MaryAlice Musings and More

My grand daughter has been taking horse riding (Dressage) lessons for a little more than three months.  She came to see me at work during the first part of August and she was dressed in her boots, and pants and had her helmet (pink), and she looked like she could walk into any arena!  I have been trying to go to the stables every other week or so to see her.  Diana her teacher doesn't mind at all when Gramma comes, and I have been fascinated at each and every lesson.  Myah, does all the preparation for the horse, she rides Satin and Nick and has taken one ride on Libby.  They all are or have been show horses, they are beautiful and big and Myah looks even tinier than she is as she leans over and brushes the horse, and prepares him or her for their time in the arena.   Her teacher is inspiring, just the right mixture of push, reaching for exactness, for perfection, and rewarding both rider and horse throughout the lesson. Yesterday, when I walked into the arena - Myah had started he...

I walked the Labyrinth with the Red Tent women for the equinox.  They offered this blessing for all of us, for the season, and I am offering it to you.  As you read imagine a lit candle on your left and a lit candle on your right.  This prayer is for every day not just on the autumnal equinox, rather for us as we move into the darkness, travel within, find the gifts within the dark, and we move from equinox to solstice! A Fall Equinox Blessing A balance of night and day, a balance of light and dark Tonight I seek balance in my life as it is found in the Universe. One candle for darkness and pain and things I can eliminate from my life. Another candle for the light, and for joy and all the abundance I wish to bring forth. At tis time of the equinox, there is harmony and balance in the Universe, and so there shall be in my life.

I am sitting in a little "nest" on the top floor of a wonderful home in Hovland, MN.  The waves are crashing on the rocks, the sun has created brilliant sparkles dancing across the water.   Sunrise was bigger than life, and the sun just popped up without a cloud.  There are no "salties" or barges that I can see yet, but some are due in harbor at Duluth so they will be coming past sometime today.  It is so soothing the sounds of the water, the breeze, and how remarkable that it is so warm.   This is the last of my "mini-vacations" for end of summer!  People at work, just think this is what I am going to keep doing, and I might.  Everywhere has been to where there are few people, no bustle, and great natural beauty.  It has soothed my soul, and I can feel the pull.   Feel the way in which my heart and my spirit are dancing with each other, helping me to find myself entwined in it all.

I am watching the moon rise above the horizon,  feeling the tugs of a day full of wide emotional tugs, and wondering how can I be more fired up, ready to go.  What can I do to help move health care reform along?  I'm going to watch the moon for right now.  I am going to imagine that we as a country can do this, and it can be right enough for now.  I am going to find that place within me that stills pumps out hope, and just stay there for a moment.

At acupuncture today we were able to do a treatment that opens one up to the fullness of the spirit - "windows to the sky".  Five Element Acupuncture is so rooted in nature and allows one to go to such a basic constitutional level - it is just the right support that I want and yearn for in my life right now.  Rachael (my acupuncturist) said before she did the points, that it would feel like an expansive opening up  - and yes it is!  How great to have some deep moments of feeling such balance within self.  Then on the way home I was listening to jazz 88.5 fm --- and there was Ben Sidran talking to the host of Jazz and the Spirit - about his cd - life's a lesson --- liturgical jewish music!  Many of the vocal tracks were recorded in Minneapolis and I was there listening and loving the singing of my friends Lynette and Ben.  The cd (Life's a Lesson - bensidran.com ) has been balm for many times of travail in my life, and a lesson on how music can be such a prayer.  It fe...

It was one year ago today that I was brought home from the hospital after my nose and throat surgery for sleep apnea.  I started this blog as a way to share about my recovery and more importantly to reflect within myself and to share those reflections. So here it is one year,  my sleep apnea is gone, totally!  I have lost 25+ pounds, and overall I feel great!  I have started 5 Element Acupuncture and I feel the results of restfulness of sleeping well, of being refreshed!   This blog (although I have been more neglectful this summer) has been a good way for me to engage with my environment, with my internal landscape, and to share with no expectations that someone will return something to me. I have just returned from my friend Fina's Wisconsin farm,  I saw her last year just before my surgery, and returned again to bask in the beauty and to participate in the bounty of late summer!   So I have returned home one year from returning home from the hospital, in great pain and at the ve...