks Like Rain",The Grateful Dead-1976-08-02 - Colt Park
"Fire And Rain",James Taylor-One Man Band
"Rainy Day People", Gordon Lightfoot-Songbook [Box Set] (Disc 3)
"After It Rains", Laurie Berkner-Under A Shady Tree
"Rain" The Beatles
"Just Like Rain", Kathy Kallick with Laurie Lewis-O Sister! The Women's Bluegrass Collection
"Looking At The Rain", Gordon Lightfoot-Don Quixote
"A Day Without Rain", Enya A Day Without Rain
"Naked In The Rain" Crosby & Nash-Voyage: Essential, Vol. 1 [Disc 1]
"Let It Rain", Eric Clapton [Deluxe Edition] Disc 1 Eric Clapton
"Early Morning Rain" Gordon Lightfoot-Songbook [Box Set] (Disc 1)
"No Rain", Blind Melon

Any suggestions?.....

I am been VERY busy with writing an article about the life and influence of the good professor Tolkien for the annual Green Word Newsletter, the newsletter for the Blessed Order of the Greenman (B.O.G) It is leading me to a Tolkien revival and I am living, eating, and dreaming the stories of Middle Earth right now. So here is the best and most beautiful rendition of Namárië, or Galadriel's Parting Song. The singer, a French musician, gives the Mp3 away on her website, Here. A little bit of pure beauty for you today.



Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,
Ah! like gold fall the leaves in the wind,
yéni únótimë ve rámar aldaron!
long years numberless as the wings of trees!
Yéni ve lintë yuldar avánier
The long years have passed like swift draughts
mi oromardi lissë-miruvóreva
of the sweet mead in lofty halls
Andúnë pella, Vardo tellumar
beyond the West, beneath the blue vaults of Varda
nu luini yassen tintilar i eleni
wherein the stars tremble
ómaryo airetári-lírinen.
in the song of her voice, holy and queenly.

Sí man i yulma nin enquantuva?
Who now shall refill the cup for me?

An sí Tintallë Varda Oiolossëo
For now the Kindler, Varda, the Queen of the stars,
ve fanyar máryat Elentári ortanë
from Mount Everwhite has uplifted her hands like clouds
ar ilyë tier undulávë lumbulë
and all paths are drowned deep in shadow;
ar sindanóriello caita mornië
and out of a grey country darkness lies
i falmalinnar imbë met,
on the foaming waves between us,
ar hísië untúpa Calaciryo míri oialë.
and mist covers the jewels of Calacirya for ever.
Sí vanwa ná, Rómello vanwa, Valimar!
Now lost, lost to those of the East is Valimar!

Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar!
Farewell! Maybe thou shalt find Valimar!
Nai elyë hiruva! Namárië!
Maybe even thou shalt find it! Farewell!

I would like to take a moment to observe the passing of Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax. I never met or knew Dave, however his work was so influential to me and a vast horde of my generation, that it can hardly be expressed. I would remind you that it is a "Geek" world we live in today and whether you play D&D or not, if you use tech, like the computer your reading this on, chances are that a D&D gamer has his hand in it at some point.Gary Gygax passed away last year. His death was a surprising period of reflection for me, which I tred to bring some clarity to with a memorial journal entry to Gary Gygax. If you interested in such things as culture and how it got that way, take a moment to see what I have to say about D&D and it's influence.

In some ways Dave Arneson's death is even more poignant to me. Dave was the creator of the Blackmoor Campaign Setting for D&D. This later evolved into the world of Mystara. For over eight years of my life, almost weekly, I ran a campaign in Mystara. We altered the rules, twisted the stories, and changed the continents with our games. It was, without a doubt, some of the best times in my life. I owe so much of the fun and fantasy of that time period to Mr. Arneson's imagination. The meaning of the word "Inspiration" is to breathe life into, fill with spirit. It was those days that did so, setting me ultimately on the path that lead me to my successful career in the Mythic Arts today. So thank you, Dave. You changed my Life.

RIP: Dave Arneson: October 1, 1947-April 9, 2009

Watch this video. No words can describe it. Awesome talent of crafty Welsh Shepards.