CEUD MILE FAILTE (NOT CEAD!)

(See, I am right, darn it!)

Once again I have been "corrected" by a blog reader who wanted to tell me that the Welcome button on my sidebar is incorrect.

When I first posted this I was corrected because I used the phrase "Ceud Mile Failte". I was told, rather snottily by some people, and nicely by others, that the correct spelling is "Cead." No, I used the spelling "Ceud" deliberately. To clarify things, I changed Gaelic to Scottish Gaelic.

But today, I get a "correction" saying that "Cead Mile Failte" is Irish Gaelic. For heaven's sake, read it correctly : "CEUD MILE FAILTE" - Scottish Gaelic. And yes, I know that it (both Irish and Scottish) means A Hundred Thousand Welcomes, but I shortened it to Welcome.

I suppose, to be ultra correct, I should present it as Ceud Mìle Fàilte, with the accent marks.

To be fair, I have noticed that Cead and Ceud are sometimes used interchangeably. And, when you Google Ceud, you still get 100 times more Cead results than Ceud. However, I am going to be a stickler on this point and continue to use Ceud.

I'm going to prove I'm right by showing a whole bunch of images I found with the word Ceud:

Maybe I should demonstrate the correct spelling of Ceud on my thong. But no one sees my underwear (and they are not thongs anyway). So perhaps I should let my dog advertise it instead:

They get the spelling right at The Country Squire Restaurant in Warsaw, NC (Owner Iris Lennon is of Scottish descent):

And at The Thistle House Bed and Breakfast in Granite Falls, NC:

And at the Texas Scottish Festival and Games:

They have Ceud spelled right on bumper stickers:

And on rubber stamps:

And on cross stitch pictures:

And on a pewter quaich (traditional Scottish drinking cup):

And on commemorative plates:

And on paper napkins:

And on decorative tiles:

You may wonder why I chose to use Ceud over Cead anyway, since I am of both Irish and Scottish descent. For one thing, I feel closer to my Scottish heritage, not having known about my Irish connection until about a half dozen years ago. Second, everyone knows about Irish heritage and symbols - leprechauns, harps, the claddagh, shamrocks and all that.

It seems to me that Scottish Gaelic or Celtic traditions and symbols are less well known. Aside from the ubiquitous bagpipes and tartans, there are several other national symbols of Scotland. For example, see the napkin and tile above, utilizing the thistle.

Do you know why the proud Scots use the thorny, humble thistle as a national symbol? There is a legend which relates how a sleeping party of Scots warriors were almost set upon by an invading band of Vikings and were only saved when one of the attackers trod on a wild thistle with his bare feet. His cries raised the alarm and the roused Scots duly defeated the Danes. In gratitude, the plant became known as the Guardian Thistle and was adopted as the symbol of Scotland.

Sadly, there is no historical evidence to back up the tale. But whatever its origins, the thistle has been an important Scottish symbol for more than 500 years. Perhaps its first recognisable use was on silver coins issued in 1470 during the reign of James III, and from the early 16th century, it was incorporated into the Royal Arms of Scotland.

The members of Scotland's premier Order of Chivalry, The Most Ancient and Noble Order of the Thistle, wear a collar chain whose links are made of golden thistles. The Knights and Ladies of the Thistle also wear a breast star which bears the thistle emblem and a motto which is regularly associated with it, Nemo Me Impune Lacessit  -  " no one provokes me with impunity".

Scottish Rampant Lion Flag

Another popular symbol of Scotland is the lion. It has been used as a heraldic device for many centuries by Scottish kings. William I of Scotland was known as "The Lion" after he introduced the lion symbol into his coat of arms. The Scottish lion has always been shown on the royal shield as being rampant, i.e. standing erect on the hind legs with the head in profile and forelegs extended.

There is a suggestion that perhaps the Kings of Scotland kept a real lion when in residence at the castles of Stirling and Edinburgh. Both castles have a building within the walls known as "The Lion's Den". This flag is really a flag to be used solely by Scotland's royalty, and so in theory at least its usage should be confined to use on state occasions. However, its image can be seen all over Scotland.

Sometimes the lion and the thistle are used together:

Another long-standing symbol of Scotland is the unicorn. The Royal Coat of Arms of Scotland, used prior to 1603 by the kings of Scotland, incorporated a lion rampant shield supported by two unicorns.

