gratitude day 6: community

my high school community. my college community. 

community in buffalo, seattle, the bay are, ann arbor, and charlottesville. 

communities developed through day jobs, my doula work, dan's tibet work.

communities that have unfolded at my childrens' schools.

a community of mamas, papas, and babes.

communities of writers, artists, musicians, activists, earth lovers.

community to celebrate the seasons with.

people i miss. people i remain connected to.

 the map of populations and locales lives in my memory.  

miraculously my communities find a crossroads on facebook,

a characteristic that keeps me a little hooked on social media. 

i am grateful for all my little and big friends all over the planet,

while my immediate community continues to grow and find inner-connections,

an amazing labyrinth evolving at the foot of the blue ridge mountains.

community!

october turning

oh, october. 

it began with a house full of fantastic guests and the blessing of his holiness upon us. autumnal activities unfolded under crisp skies: apple picking, pumpkin boats, leaf peeping, pumpkin carving, apple prints, costume collecting, soccer games, hurricane, apple pie. somewhere in there bruce springsteen gave a free acoustic concert in downtown charlottesville to rally for obama. 

an october of surprises. 

as we spiral into samhain, and a reflection of our beloved dead, i am so grateful for the wonderful community of mamas, babies, friends, and family i have bringing so much life to my days. i feel greatly honored to be living in this beautiful oasis between the blue ridge and the piedmont.

yet while a bounty of light and hope exist, the haunted cloud of politics, and of a universe terribly off balance, settle on my shoulder like dark birds.  

are superstorms our new world reality? my heart goes out to the people suffering loss and devastation in the wake of hurricane sandy.

our twenty hour loss of electricity and water gave us necessary pause, an intimate moment to feel rattled by the depth and fury of the storm. but we were completely spared of personal hardship and any strong physical sense of the brutality of it all. the electricity returned just when i began to feel concern about the food in our fridge. imagine the house that holds your fridge being completely gutted by one big wave. 

the imprint of samsara is upon us. we uncoil in one big wave of suffering and celebration. 

thus we continue.