"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.

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.

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."

Neil Gaiman, well known author and friend of many in the Mythic Arts community, wrote this poem for the coming birth of the first child for his friend, singer songwriter, Tori Amos. The poem has been illustrated by his friend and mine, Charles Vess, and is being released next month. Charles was sharing the illustration proofs at FaerieCon last year. I knew about the poem, but hadn't read it or seen the drawings. Naturally, as a father of a well loved daughter, when I read it in Charles's booth there, I got pretty choked up with feelings. It Is A Great Poem. Thanks to Neil and Charles for giving this gift to every Blueberry Girl and the people who love them.

Charles will be at the Spoutwood Farm May Day Fairie Festival, May 1-3 signing copies in the Faerie Magazinebooth.



Prayer for a Blueberry Girl

Ladies of Light & Ladies of Darkness, & Ladies of Never-You-Mind,
this is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl.
First, May you ladies be kind.

Keep her from spindles and sleeps at sixteen;
Let her stay waking and wise.
Nightmares at three, or bad husbands at thirty;
These will not trouble her eyes.

Dull days at forty, false friends at fifteen;
Let her have brave days and truth.
Let her go places that we've never been;
Trust and delight in her youth.

Ladies of Grace, and Ladies of Favour,
and Ladies of Merciful Night,
this is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl,
Grant her your clearness of sight.

Words can be worrisome, people complex;
Motives and manners unclear.
Grant her the wisdom to choose her path right,
Free from unkindness and fear.

Let her tell stories, and dance in the rain,
Somersault, tumble, and run;
Her joys must be high as her sorrows are deep,
Let her grow like a weed in the sun.

Ladies of Paradox, Ladies of Measure,
Ladies of Shadows-That-Fall;
this is a prayer for a Blueberry Girl,
Words written clear on a wall.

Help her to help herself, help her to stand,
Help her to lose, and to find.
Teach her we're only as big as our dreams,
show her that fortune is blind.

Truth is a thing she must find for herself,
precious, and rare as a pearl;
Give her all these, and a little bit more,
Gifts for a Blueberry Girl.


Neil explains the background of the poem best himself, at Mouse Circus, his online store:

"Hello. You're probably wondering what kind of book this is.

This is the kind of book that comes about when a friend phones you and says, "I'll be having a baby in a month. Would you write her a poem? A sort of prayer, maybe? We call her the Blueberry. . . ." And you think, Yes, actually. I would.

I wrote the poem. When the baby was born, they stopped calling her the Blueberry and started calling her Natashya, but they pinned up the handwritten Blueberry girl poem beside her bed.

I kept a copy at my house, taped to a filing cabinet. And when friends read it, they said things like "Please, can I have a copy for my friend who is going to be giving birth to a daughter?" and I wound up copying it out for people, over and over. I wasn't going to let it be published, not ever. It was private, and written for one person, even if I did seem to be spending more and more of my time handwriting or printing out nice copies for mothers-to-be and for babies.

Then artist Charles Vess (whom I had collaborated with on Stardust) read it. And somehow, it all became simple. I made a few phone calls. We decided to make some donations to some charities. And Charles began to draw, and then to paint, taking the poem as a starting point and then making something universal and beautiful.

On his blog he said,

"Taking Neil's lovely poetic meditation on the inherent joys of a mother-daughter relationship and developing a compelling narrative impulse without robbing the poem of its highly symbolic nature was an interesting conceptual journey."

Which I think is Charles for "It wasn't easy to make that poem into a picture book.” He did an astonishing job, but I still worried. I stopped worrying the day the assistant editor at HarperChildrens, who was herself pregnant, called me to let me know that she'd got the artwork in, and read it, and then started crying in the office.

It's a book for mothers and for mothers-to-be. It's a book for anyone who has, or is, a daughter. It's a prayer and a poem, and now it's a beautiful book.

I hope you enjoy it. I'm really proud of it. And I hope this means I don't have to copy it out any longer….

Neil"

Sometimes, you just have to do something so sweet about your kids, that the cute may knock you over. So here is the first five years of my daughter Ellawyn's life...in just over four minutes, set to the "Father Daughter Song" by Paul Simon.

Someone is in need a help to cover funeral expenses. I don't know these folks, but the story is so deeply touching and sad, that I thought I might ask my friends list in the chance that maybe even a few might have a bit to spare for these folks.

Donations Page

It is for a friend of a friend. roaming has asked for donations on her journal. It seems her friend, talandra has suffered a series of terrible strokes and ultimately had been taken off of life support. Her husband of only a year, jetshade has been put into the heartbreaking position of not only having to make this decision, but to raise the major expense that a funeral and grave site entail. Please consider donating even a small amount. Everything can help.

As I said, I don't know these folks. roaming is a dear and wonderful person with a huge heart. I went and read the story of the couple and was moved to tears. I so identify with a family who is trying to hold on in the face of extreme adversity. I know that our family is blessed but our lives and finances are balanced on a thin thread that would only take a small push to send them over.

In compassion and peace...

Seven years ago today...............................................

MSNBC has been running the news, uncut, as it was on 9/11/2001. I was just watching and the hair on my neck is standing up. The blueness of the sky, the clarity of the morning, the traffic, the tears...Man, what a week that was. And so easy for me. For so many others, it was so hard. I have no real words to speak about this. I will reflect on my on. But there is this. With the turmoil and important elections upcoming, with the divisiveness and inflammatory language that is spread in its wake...let NO MAN call me a traitor or unpatriotic. My patriotism runs deep and hard, my pride in my country is great, and my dedication to seeing those who run this country held accountable for their actions and to placed in the public spotlight is firm. Questioning my country is patriotic. Voting my values...is patriotic.

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -John Quincy Adams-

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to ... remain silent." -Thomas Jefferson-

And my absolute favorite....

"I must study Politics and War that my sons may have liberty to study Mathematics and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Mathematics and Philosophy, Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their Children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Music, Architecture, Statuary, Tapestry and Porcelain."
-John Quincy Adams-

It is with deep abiding sadness that I must announce the death of our dear friend,
Sienna Zertuche.


Fare Thee Well, Fare Thee Well, I love you more than words can tell..."
-Broke Down Palace, The Grateful Dead-



( Behind the cut to save your hearts because mine is breaking... )

In the midst of a SUPER busy day with piles of computer work, much of which I will be announcing here in a day or so, I took the time to have a nice lunch on the deck with Leah and Ellawyn and dedigitize my head by hanging out in our sky chair with my little girl.

Nine years ago to the day. Its been fun.



The family of Leah Marie Lyle and David Shane Odom would like to cordially invite you back in time to June 20, 2000, for...

( a little trip down memory lane... )