Valued for its associations with chastity, nobility, and freedom, the unicorn was a fierce, proud, and dangerous creature. He contended all those who would see him captured or oppressed, and would rather die fighting than surrender and face imprisonment or slavery. It is no wonder, then, that this creature was such a perfect symbol for the Scots, who for centuries struggled to remain independent and free of foreign influence.

Below, the unicorn is shown with other Scottish symbols: the lion rampant, the thistle and Scotland's national flag, the blue and white St. Andrew's flag, or Saltire.

Final Note: Please no more harassing me about Cead/Ceud. Remember, although I appear to be a gentle soul, I have the fierceness of the Scottish unicorn and the roar of the Scottish lion in me. Nemo Me Impune Lacessit!

AUTUMN EQUINOX

I love how Titian tresses are transformed

into autumn leaves in this painting.

The autumn equinox occurred in the central time zone at about 4:00 this  morning. It was a day observed by my ancestors, the ancient Celts. These days it is often called Mabon by neopagans and Wiccans. However, the name Mabon is a modern invention. The Druids called the occasion Alban Elfed.

Be that as it may, it was a harvest festival for the ancients and remains so for us moderns. For this post, I'll go with the name Mabon, especially since I found most of these lovely artistic interpretations of the autumn equinox by Googling "Mabon".  Unfortunately, hardly any of them were credited.



This harvest goddess is also a

dryad, for her gown becomes

the roots of a tree.

The wheel of the year has certainly turned here. It has frozen twice already, once on the 14th and again on the 21st. Each time, I scrounged as many sheets, blankets, comforters, tablecloths and towels as I could find and covered my annuals, both those in pots and those planted in the ground. Ultimately there will come an evening when frost is forecast and I will have to let them go, but not for now.  Because we are experiencing a
delightful Indian Summer that promises to last into early October,  I feel compelled to water, sustain and protect my annuals from Jack Frost.

This is the time for me to purchase pots of yellow and purple mums and also to get more pansies. I buy pansies in the spring, but they always peter out by July, so I jumped at the chance to purchase some of these cool-weather-loving plants at Lowe's for just $3.33 a pot. In yellow and purple tones, they really compliment the mums, as well as the purple scaevola and orange marigolds that are still going strong.



Celts and moderns alike, we all pray

for such abundant harvests as this.

My tulip and daffodil order has arrived, but I am waiting just a bit longer to plant them. About 2 months ago I covered strips of lawn by my front-yard fence with landscape fabric. The grass under the fabric is now yellow, and in a couple of weeks it will be so easy to rototill and amend this ground. In six months or so, it will be awash with spring-flowering bulbs, as well as tiger lilies, a few Martagon lilies (new to me and still on order), and a few more daylilies I couldn't resist (one can never have too many daylilies.)

This year, for the first time, I am planting perennials in the fall. I'm trusting our local nurserymen who say it is okay to do so. I've already planted Black-Eyed Susans (rudbeckia), Carpathian bellflowers, liatris and phlox. Still waiting to be planted are peach-leaved bellflowers (platycodon) and sedum Autumn Joy.

I mentioned that there will be a time when it really isn't feasible to cover my annuals anymore. When they freeze, I will mourn them. But then a sea change will take place in me. Instead of dreading autumn, I will embrace it, buying and setting out pumpkins, picking sprays of maple leaves and seeking out the hidden haunts of bittersweet.

I have always resisted autumn, way back to the days of my childhood when fall meant going back to school. As much as I loved school, I loved summer vacations more. The first sight of wild asters and goldenrod always put me in a melancholy mood. That is why, to this day, I have never have planted either plant in my gardens.

"Mabon" by Elli Mader

Here we see a corn dolly made from

the stalks of wheat. Traditional

corn dollies are much smaller!

"Mabon Demeter" by Wendy Andrew, reminding us of
Persephone, who spends one-half the year underground.

Pumpkins and gourds are Mabon

harvest symbols worldwide.

At the equinox, day and night and

the seasons are in equal balance.

"Mabon" by Rosie Lauren Smith

This painting embraces all the rich browns,

yellows and oranges of autumn.

"Mabon Sleeping Goddess"

(She sleeps to awaken in the spring!)



ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Dan and I at the Sundeck of Aspen - or Ajax -

Mountain, 11,212 feet high


Just after I graduated from college, I made my first trip to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. This past week - FORTY YEARS LATER - I went back. It was good to be on a Rocky Mountain High again.

I won't bore you with a travelogue, per se. I'll just give a few impressions of my trip.

Boulder and Aspen are both such dog-friendly towns. I saw more dogs - and more different breeds -  in a few short days than I do in a year in Bismarck. I'm not exaggerating. Dogs are everywhere - on the plazas, in outdoor restaurants, even welcome on the gondola going up Aspen Mountain. To name just a few, I saw cocker spaniels, an Airedale, a papillon, a drooling Labrador with a bib, Maltese, a bichon frise, an Irish Wolfhound, a Gordon setter, many black labs and even more golden retrievers. Plus, a lone German short hair pointer, which made me lonely for Gracie, stuck back home in a kennel.



Taking the gondola ride up Aspen Mountain was one of the highlights of our trip, which was a mini-family reunion for the Fredericksen boys of Williston, ND. (I say mini-reunion because one brother didn't bother to come, and there were no kids or grandkids, just the "boys" and their wives.

From the top of the mountain, you can see the Continental Divide, the Elk Mountain range of the Rockies and a glimpse of the famous Maroon Bells. Called "fourteeners", each of the Maroon Bells is over 14,000 feet high.

The Maroon bells are the farthest-back, deep

blue mountains just to the left of Dan's cap

Boulder and Aspen are both Colorado mountain cities, but they are so different. Boulder is a funky college-town, full of youthful students, runners and bikers, old hippies and tree huggers of all ages. Aspen is a town for old money, new money and newer celebrities. Instead of New Age shops, there are expensive art galleries and very high end stores like Prada.

Since my Achilles tendinitis was really bothering me, I knew I couldn't do much shopping in Boulder, but I had hoped to check out some shops that I had Googled. I only made it into two. But I did find some lovely garden ornaments at one, West End Gardener.



Pearl Street, Boulder, CO

I had much the same problem in Aspen, compounded by trying to keep up with Dana and Bonny, my two fitter sisters-in-law, and the high altitude which made me huff and puff even more than usual.

We enjoyed an outdoor dinner one evening at the

lovely Italian restaurant, Campo Di Fiori, in Aspen



I knew most Aspen shops would be off limits budget-wise. The shops there are so expensive that you don't even dare venture inside. However, Dana brought us to a place she knew I would love, the very charming Explore Booksellers, shown below.

Explore Booksellers

The newly-restored Victorian splendor

of The Hotel Jerome in Aspen

I was to find another great shop, however. After we had lunch in the outdoor restaurant at the resplendent Hotel Jerome, we walked across the street to find the little "Old Hippie Antique Shop" in a bright yellow clapboard house with dark green trim. There, I found a gorgeous, tall (and heavy) blue and white Italian vase for a great bargain. Bonny and Dana were gracious enough to carry it back to the van for me!

The six of us stayed at The Timbers Club at

Snowmass Village, just a few miles from Aspen

The Gathering Room at The Timbers

The night before Dan and I left (we had to leave earlier than the others), we all did get to have a down home, meat and potatoes dinner: steaks brought from ND by Dan and me, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, toasted bread and salad. And afterward, the six of us hunkered down before the fireplace to listen to the "boys" - Dickie, Danny and Scotty - reminisce about their grandparents' homestead,  their boyhood days, their parents and other beloved relatives. It was a great ending to a great trip.

In front of the fireplace

at The Timbers Club

GARDEN GODDESS

"GARDEN GODDESS", painting by Sandra Bos

I have my very own Garden Goddess! She could be the one above, or she could be this one:

"GARDEN GODDESS" Daylily

She could be the statue above, or the one below.

But she is none of those. My Garden Goddess is a real, living, breathing woman!

Let me back up a bit. The main reason I haven't been blogging much this summer is that I returned to gardening after a long absence. That meant that my flower beds and yard were very overgrown. I have been feverishly planting, weeding, deadheading, fertilizing, cutting back grapevine. In addition, I have had a couple of guys assisting me with the heavy stuff. The first one I hired, back in May, was my niece's boyfriend. He was really fast and a whiz with the chain saw.  But then the flooding started and since he works in the moving business he became too busy to help me any more.

