Monday, January 30, 2012

Blessings



Just before the end of December, P, a writer friend, gathered a few people for a day of meditation and writing to say goodbye to the old year and kick off the new. We each brought a couple of writing prompts and something to share for lunch.


P lives in a little house next to the Russian River that has become more and more comfortable and welcoming over the 15+ years that she as lived there.


We started off with a walk along the river, each of us in a different direction, meditating on our own thoughts, focusing on the rocks, the light on the water, the muted colors of winter. Then we went back to the house for lunch, tea and writing.


P brought the exercise that has stuck with me as this first month of 2012 has worn on. She read the Irish poet John O'Donohue's poem "Beannacht" to us. (The title is Gaelic for Blessing -- see the poem here at my friend Elizabeth's blog, where she serendipitously posted it a week ago.) Then we each read it to another person who was sitting in for someone we wanted/needed to forgive -- an exercise which might sound esoteric, but was strangely affecting and has already reverberated into this month, and I suspect may continue to have echoes in the rest of the year.

We did a timed writing after the forgiveness exercise. This poem is what came out for me.

§§§

Blessings

After “Beannacht” (Blessing)
by John O’Donohue

May you know that you are loved for just who you are.
May a witness of your strong heart come into your life.
May the paths that you walk be soft on your feet.
May the people that you meet take joy in your laughter.
May the fruits of your labor support you all the days of your life.
May your family honor their sharing of your blood.
May your journey be filled with wonder and take you to places
where you find knowledge and wisdom.
May the rain quench your thirst and warm winds dry the sweat from your neck.
May the stars spill diamonds into your dreams.
May the moon shine you a path across dark water.
May the gardens you plant give back to you tenfold
for the labor you spend in their tending.
May you die in the arms of someone who loves you or after a night
in the company of good friends.
May your next life take you to the time and place of your fondest reveries.
May you be remembered for being a truthful and giving soul.

§§§

May a blessing of kisses rain down on you this year.
x0
N2



Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Le Film Noir

Spent Saturday and Sunday evenings at the Castro Theater in San Francisco at the
Film Noir Festival. It gets better every year.



Made even better by the fact that I'm usually there with my son and daughter-in-law, J & K. I don't even care that much about which particular movie we go to see. The gorgeous Castro Theater is packed with SF film fans, some of them dressed in vintage finery.


Festival host Eddie Muller interviewed Angie Dickinson between the films on Saturday night. His knowledge of her films and questions were spot on and she was feisty, funny and still beautiful at 81 years.


Noir City Film Festival runs through this weekend. If you are in the Bay Area you should check it out.

More soon.
Noir kisses for now.
N2

Monday, January 2, 2012

Christmas. Passed. Fast.

I hadn't had a Christmas tree in years, but I couldn't resist
getting a little tree for the little guy this year.

Most of the time I cut button eucalyptus branches at a friend's house and decorate the mantel piece with that, fairy lights and candles. This year we had a formal hanging of stockings as well, like when "the kids" (now in their mid thirties) were little.

But this is what makes Christmas sweet, right?

And this.

And this.
Sid. Open.

That'll be the Corn Tiger. Sid. He knows his name and talks about himself in the third person.
Sid do it. Sid eat. Sid shoes black. Watching him learn how to talk in Nana time is so much fun.

I got the gift of three days and nights with the Daughter and the Corn Tiger at my house over Christmas. It was great to have them around for breakfast, lunch and dinner, for mornings in Nana's bed, walks downtown, splashing in the bathtub, bedtime stories and singing to sleep.

Jooon!

D and CT got to go visit her high school friend and daughter, R & Baby June, down the end of the street and we had R and BJ up here for dinner. So great to see this second generation of friendship forming.

He already knows how to ride his scooter "Fast, Fast!".


Here's hoping there were moments of magic in your holidays
that will follow you into the New Year.


More soon.
Fast kisses for now.
x0 N2
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