PERSEPHONE EMERGES WITH AN ITCH TO WRITE, AND A GIVEAWAY

With a huge sigh of relief, and grateful thanks to Patty ("Autumn's Meadow") who found it on bloglines, here is the post I lost (all re-typed 'cause Blogger won't let me cut and paste anymore):

I have mentioned here before that I felt like Persephone this past winter, spending the last five brutal months underground. Do you remember the story of Persephone?

In Greek mythology, Persephone was a young goddess, the daughter of the goddess Demeter and Zeus, king of the gods. One time when Persephone was playing in a flowery meadow with her companions, she was seized by Zeus' brother, Hades, and carted off to the underworld to be his bride. Her mother despaired at her disappearance and searched for her throughout the world.

When Demeter learned that Zeus had conspired in her daughter's abduction she was furious, and refused to let the earth bear fruit until Persephone was returned. Zeus consented, but because the girl had tasted of the food of the underworld - a handful of pomegranate seeds - she was forced to forever spend a part of each year with her husband in the underworld. Persephone's annual return to the earth each spring is marked by the flowering of the meadows and the growth of new grain.

Hades, of course, is another word for hell, and hellish is an apt adjective to describe my feelings this past winter. It was a time of depression and darkness. I was not merely cocooning; I was trapped in the cocoon, in the dark, as blind as a vole. I was shut down, going nowhere, merely existing, it seemed.

But I have discovered that my time underground was not totally fallow.

I have a question for you:

"What seeds have been planted in you, that have been laying asleep in the winter, have just moved on their own in your life? Can you sense an impending something in your life? Is there something that is yet to manifest above ground into physical reality, yet lies there just sprouting under the dark covering blanket of Earth inside you? How can you nurture this seedling in the coming days and months?"

~ Sig Lonegren

There was something lying dormant in me that did begin to sprout in late winter and now is a sturdy, strong seedling. I began an online writing project with a friend that has become one of my greatest pleasures. For now, this project is private, and it may remain ever thus.

This project involved a lot of research, both online and in reference books. When I emerged into the light of day this spring, I was surprised and proud to discover how much information I had absorbed during those seemingly dead days.

And, in my newly awakened state, I have discovered that my true calling is the written word, and not the visual arts. To that end, I am divesting myself of a lot of art supplies. I am making up a couple of Giveaway Grab Bags (or boxes, I should say) of art materials. Here's a just a sampling of what will be in each box: beads, ribbon, watercolors, embellishments, stencils, colored pencils, pastels, art papers, rubber stamps, lettering, glitter. This is nice stuff, not old junk.

Is there a dream, a talent, a poem or story, an aspiration - something inside you that was lying dormant and is now just emerging? I would love to hear about it. Post a comment here and I'll enter you in the drawing. Or, just leave a general comment telling me how much you'd love to receive a box of cool creative stuff! Please indicate which type of Material Girl you are: "Artsy Fartsy" or "Scrapper".

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Hooray! The first flowers of the year! Yellow crocuses have been spotted in Bismarck, peeking through last autumn's dead leaves. With the help of three days of temperatures in the 60s and 70s F, spring is FINALLY here. The snow is gone, except for a few ice piles pushed up by plows in parking lots.

Although I have not been writing about the flooding situation, it - unlike the snow - has not gone away. Just a couple of days ago, every county but one in the entire state was under a flood watch.

The focus has shifted away from Bismarck and Fargo. Now, the city of Jamestown is besieged by the James River. The pretty little city of Valley City and the town of Lisbon are being ravaged by the Sheyenne River. Valley City State University has closed for the rest of the year. To the north, the Souris, which means mouse in French, has become The Mouse That Roared.

Locally, Apple Creek has turned from placid stream to torrent, and all roads to the city of Lincoln were closed. This little town five miles southeast of Bismarck is where my sister lives. She and the other residents were basically stranded for a time and still have to take long detours to get to Bismarck!

This week, I saw a sight I never thought I'd see. Interstate Highway 94 was closed, not due to a snowstorm (a common enough occurrence), but due to water washing over it!

Many, many of the state's secondary roads were washed out or weakened by the flood waters. Hundreds of baby calves died. One man drowned. The property damages will run in the millions of dollars. It will take a long time for our state - and our people - to recover from this.