So then I hired a guy who did quite a bit of the heavy work, including cutting down more saplings, moving large paving blocks, removing some railroad ties and rototilling and amending three small garden beds. However, he turned out to be a less-than-desirable employee.

Just last weekend I finally caught up on planting after getting 15 hostas in the ground and moving some annuals to better spots. The front yard actually looked pretty good, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

That relief was short lived, however, as I did some baaad, baaad things. I bought some Black-eyed Susans, a Russian Sage and Carpathian Bellflowers on impulse at a home improvement store. I also answered online ads from a couple of local ladies who were dividing their perennials. I visited both homes and came away with armloads of daylilies, irises, a peony, some Asiatic lilies, liatris, phlox and a couple of bergenia (which I've never grown).

When I got home and unpacked my plants, I panicked. Here it is the end of August and I'm planning on leaving for vacation in a week. Every muscle in my lower back and legs hurts. I have worked through this pain for months hoping it was just "getting in shape" stiffness and soreness, but it never went away. I thought,  "I just can't do this anymore!" I was finally at the end of my rope, with a whole bunch more plants to get in the ground, and no more garden beds ready.

Fortunately, I was rescued by the same site that got me into trouble in the first place. The ad placed at bismanonline by "Garden Goddess", aka Vicki, was a god(des)send to me. Vicki came over Friday afternoon, took the tour, listened to my plans/dreams and added some ideas of her own. Saturday afternoon she came over ready to work, and within a couple of hours she had moved a bunch of rocks, re-located the paving blocks, dug up and amended a small garden bed and planted a lot of those plants. She'll be over on Tuesday to dig up another bed and plant the daylilies. (To give me just a little credit, I did get the irises and bergenias planted Saturday evening.)

Thank the heavens above and whatever gods or goddesses may have been involved in helping me find my very own Garden Goddess!

I LOVE MICKIE MUELLER

"WILLOW" Oracle Card by Mickie Mueller

Those of you who read my blog regularly know how much I love Celtic fantasy art, and one of my favorite Celtic fantasy artists is Mickie Mueller. I have used her artwork several times in my posts and have ordered from her Etsy shop.

I'm writing this post to say that if you love her work as much as I do, she is giving away $160.00 worth of products from her Etsy shop! This giveaway is in celebration of attaining 100 followers on her blog and the recent publication of the beautiful "Voice of the Trees", her Celtic divination oracle deck and book. "Voice of the Trees" is based on the Ogham, the ancient Celtic writing system.

 Here's what you win if your name is chosen:

Voice of the Trees deck, signed and personalised to you
Voice of the Trees satin storage bag featuring the Oak card
2012 Llewellyn Magical Almanac featuring 2 articles and illustrations by Mickie, signed
Wooden "piano hinge" treasure box, velvet lined, featuring Rowan Fairy art, signed on the bottom
Triple Goddess full color tote bag
2 mini pocket mirrors
1 stainless steel Triple Goddess two sided compact mirror
5x7 Lugh of the Long Arm print, signed
Autumn Blessings garden flag
Priestess of Bast oval tile signed on the back
Rhiannon bookmark, signed
Thin Veil incense, this was a prototype package

I don't know when I've ever seen a giveaway packed with as many, and valuable, goodies as this one. Entering is easy. Just go to Mickie's blog

(www.mickiemuellerart.blogspot.com)

and follow the directions. You can enter up to three times if you wish.

"The Ogham Shield"

Because it features a strong Celtic warrior woman, The Ogham Shield, which I have reproduced on my sidebar, is my favorite image from the Oracle Deck. Mickie has done a fantastic amount of research not only on Celtic tree lore but also how the Celts lived and dressed.

Here's how Mickie's website describes "Voice of the Trees": "A wonderfully re-imagined presentation of Celtic Ogham divination and lore that is more accessible and easier to learn than ever before. Drawing upon the ancient legends of the Celts and tree lore, magical artist Mickie Mueller set forth to bring the Ogham teachings into a format for modern practitioners to use in intuitive card readings, meditation and ritual. Listen to the Voice of the Trees, they have much to teach you."

