Swimming Cold
February 8, 2011For years I swam the Pacific in winter. The water was so cold I had to spend five minutes submerging my head until the pain gave way to numbness, just so I could do a mile.
Category: story
Skins
January 25, 2011… despite our toxic times there are still creatures that live on land but respirate like fish.
Journey With The Amphibians
January 18, 2011My new years resolution is to become an amphibian.
Thanks For The Dance
January 13, 2011Last night I felt gratitude for the dance training of my childhood. Reflecting on my sons forays into pre-school, I lost sight of the pain I usally feel when I think about dance.
Santa Solution Follow-Up
January 4, 2011The star wand turned out the best, that was Santa’s gift to my son. Filled with the joy of Christmas as well as the light of a star, it was to be his for the rest of the year, keeping the holiday spirit alive.
The Santa Solution
December 18, 2010Shamanism teaches us that any being in our awareness can appear to us as a helping spirit when we journey to the upper or lower worlds of Non-Ordinary Reality (NOR). I’ve found that figures like Santa are especially helpful to journey to.
Showing UP
November 30, 2010How much responsibility for my own healing can I take? Does getting better have to stop when I’m not being assisted by someone else?
The River Beneath
November 19, 2010After spending an hour getting the frozen muscles surrounding my spine to loosen up, my healer discovered a river beneath the tension.
The Liquid Self
November 8, 2010We are rivers, each one of us. We have currents and pulses, silent pools and cascading torrents of rushing water.
Healing the Serpent Spine
October 29, 2010Closing my eyes I welcomed the serpents breath and felt it cloak my spine, searching for signs of soft tissue wetness.
Intimacy Made Tangible
October 22, 2010I don’t stop to think about how much community flows from the couples in my life.
Harvesting Story
October 7, 2010We are the makers of story, and story is the maker of us.
Selkie Dreams
September 21, 2010Its not hard to see a Selkie in every Seal or Sea Lion you meet alone in the Ocean. They treat you as an equal, as kin.
The Cauldron of Autumn
September 9, 2010Autumn used to be the time to savor my most intense feelings. Wrapping them tightly in earthen bundles, I’d carry them into the woods on aimless walks.
The Victory of The Dove
August 30, 2010Omens are a way life can change who we are. They are not just messages, they are reworkings of the place where our spirits and the material world connect.
Remembering The Sacred
August 5, 2010This morning I got a very strong feeling while dancing. It was an awareness of being involved in a quiet cultural movement with many divergent tributaries.
Tending The Family Fire
July 28, 2010There Is Really Just One Project.
The Americans
July 5, 2010The event that turned the tide was completely unexpected but uniquely American: fireworks.
Solutio: We Are Water
May 20, 2010A culture that understands Solutio cannot pollute its Oceans as we now are.
Calcinatio – What of the Fire Beneath the Cauldron?
May 12, 2010What’s left is only that which is essential – only that which can embody the transcendent.
Separatio
April 29, 2010Alchemy only works when you begin with separate elements. A little of this+a little of that = gold.
Things I learned when my Dad died.
April 19, 2010The sudden death of someone close is like walking away from a really bad car crash. Even though you’re unscathed, every molecule in your body suffers an impact.
intersections
April 8, 2010conduits, metal seeds, oil drums
from the Del Monte’s who
shake the earth
to see what money will drop out.
forgive
April 2, 2010I thought I had forgiveness.
Warrior
September 14, 2009We stumbled across the Barrel Race on a lazy Saturday afternoon drive in our new neighborhood. A strong tradition of horsemanship permeates life here, we…
Habitat Epilogue – Kitty Crop
August 13, 2009As I’m writing this our Feral Kitty Momma is on her way to be fixed. Her ear will be clipped and, assuming she has…
Habitat
July 28, 2009This morning I arose at dawn to dance. Its a ritual I began over a year ago, just before we moved into our new home….
Of Suffering And Sovereignty
June 25, 2009A few months ago I played the Beheading Game. Don’t worry, my head was returned to me – though I’m sure its not…
Epic Fruit
June 16, 2009This evening I walked our acre of land with my son. We’ve only lived here a little less than a year, just enough time for…
A Gift From The Slough
June 3, 2009I was talking with my Teacher Tree the other morning about my life. To talk to a tree you have to first open your heart…
Ass Over Tea Kettle
May 22, 2009My wife tried to win that contest for years. Cyclists of all skill levels sent in photos of their most epic crashes, or the bloody…
Blind Curve
May 12, 2009The curve on Hagar Drive at UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) is graceful and easy to take at 10 miles over its posted speed. I…
Pandemic Culture
April 30, 2009Pandemic Culture And Community Healing The recent outbreak of Swine Flu has reminded us of a fact the developing world is aware of every day…
Learning To Mono-Task
March 23, 2009I’ve decided its time to leave the multi-tasker. I know its hard to believe. I was so in love, so enamored with my ability to…
Flip Flops
February 23, 2009It happened yesterday evening – I put on my flip-flops for the first time since winter began. Screw Punxsutawney Phil, the Weather Channel and the…
Icarus Falls
January 23, 2009Last night my wife and I rented the 1974 disaster classic “Towering Inferno”. Following on the heals of Airport (1970), the Poseidon Adventure (1972), and…
Midlife Merman
October 23, 2008Midlife Merman There are a lot of midlife crisis junkets I could have hopped on. Restoring my hairline should have been at the top…
California Burns
June 23, 2008Its 9:40 pm and I’m sitting outside in shorts, typing on my laptop as fire trucks scream out of the station up the street and…