The Diamond Island

Oh boy, no sooner have I survived Thanksgiving (thank God) then the super booster sends life right into the most horrible time of the year like a bonus round right out of Hek. Santa Claws is coming to town again and I’m all out of vuvuzellas this time. Final alert!

In other words, the biggest holiday of the year for me is now in full effect.

I call it the Holidaze. It starts on so-called “Black Friday” and ends on New Year’s Day. In between that time is the last darkening of the light as hell on earth reaches its peak and then peters out with the solstice. Always a spiritually trying time for me.

Everybody always seems so out of it, which affects my general well-being. I try to make the best of things and do good deeds but most of the time I feel like Charlie Brown in the smoulder pit.

This year though, something seems different. Oh yeah, I changed a lot this last year what with my adventure coming to a close and finding myself in a different frame of mind, or at least a more complete one. I think I will explore this a little as I go about my usual holidaze experiences.

The season may be weird and disorienting, but it’s also often charged with possibilities and a little magic. I got my guard up, but I’m also open to new possibilities. Something does feel different.

Up here in the treehouse, among the tall and magnificent trees, K and I have been maintaining a rest stop for the birds. On our back porch we have a bird bath, a seed and a suet station, and a multitude of plants. Even some flowers and a liquid feeder for the hummingbirds. The birds are getting the full on treatment.

Hey, it’s cat TV for the three cats of Daenerys Targaryen as we call them now. Anything to keep the little furballs entertained I tell you.

However, it’s also deeply satisfying to support the little wingeds. Seeing them go about their business and making their various sounds is relaxing. We’ve gotten to see and hear so many birds now—chickadees, nuthatches, spotted towhees, and grosbeaks. Hummingbirds galore, more than I’ve ever seen before. I get experience points just thinking about it.

Now though, we’re starting to see a whole new range of birds. Big birds. Unnervingly big. Northern flickers (pictured in this post), pileated woodpeckers, and big blue jays with mohawk looking tufts on their heads and loud distinctive cries. They’re beautiful creatures, gorgeous to behold, and we see them often. K and I will be working on our computers, hear a certain chirp or tweet, and look out the window to our side to find exciting friends going to town on our gifts of seed and suet.

Next of course come the predators—the hawks and then the barred owls with their distinctive hooting sound. Hearing them so close all the time, and spotting them regularly as they sit on a branch just outside or swoop down to catch something in the meadow below. It’s truly a healing, powerful experience to be in such company.

Crows inevitably follow, harassing the larger predators and bugging them until they go away. The crows don’t want the seed or suet. They want junk food and roadkill more than anything else. Other birds show their bravery against the large predators as well: Robins buzzing the larger avians to keep them away from the nest. Quite an inspiring and incredible sight!

The tiny little birds hopping around the porch amid the lushly growing plant life we’ve provided, pecking at the seeds strewn about by their more messy cousins. The huge birds as big as our cats coming over to snack on some berry suet and check out what’s going on. What fun and excitement!

Then the grown up babies start jumping in from the branches, doing micro flights to pick up their own meal under the watchful eyes of the parents.

This is wonder.

Here is the PDX Gingerbread Witch Spider Cookie that I ate.

Sickly sweet with a hint of spice, but definitely not nice. I got a small stomach quese-out after eating her. You’d have to be on serious business to eat a cookie like this.

Looking at one of my old tarot card paintings, I see the word “haiaa” written randomly in the folds of the volcano. Searching for the word on the Internet, the first thing that comes up is that in India it’s a word for “become”.

There’s a great horned owl outside. He’s established a territory in the woods around the secret treehouse I’ve been hiding in. Identified him and what he was doing through the sounds he makes.

Lots of woodpeckers too. Pileated, Northern Flicker, and two others I can’t identify yet. They like the food put out for them, and the plants all around on the porch that make the feeding seem safe.

I obtained a Bee Adventure Kit for the mason bees and put it together. It sits outside amongst the plants waiting for arrivals. A friend of mine also donated a bee hive to a struggling family in my name. More beekeeper experience points.

Lunar full moon in Scorpio releasing so much supportive energy towards me that I felt extra-energzied. Frankie was an absolute terror, escaped the treehouse and had to be recaptured—her favorite game. She needed lots of attention and a walkies to finally settle her down to the OMG level.

Got some horoscope clues about my life destiny. Very strong indicators that what I want match up with the things I’m here for. Getting there is the part that’s unknown to me. Clear goals, not so clear path.

Wore my Shiva message bracelet in the wooded park today, as K and I made our rounds along the crowded trail. I don’t want to be destroyed, but I’m also feeling like the trap I’m still in is greater than my abilities to escape from.

I don’t know what comes next, exactly. Now that I’ve faced my fears and vanquished my dragon, regained myself—deliverance is coming. The form it will take, still unknown. Brontosaur, my trusty UFO, flies on towards home. Soon I’ll know what comes next!

Today I sent out the books for the five winners of my Goodreads giveaway. 620 people signed up for the giveaway and 273 of them put me on their to-read list. I’ve gone from a complete unknown to a mostly unknown author, hooray!

Today was a wonderful, sunny day. The bird feeder was refreshed, and the birds came in like gangbusters. They picked the corn and sunflower seeds out and went back to the nest. Good times. I gave Frankie a taste of the air and the sunlight; she was stunned, but purred and soaked it in like a little solar panel.

The cats all got love today; pet-downs and cat-grass. All of them calmly purring and happy, dozing off into sleep in the sun-filled apartment. Very soothing.

I also sent out a birthday card, so bonus round!