H is for.....

I was doing my Wordplay on Wednesdays, but hey, Sunday works just as well, and it's time to pick up bits and pieces of my routine and get moving again. Too, I'll try to add everyone who's been waiting patiently this past month, to the Wordplay Participants list.

H is for.....

homesteader - when I was a young adult I was really caught up in the 70's back-to-the-land movement. My ex and I wanted to homestead. He wanted to move out to the wilderness, I just wanted a small farm. Eventually he left me and the boys and it was a moot point, but I've collected a huge amount of self sufficiency skills along the way.

horse - I was one of those horse crazy girls. I never actually owned my own horse, my mom couldn't afford it. But I took lessons and went to horse camp and as a pre-adolescent I had a wonderful Quarter Horse/Arabian mix at my disposal for several summers. I even did a bit of barrel racing.

hiking - I love to hike. It doesn't have to be strenuous or challenging, just beautiful or interesting or away from it all or fun

Harry - my stepdad, who loves my mom and loves us all

Harry Potter - I love J K Rowling's main character. I love him as character. I love him as an unlikely hero. I love him like Mrs. Weasley does, as if he was one of my own kids. I love him as someone who created or re-ignited a love of reading for several of my children.

hardwood floors - I've had hardwood floors more often then not in the homes I've lived in. I can't imagine wanting anything else.

herbs - I really came squeakingly close to being an herbalist by profession. I stumbled upon herbs when I was thick into homesteading and at one point, thinking it would be a good addition to the midwifery skills I was working on. I spent an entire summer at The California School of Herbal Medicine, under the tutelage of one of the matriarchs of the herbal renaissance in this country, Rosemary Gladstar, as well as a number of other amazing herbalists and teachers. I fell so in love with herbs while I was there that I seriously considered dropping the midwifery goal and focusing entirely on herbs. What stopped me? Please, feel free to laugh, or groan. I decided that the idea wasn't financially feasible as a career. Only a handful of people knew about or used herbs at that time, in the late 70's and early 80's. Herbs had not been "discovered". Echinacea? Is that a type of flu? A Russian princess? A type of bird? I figured I couldn't make a living at it.

Halloween - my favorite holiday. My mom was born on Halloween. Her favorite holiday ironically is Christmas. But mine is/was/always has been Halloween. Even as a kid I think I would have given up Santa and gifts if it meant a choice between them and a night of dressing up and wandering the dark streets in the pursuit of frights and candy. Over the years Halloween has continued to be just plain ol' fun, and our family also celebrates the more spiritual aspects of it as well in the form of Samhain and Dia de los Muertos.

Homeschooling - it was around as a growing movement since my kids were too young for school. When the time came, I sent them off to public school with the idea that I was far too selfish a person to homeschool my kids well since I'd want to focus mainly on the topics and subjects that interested me. My kids would be better off, I thought, in a school with a wider variety of people and interests offered to them. I did add a mental caveat however that if any of my kids seemed like they would be better off homeschooled, I would take it on. Long story short, by the time Sam was in 3rd grade, it was clear that circumstances were exactly that, so we took on homeschooling for what we thought would be one kid/one semester. By the time that semester was over I had three kids homeschooling, as well as two of their friends. And a surprising thing happened. We discovered how much we loved the freedom of it both physically and academically. All my kids since then, except Joshua, have homeschooled for at least several years. William has never been to school at all until this upcoming fall, when he will be going to our local high school (it's all about playing football!) Over the years I've become more and more radicalized about the idea of education, my thinking is way outside the lines. It's not that I dislike school in the traditional sense, in fact I was one of those kids that loved it, but frankly I wouldn't be upset if the whole educational institution as we know it came tumbling down. It's far from an educational system anyway. It's more of a free daycare and political scapegoat then anything else. I feel sorry for the dedicated teachers and the hopeful students that have to pick their way through the garbage to gather the few gems it has left to over people.

health food store - I almost bought a health food store three times in my life. Each time I ended up taking another route, but it's one of those "what if I had..." paths in my life

health food - I used to be a health food fanatic. No white flour will cross my threshold! No white sugar will cross my lips! Having a house full of kids cured me of that insanity. But our family still probably eats healthier then the typical American. Or at least knows how to eat healthier.

