past Imbolc

As the wheel of the year turns from coldest darkest days to Bridgett's bringing forth light again, Imbolc just passed and I am glad to see that the sun doesn't set quite so early. And when the cats wake me up, often the sky has started to be light outside. The ice had almost melted yesterday when I walked around the lake (not when this picture was taken...!)

I am quiet now, and finding my way into being householder, keep my cozy home comfortable and clean. This is the hardest thing I'm currently doing...being aware that my environment that I make is also a creation, not just a "maintenance." I give this to myself as self-love. I need that a lot these days. Usually January/February are the times I get depressed each year. It was good to sit in sunshine for 2 hours yesterday during the ritual.

I was so happy to be part of a ritual at a new friend's home for Imbolc. The smoke from the fire bothered me a lot of the time, but hey, I was just being gifted as the goddess chose, so I took what came my way. And I'm going back to sing with some women at the dark of the moon.

My lovely new friends who live near me on Allen Mountain invited me to a Super Bowl party. It was fun, though several of us were definitely not football fans. I brought my knitting and was the only single person there, as well as the oldest, as well as a pagan with this little goddess symbol on my brow that I'd forgotten (purposefully perhaps) to wash off after the Imbolc ritual. At any rate, I didn't know anyone but the hosts, but then realized I'd met most of the others there, or they were friends of people I knew. It felt like 6 degrees of separation time...mostly through UU, but some through the BMCA (Center for the Arts).

So by the time I closed my eyes last night, I'd met several dozen new beautiful people at the two events I attended. And I had conversations with a lot of them. I also liked that I was following my own beliefs, even around the football crowd. The women seemed interested in hearing about Imbolc and Bridgett.

So to support these beliefs, I'll continue to work on the Cakes class, and hope that we (Byron and I) can provide the 20 of us women with an avenue to serve our own budding feminism and curiosity about the goddess in her many forms.

Snow is forecast for tomorrow, but the weather feels like it's immanent.

Keptain has had a good appetite for the last several days. Perhaps my own rice/chicken mixture added to the cats' food has helped. They both greet me with eyes that say they are starving, and can each put away a small meal 3-4 times a day. As often as I put it out, they chomp it up. Muffin has shown lots of weight gain, but Keptain hasn't. But he's also not having as many hair balls, so that's good I guess.