Coneflower Ranch

Aum Voyage

My friend, Maureen, teaches bellydancing and used to hold her class at a community center in her town. The class before hers was a Qigong class taught by a very nice woman named, Dahlia. About two years ago, Dahlia began hosting an Aum(Om) meditation once a month and Dennis and I have been going just about every month ever since.

There is a small group of us, sometimes only four and we chant for an hour then meditate for twenty minutes. It's a wonderful experience. Once in a while there is another man who participates but usually it is all women and Dennis. The sound we create is amazing. Last night there were eight of us and it sounded as if there were twenty. Everyone finds there own pitch; the tone that resonates for them and we chant "Aum". Adherence to a particular belief system isn't required to engage in and benefit from this powerful experience.

"Aum" is from Hinduism and the symbol represents the absolute and unknowable creator of all. The sound itself is said to be the sound of creation. It is all the sounds and transcends sound. My response to statements like that is usually "Okay." Because, really, what can you say to that? Having participated in many Aum chants I can see where this idea came from. It is a very peace-inducing, spirit-lifting, community-making experience and I'm grateful to be a part of it.

Dahlia rearranged the original plan for this month so Dennis could participate one last time before he left for Afghanistan. The other women have grown quite fond of him and there were hugs and tears and well wishes and prayers for his safety and safe return. We will be saving his seat for him in the coming months expecting him in it come January 2009.

Namaste.

Have a cookie

Can you hear me over the cookies? They came out a bit... what's the word? Saturated? Bright? Loud? Let's just say that we way underestimated the intensity of paste food coloring. I'm glad we decided on lavender for the bells instead of gray or you'd be looking at some black christmas cookies and that is even more wrong. These did taste good even if the stars look like they are covered in honey mustard. Yes, they would make good Mardi Gras cookies. The little kids liked them though not as much as we thought they would and we still have a gallon zipper bag full of honey mustard, Mardi Gras cookies. Pook is even sick of them and they were her idea.

I think the trees came out okay and the non-pareils do a decent impression of lights and ornaments. That was the plan anyway.

We had a houseful for Christmas and it was fun. Of course, Dennis, the children and I are a houseful by ourselves. Add my three siblings, their spouses and children, throw in my parents and somehow a full house is even fuller. Grandma bailed on us and stayed home. She is almost ninety and it's at least a ninety-minute ride from her house to mine so I don't really blame her. She spent the day with her youngest daughter who lives nearby.

I made the Figgy Duff anyway and it didn't come out quite right. Turns out that when Grandma's hearing aid acts up she just agrees with whatever you say to her. I guess that is less trouble than making everyone repeat themselves but it makes for subpar recipe directions. So when she was discussing the proper cooking techique for the Figgy Duff with my sister, Dot, she gave bad information. You're supposed to put the batter in a cloth bag, tie off the bag and submerge the whole thing in simmering water. It matters a great deal how much room you leave in the bag between the uncooked batter and the tie. That's where Grandma's hearing aid screwed us. We both made Figgy Duff and left too much room in the bag. Dot's came out like pudding and mine was about half Duff, half pudding. It tasted good but was completely unworthy of a photo.

Of course that doesn't go for Grandma.

She is quite photo worthy. This was taken this year at our family Christmas Party. Grandma has recently decided to stop coloring her hair. I can't tell you how much that cracks me up. Finally, now, at the age of 89 she is going natural, which in her case is white. For as long as I can remember she has gone to the Beauty Parlor once a week to have her hair done and has come home with blond poufy hair. I actually like the white it was just a bit startingly after forty-some years of blond. 

It was nice to have little, tiny children in the house for Christmas. I love that they get excited by the most commonplace things and it's delightful to watch. Matthew's daughter, who is about 18 months old, was playing with a bowlful of Hershey's kisses completely unaware that there was chocolate under the pretty foil. The look on her face when she saw one of my girls unwrap a kiss and eat it was priceless. Then she looked back at the pile of kisses in front her and you could see the realization dawn. It was too cute.

My brother-in-law, John, my son and my daughter, Dorothy's boyfriend, Colin, played an impromptu acoustic guitar concert in the family room. They drew quite a crowd.

There was gifts, jokes, music and good food, decent wine, and way too much dessert. Seriously, we ate pie for breakfast for days. And I still have several gallon zipper bags full of cookies. It was a very nice Christmas.