Finished!

I did it! I finished the Baggo. It feels sooooooo good to be finished. If you'd like to see Fabric Moths, go to my new art blog, Laume's Studio. Hopefully I will continue to be creative in 2006 and will have continued need for a separate blog just for my art, as the pieces pile up in ever higher mountains of amazingness, stupendousness, loveliness, insightfulness.... oh heck, I'll just settle for completeness.

So, moving on....

Happy Groundhogs Day to everyone. The sun is shining brightly here, in fact, it's so warm we have the the front door open and warm air is wafting in, along with auto fumes and the sounds of announcements and bells at the local junior high just down the road. It's so warm I am wearing a tank top and jeans. (Of course that could have more to do with menopause then the ambient air.) Since we, hence so too Mr. Overbite, can see our shadows, I guess that means a longer winter ahead for us? Six more weeks, isn't that the deal? Ah, well, that'll give me more time inside to spring clean. SNORT!

Today is also, for some of us pagans, Imbolc. Or the Catholic version, Candlemas, which is sorta the same, but not really, but unlike some, I don't really care. It's all good. Anyhoo, Imbolc is one of the eight spokes in the wheel of the year on which to eat great food, sing, dance, and celebrate how blessed we are to have a chance to be here on this beautiful blue and green ball. Honestly, we should all of us be doing all these things every day, but just in case we forget, we've got these special days on which to remind us to do them.

Imbolc represents the first inklings of spring awakening. It's not the big ol' hello we get later, at Ostara (Easter), when everything is being born, anew or for the first time, whatever. No, this is just a whisper. It's seeds thinking of sprouting. It's wind considering the idea of balmy. It's green shoots peeking up just the teensiest bit to see if it's safe to pop up in a big way. It's buds on the trees getting uppity and ready to burst. It's daylight pushing back the edges of the dark night.

Of course it's all symbolic, since if you live in Bemidji, Minnesota, it's unlikely anything green is stirring yet since it could be -10 below, windchill -30 below, yah, doncha know. And if you live in Florida, you might be donning a bathing suit and spending the day baking on the beach. And then there's that whole bottom side of the ball, where it's now the reverse season. Digression over.

For me, on this particularly February day, it's warm and there ARE green shoots. There are even a few brave violets blooming. I ate one today and then told William to eat one. He said "Are we supposed to eat one today?" I said yes. So he ate it. I love how he trusts me on things like this. Of course the only reason he was 'supposed to' eat a violet today is because I wanted to see if he would eat it.

I already feel like I've celebrated the spirit of the day by finishing my Baggo, the first creative project I've finished since winter set in months ago. Because we can take all this spring peeking around the corner stuff and apply it, all analogouslike, to life in general. What else is trying to sprout and grow in my life, your life? Time to spring clean, open up the windows to new possibilities. Do a bit of 'digging in the dirt' so that new things can happen in your life.

Still, being happiest digging in the real stuff, I'll try to get out in some of this pleasant weather (it's been rainy, chilly, or snow flurryish before this and I'm a realistic, it will be again) while I can, for a bit of yard work. Even if it's just five minutes. I'd like to say I'd clean up all the garden beds and plant my garlic and peas and lettuce and greens. Of course that would require at least seven clones of me to accomplish. So maybe I'll settle for pulling a few weeds, clearing back a bit of mulch and planting a couple peas.

And then I'll eat another violet. Just 'cuz I'm 'supposed to' today. Hey, it makes a nice tradition.