"Ivy" is another of my favorite of Mickie's artworks. To see them all, go to her Etsy shop at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mickiemuellerstudio

WHAT ARE YOU READING, PART TWO

Idly pursuing the USA Today yesterday, I decided to check out their list of the 50-top selling books. Although I consider myself a prolific reader, I have read only 8 of them. Well, 8.5. I bought Dan "Unbroken" for Christmas, and while he has never touched it, I have dipped into it quite a bit. Hence the .5 of a book.

The 8 I have read are "The Help" (#1), "Water for Elephants" and "State of Wonder", all mentioned in my previous post; Stieg Larsson's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Girl That Kicked The Hornet's Nest" (where's the third one?); the first Harry Potter book (where are the rest?); "Room" by Emma Donoghue, a great thriller about a 5-year-old boy held captive with his mother in a single room, the only world he knows; and "Sarah's Key" by Tatiana Rosnay (more on that one later).

There are only a couple of more books I would even want to read: "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson, "Bossypants" by Tina Fey and possibly "Before I Go to Sleep" by S. J. Watson.

So why haven't I read more? Probably because there are so many authors on the list that I wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole, like Danielle Steele, Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Weiner, Fern Michaels, Catherine Coulter,  etc. I'm not claiming to be an intellectual, but I think my reading habits are usually a cut above those novelists.

Anyway, back to "Sarah's Key" and the reason I'm writing this post. I didn't know until yesterday that this touching, unforgettable book has been turned into a movie starring Kristin Scott Thomas. It was released July 22 but is not in Bismarck yet. According to US Today, this is another novel "getting a boost from the film industry". Just before the movie was released, sales of "Sarah's Key" doubled. (It has already spent 117 weeks on the top 150 and is now at #19.)

"Sarah's Key" has been described as a wrenching Holocaust novel. It is based on the events of the Vel d'Hiv roundup of French Jews. Here's a summary:

Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard -  their secret hiding place - and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

 

 

Sixty years later: Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own romantic future.

Scott Thomas relates that she was eager to make the film, in part because her Jewish mother-in-law was one of the many children hidden away from the Nazis.

WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS SUMMER?

Last year I had a goal to read 200 books in one year, and I made it! (Thanks in great part to being unemployed for most of the year.)This year, I am way, way "behind", but then again I did not set any goal.

In fact, I only read two books in June. That's almost unheard of for me. But I was so busy, returning to gardening again after a hiatus of at least three years. I was so exhausted from planting, weeding, and clearing away old unwanted or broken down garden stuff that I usually fell into bed right after supper. But now, with most of the hard work done, I am back to reading on the deck on the west side of my house. Since it is so light so long up here in NoDak country, some nights I was able to read until almost 10 p.m.

I have read a couple of memorable new books so far. Inspired by the July 21st post by Loretta Marvel at "Pomegranates and Paper" (on my sidebar), I have decided to share them with you. One is "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain. It's a fictionalized account of the life led by Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, during their days in Paris. McLain gives a wonderful account of the Hemingways' and other famous writers' lives in post-war Paris up until the time that Ernest throws Hadley over for the woman who will soon be his second wife.

The second is "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett. Patchett is one of my favorite authors, be it fiction ("Bel Canto") or non-fiction ("Truth and Beauty: A Friendship"). Pharmaceutical researcher Dr. Marina Singh leaves a chilly Minnesota spring for the Amazon jungle, looking to find the remains and effects of a colleague who recently died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. But first she must locate Dr. Anneck Swenson and discern why the renowned gynecologist is being so reticent about her research into producing a fertility drug that could be a windfall for her company.

I highly recommend both these books, and I more than likely will be recommending the book I just received yesterday. "Burnt Mountain", by Anne Rivers Siddons, will be the book that I bring out to the deck tonight. I think I've read almost every single one of ARS's books and loved them all, so I'm sure I will love this one too. Set in the South, as are all of Siddons' books, "Burnt Mountain" is described thusly: "Growing up, the only place tomboy Thayer Wentworth felt at home was at her summer camp - Camp Sherwood Forest in the North Carolina Mountains. It was there that she came alive and where she met Nick Abrams, her first love...and first heartbreak.

Years later, Thayer marries Aengus, an Irish professor, and they move into her deceased grandmother's house in Atlanta, only miles from Camp Edgewood on Burnt Mountain where her father died years ago in a car accident. There, Aengus and Thayer lead quiet and happy lives until Aengus is invited up to the camp to tell old Irish tales to the campers. As Aengus spends less time at home and becomes more distant, Thayer must confront dark secrets-about her mother, her first love, and, most devastating of all, her husband."

