Saturday, September 14, 2013

Changing Seasons



I’m afraid that summer is on the wane. It’s been a bit easy to think that maybe it was not quite over – especially with temperatures in the 90s this past week.

This morning, however, there is a nip in the air. Although the sun is back casting lovely shadows across the grass, the breeze made me reach for my fleece.  It’s time to savor the flowers that remain, to make sure to enjoy some fresh produce and spend time outside. Autumn is fast approaching.

School is firmly underway. I am slowly getting used to the schedule, remembering names and waking up on time. In the summer I take care of the stacks and the library collection. In September, it’s all about the kids. Once we have all the beginning of the year things under control, I’ll be sneaking a peak at the collection again, but September is not the time.

Other things in life are changing, pulling together. Sometimes you plant seeds wondering if anything will come of it. Sometimes all the seeds come to fruition all at once. It feels like that right now. It’s exciting and overwhelming. I keep reminding myself to breathe.

All of this makes me think of Yota Schneider. Her course “Letting Go and Moving Forward, a 4 – weekonline-learning course on the process of letting go and moving on – withconfidence and enthusiasm” starts on September 16 (just 2 days away). I was a member of her beta class. It was an amazing experience. I took the class hoping to find a way to reconcile myself to letting go of some of the things that I could no longer fit in my life. I wanted to hang on to the things that worked for me….the only problem is that I no longer had time to fit them into my current life.

I came out with so much more than that. In fact, the timing was brilliant. Life moves forward whether we choose to or not. I was in the “Kicking and screaming” denial phase. Yota’s class was helpful in the short term, but I can see that it has been a powerful experience for me long term as well. The subtle shifts in the way I viewed the way my path was changing helped me to turn from denial and hanging on, to embracing the reality of my present. From acceptance comes the ability to find the beauty in what is offered.

Since then I have lived much more in the moment and have found that I find so much more joy this way. It does not mean that I don’t plan for the future. The importance of the day I am living has become front and center.  Sometimes that means doing tasks today that will make the future brighter. Other times it means refueling to be ready for that future. In either case, it is easier to notice the beauty around me and the gift of the people who fill my days.

Hope you are making the transition to Autumn with joy. If not, why not give Yota’s course a try? I know I’m grateful that it was there for me. 

Monday, September 2, 2013

Adventures in Rabbit Rescue



Treasured Teen has started a new endeavor. Saying it is "new" might be stretching the truth - it was only a matter of time before action would follow the path the heart tread. 

TT, as I sometimes call Treasured Teen, is an animal person. I am a person person, a word person, a person of ideas and words and talk. TT relates to the language of animals, the love and trust, the warmth and cuddling. It took many years for TT to break down my wall of reasons get beyond the fish I had allowed (3 betas in separate tanks) and get the pet she had dreamed of - a rabbit. 

Rabbits are sweet and lovely. I love them, they just make me sneeze. I blow my nose more frequently and must admit that my life is so much better for the companionship of our dear boy Sir Fernly. Rabbits, riding and volunteering at a dog shelter, TT's life revolves around animals. 

The open heart is a funny muscle, however, with ever expansive room for love. TT joined rabbit groups and found her heart breaking for the number of rabbits who are brought home (usually at Easter) only to be discarded like so much green, plastic grass when the novelty wears off and the cage cleaning gets old. TT dreamed of creating a rabbit rescue. 

Miss Madeleine's Bunny Academy was created to foster bunnies in need of homes. (I voted for Halfway Home for Rabbits Who are Down on Their Luck). TT will take in one rabbit at a time, a limit imposed by her supportive (to a point) family. Her first rabbit is Scuppy in the picture above. 

We'd be delighted if you'd follow her adventures in rabbit fostering.