hairstyle - basically, I've had the same hairstyle my entire life. Sorry, I'm boring when it comes to hair.

hardcover - even though a paperback book is much lighter to hold and easier to read, there's something about the feel of a hardcover book that's magical. It's like holding a new world in your hands.

hayloft - I have very fond memories of haylofts. And NO, not those kind of memories. Sheesh. I mean sitting in the hay playing with new calves or kittens, playing hide and seek, laying back and thinking deep childhood thoughts, swinging from a rope swing into or out of the hay, building little cubby holes with the bales

heartburn - suffered with this during my pregnancies - UGH

hardy - a good word for me

hot flashes - I'm almost 50, so yep, power surges

harm none - The Witches Creed, or at least a nice interpretation of them. "Do what you will, if you harm none." Don't think you can reduce humanitarian or spiritual advice down any more concisely then that.

hedgehog - I've always been fascinated with these little creatures

harvest - there's nothing more satisfying them a pile of pumpkins, a bucket full of fresh corn, a basket of apples, a cabinet filled with jewel tones jars of jam, bottles filled with dried herbs and vinegars

head - I'm a head sort of person, always in my head. I think motherhood was good for me because as a young person it was hard for me to stop thinking and becoming a mother made me slow down and be in the moment a lot more then I was capable of before then

heart - when I'm not in my head, I'm in my heart. Hopefully we check all our thoughts and decisions by running them through the wisest of all organs, our heart, before we act on them

Hermit - although I'm extroverted by nature, I do have strong hermit tendencies as well. I did The Hermit tarot card for a collective art project and it was really the beginning of a new focus on art in my life after several decades hiatus

heal - we need to remember to allow healing in our lives, and to help others heal - sometimes by actively helping them, sometimes by having the courage to let them learn the lessons they need to learn

health - one of our most valuable treasures in life. If you've got it, don't forget to appreciate it. If you don't have it, try to cultivate it in as many ways, big and small, as is possible for you.

hippy - I'm actually not old enough to have, technically, been a hippy. I was only 13 at the end of the hippy era. However, I often get asked or accused of being "an ol' hippy", which I think is sort of odd, but I take it as a compliment. Honestly, I think it's more a misunderstanding of what the hippy movement was really about because in some ways I would have been a hippy and in other ways I totally would have missed the mark

hoarfrost - I love the look of hoarfrost. In this part of the country, they call it pogonip, which is a great word from a local Native American language

hollyhocks - one of my favorite old fashioned flowers

homeopathy - a very useful addendum to anyone's health care. I was very fortunate when my kids were young to have access to a family doctor that practiced both allopathic and homeopathic medicine.

home - the center of my life, regardless of how often I'm away from it

homemaker - when you have to fill in those little boxes on forms, this is what I've put down for my occupation the last two and a half decades. Lately, just ever so lately, I've been thinking of writing something else - writer, or artist

homebirth - All but one of my kids were born at home. It's a nice way, when possible, to welcome someone new into the world

Hogwarts - wouldn't you love to go Hogwarts!? The sorting cap put me in Gryffindor. I thought it might put me in Ravenclaw, since I'm sorta an intellectual, but I feel honored to have been considered worthy of the Gryffindor house.

Hoffman, Alice - one of my favorite authors

Hamilton, Laurell - another favorite author

hobbies - it's sort of a good/bad thing. I love having so many interests. I'm never bored. It would take me a dozen lives to simply do, make, learn, create, experience, see all the things that capture my interest. On the other hand, I'm always overwhelmed, and - OOoooh! Shiny! - easily distracted. It's hard to focus when you have too many things to focus on. Bottom line, I've got too many of them.

happiness - My personal take on this is - a person is only as happy as they choose to be. One can be happy about things or events or opportunities, but those are temporary, if enjoyable happinesses - like fireworks - they're impressive but the feeling dissappears before you can really finish enjoying it and if you aren't careful sometimes even leaves a person feeling less happy in the long run. Deep happiness, the kind you can call upon anywhere and anytime, comes from nothing and everything and is something someone chooses to have and cultivate in their life.