Now on to a few other books that I also highly recommend. These aren't new, but they are tied into movies that are out now or soon will be. The first is "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan".

Set in 19th Century China, it is the story of two young girls, Lily and Snow Flower, who embark on what becomes a lifelong, intimate friendship when they together undergo the excruciating process of foot binding. Later on, the  "old sames" are separated but carry on their friendship through "nu shu", or secret women's writing, on a fan that is passed back and forth between them. We also witness what pride, misunderstandings and perceived slights can do to even such a firm friendship as theirs.

I have not seen this movie but I cannot see how it could improve on this fantastic book.

Another most excellent book, with a movie by the same name set to open Aug. 10, is "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. It is set during the nascent civil rights movement in Jackson, Miss., "where black women were trusted to raise white children but not to polish the household silver." Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is just home from college in 1962, and, anxious to become a writer, is advised to hone her chops by 'writing about what disturbs you'.

"The budding social activist begins to collect the stories of the black women on whom the country club sets relies and mistrusts, enlisting the help of Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children, and Aibileen's best friend Minny, who's found herself unemployed more than a few times after mouthing off to her white employers. The book Skeeter puts together based on their stories is scathing and shocking, bringing pride and hope to the black community, while giving Skeeter the courage to break down her personal boundaries and pursue her dreams."

The book "Water for Elephants" has been out for years now, and the movie came out earlier this year, so you may have already seen it. But even if you have - or have not - please, please read this wonderful book. Like "Snow Flower and The Secret Fan", my book club and I adored it. Although I thought the movie was great, it cannot begin to describe the characters and world of a traveling circus in the 1930s seen through the eyes of its newly-joined vet, Jacob Jankowski. Though Rosie the Elephant is a charmer even in the movie, her personality really comes to life in the book.

What are you reading this summer? Please leave a comment and let me know.

DRAGONFLIES AND SWALLOWTAILS

Artist  Karen Margulis

When I walked out my door on Saturday morning I saw that my front yard was swarming with dragonflies. Many had also landed on the walls of my house. Their iridescent blue color contrasted nicely with the light gray stucco walls.

It seemed very serendipitous to have them there, as just a few days before I had found an old cast-iron sundial at an "antique" shop. I had been looking around for sundials, including those with a dragonfly theme, but they were all too expensive. At $15.00, this one below fit the bill. I'd like to think that the dragonflies that were swarming around my yard Saturday had stopped by to greet their inanimate companion.

I'm sure the real reason they came by is way more practical. I did some checking and read that dragonflies are attracted to standing water, and we had two good rainstorms last week. (We also had one terrific storm on Sunday, with loud thunder, tornado sirens wailing and hail - which fortunately went south of town and missed us.)

Apparently the standing water attracts/hatches mosquitoes and other insects which in turn attracted the dragonflies. The dragonflies were there to eat the insects and thereby clear our yard of those obnoxious critters.

Reading further, I discovered that dragonflies symbolize good luck and long life in many Eastern cultures. They can also represent prosperity, strength, peace, harmony and purity. The whats-your-sign.com website has this to say about the dragonfly:

As a creature of the wind, the dragonfly totem represents change. Its iridescent wings are incredibly sensitive to the slightest breeze, and so we are reminded to heed where the proverbial wind  blows - lest we run into stormy weather.

Dragonflies are also creatures of the water. In the animal world, water is symbolic of the subconscious mind and relates to the thoughts we have in relaxed/meditative/sleeping/subconscious states.

Artist Karen Margulis

Further symbolic meaning of the dragonfly comes into play when we observe the dragonfly's mode of transportation as it skitters across the top of water surfaces. This implies that our deeper thoughts are surfacing and we must pay attention.

The dragonfly gives us a very powerful meditation tool when we want to visualize positive outcomes in a situation. "Close your eyes, and focus on a thought - let it rise to the surface of your mind's ocean - see that thought float lightly up to the water's surface. Now . . . visualize that thought moving across that water - sliding across - smooth and fast. We see the thought of hope happily moving across an ocean of peace (peaceful mind) and skittering to a perfect outcome."

Lastly it should be noted that the dragonfly lives a short life, and it knows it must live this life to the fullest. This lesson is huge for each of us. So when you see a dragonfly, be aware of the gifts it has to offer.

I feel doubly blessed to have had the dragonfly swarm on Saturday - not only was my mosquito population decimated, but I was also blessed with good luck!

P.S. - My yard was also swarming with Western Swallowtail butterflies (shown above) on Saturday. Hmm, I wonder what that signified?

MEMORIES OF MINOT, ND

Minot, the Magic City

The Souris River at Minot, ND, is receding - albeit very slowly. It left behind 4,000 flooded homes and 300 businesses.  11,000 people have had to find somewhere else to live. I titled this post Memories of Minot, but I hope the title does not foreshadow what might become of Minot - a place where only memories are left.

Minot calls itself the Magic City and to me as a child it was magic. Minot is about 100 miles from my little hometown of Larson, ND. My family traveled there once, at the most twice a year. I remember being unable to sleep the night before our trips - that's how excited I was.

We made an annual trip to Minot to buy school clothes - usually at the Sears store at Arrowhead Shopping Center. Yes, Minot had a couple of shopping centers, although Arrowhead and Oak Park (now destroyed) were much smaller than today's Dakota Square Mall.

Full-size replica of the Norwegian Gol Stave

Church at Minot's Scandinavian Heritage Park

Minot was also where we could buy things not available in the small towns near us. For me, it was a chance to obtain books! I would always check to see if a new Mary Stewart romance/mystery had come out in paperback.

We also had lunch at places like Kentucky Fried Chicken or Bonanza steak house. That was fine dining for us!

Before we were able to do all that, though, we had to wait while dad did his business at Reeve's. Dad owned a one-man refrigeration business, and Reeve's Refrigeration was where he ordered his parts. But of course, before he got down to business, there was a lot of chewing the fat with Mr. and Mrs. Reeves. For us kids, it was a crashing bore and it ate into our fun time.

Downtown Minot

Even more rare than my family's trips to Minot were the trips my grandma and aunt made to visit my Uncle Billy. Gram and Mary would board the Greyhound Bus in Crosby and alert the driver that he had to make a special stop at Larson for my mom and me.

Billy lived at the Roosevelt Hotel in downtown Minot and worked at the nearby White's Creamery. I thought that living in a motel was the ultimate. Oh, the Roosevelt, with its transom doors, dusty hall carpets and old-fashioned sinks with rust stains from dripping taps. How I loved it! At night, we heard thrilling city sounds like police, fire and ambulance sirens that never disturbed our sleep at home.

Trips to Minot meant eating at Charlie's Main Street Cafe and a visit to Ellison's Department Store, both downtown. This of course, was before the big mall was built. Since my family hardly ever ate out, much less ate fried foods, I really enjoyed my deep-fried chicken dinner at Charlie's.

Stabbur (Storehouse) at Scandinavian Heritage Park

One especially exciting time, Grandma, Mary and I boarded the Great Northern Railroad and traveled all the way to Whitefish, Montana to visit my Great Aunt Jennie. That trip is still so vivid to me that I remember the cute red tiered skirt I wore and my skinned knee that became infected from a fall on a Minot sidewalk.

When I was a senior, my class took a trip to Minot for Skip Day - erm, Career Day. We toured the Minot State College campus and visited Columbus High students who were attending MSC. Afterward, the senior girls walked downtown and  had a blast at the Woolworth's store, buying makeup and cheap jewelry. On our way home the bus stopped for burgers at Auto Dine, my first ever fast food experience.

In recent years, my sister and I would travel to Minot to attend the Norsk Hostfest, America's largest Scandinavian festival, with food, vendors and entertainment galore. We always made sure to visit the antique shops downtown and have a lemonade at Charlie's, which was still open and still going strong.

We'd also visit the enclave of charming little gift shops all located in stately older homes just north of Broadway Bridge. Those shops were right along the Souris or a block away from it, and I don't know if they made it through the flood.

No trip to Minot was complete without a trip to the Homesteader Restaurant for "lunch". This is not the noon meal but the 4:00 afternoon coffee break that people in Scandinavian communities like Minot call lunch.

Looking down Broadway Avenue,

Minot's main thoroughfare

Minot may not be my home town, as it is Josh Duhamel's, but I have such fond memories of it. I hope its residents return and rebuild, and soon, so that I can begin building more memories of the Magic City.