Approaching Full

4:20 AM
I woke to a field filled with light
Light out ahead but not where I stood
On the porch it was different

Mahina
tucked upside down
Full cap
light missing
from her bottom

I walked down
the slope from
our encampment
to the warm
bathroom

Quiet
Fullness
Coming

~~

By the Hawaiian Moon Calendar
Her phase: Hua?

Audubon Bird Count

8:30 AM

Opened the gate shortly before three Aububon birders drove up to do a yearly bird count
The timing on the gate opening: spurred me from a cozy bed. Someone else is reminding us of our responsibility.
I make a connection with The People of the Corn, from the Mayan creation stories Popul Vuh and remember Robin Wall Kimmerer's essay -- it's humility that allows humans to learn from others. 

Snow, family, wind and rain, low tide and a question

We have had big shares of snow, family, friends stopping by, a reindeer sighting (a beauty of a blonde deer),wind. The White Christmas and family time? Terrific!

And today the Pacific Northwest signature elemental is back ...

AT NIGHT

There was a very strong smell as I walked out of the kitchen.
9:30 PM
It was a smell like sewage.
I thought: must be low tide, the mudflats at the Muliwai (Sunlight Beach); but more
I question: where does the sewage from all those houses on the shoreline go?


How is your year wrapping up? The New Year starts with a super positive Full Moon in Cancer. Sometime to embrace, I think. xo

Approaching Solstice ... ceremony at the Muliwai at sunrise

"Hau'oli wā Ala Polohiwa a Kanaloa. May you reignite your personal fire and honor those that have passed. We are on the sun's southern apex today and the next 3 days for those in the northern hemisphere. Happy summer to those in the southern hemisphere. Go get your oomshakalaka on." - Kalei Nu'uhiwa via FB

 Na aumakua ... Ancestors

 on this sunny morning when we see the shortest daylight

 we bundled up and headed for the Muliwai not far from us where we live on the Prairie Front ... making offering of salmon to they who fed us ... we give thanks, ask for their continued guidance ... and appreciate that we have opportunities to give back.

 Geese fly over just as the last chunk of salmon is given back to the ocean ... adding their amama, amen.

The path of the sun at his apex ... the furthest south in his crossing ... we mark the location and kilo ... we pay attention.

And listen.

In the afternoon I baked Pineapple Upside Down Cake with whole slices of pineapple to symbolize the brightness of the sun.

xoxo Moki and Pete

Early morning Moon and Jupiter

Just before midnight

I was up doing my late fifty steps to the restroom. Appreciating the silence and the dark sky I looked up to see if Makali'i the constellation Pleiades was up ... yes, she was. I need to talk with my cousin Mokihana; she feels closest when I can see the Pleiades. Needed some consolation and affirmation about life. My conversations with the relatives is some of the most comforting give and take.

From the steps of the vardo on my way back to bed I watched one meteor blaze in the eastern sky just after I'd asked for one particular favor of the aumakua. THANKS! I said as I saw my answer. Sometimes, my faith is so tentative. I still need so much practice. Stars are old beings visible from this Earthly plane.

Then ... I watched as the fog (another manifestation of Faith) moved steadily in from the water's edge to the south. The trees' silhouette were eaten up. I had my first kilo observation that the tide was coming back in. Moisture in the form of fog/mist. Nice. Tide in (faith in). Tide out (faith out).

Up early to catch a ferry

We woke to the alarm on my cellphone, something we DON'T do often. It amazed me that I was able to set the thing last night. 5 AM.

I was scheduled for a second opinion about that dental surgery, and jittery about going into a new office with a new dentist, an endodontist (Google doesn't even recognize the word).

Mahina the moon is in her kapu phases somewhere between Kaloapau and Kane. What we see in the sky from Whidbey is at a different angle (latitude) than what our relations in Hawaii see.

What we did see what beautiful slender Mahina in company of Jupiter.

Earthsky.org

The second opinion appointment worked out; the office was manageble with my 02 mask and Pete's help; the staff were kind, capable and respectful of my disability and a good two hour nap after the morning experience primed me for a good evening. I think asking for help and seeing the sliver of a Scorpio Moon and Jupiter sent us luck (Jupiter) and the endodontist was very cut -- a youngish version of John Cruz -- one of my all time favorite Island Style guys as well as unscented

Kilo can connect many dots if you're paying attention and see the patterns emerge.

Are you looking at the sky where you are?

Proof of the Moon for a moment

See her sickle-shaped self in the midst of water spots on the camera lens like a constellation open to be named? 

I woke
to full fog
banked
thick.
Light
traffic
headed
for the ferry.
Commuters
on
the way
to work,
or an
early
pleasure
trip?

On
my way
100 paces
to the
warmth
of a
toilet seat
I spotted
the left-handed
sickle
But only
for
a
moment.



P.S. It's a good time to remember to set your intentions for Monday's New Moon coming ... I may be recovering from dental surgery so can't promise to be gathering folks for New Moon ceremony. Will set my intentions with the Moon in my 12th House though. You?

Ring around the moon (believe it or not)

Awake early on a frosty Friday morning. The sky is clear and the Moon so clearly illuminated. Her shape and a circle around her draws my head.

An early morning 'Ole Po, a moon phase shifting into the Quarter Moon phases where it is best not to start new projects.

 Sometimes you can't always capture the golden ring through the lens of a camera ...

even when you try again with earnest attempts.

The fog horn sounds loud in the early morning dark sky. I'm awake after a full night of dreaming and being with a dear Capricorn friend. Pete is tucked under the covers with hot rocks wrapped in old wool socks to keep him toasty. For a few moments we stood together under the dark sky with our heads turned up to see the 'Ole Po and the ring around her. "Maybe the ring will show up," he was skeptical and as it turned out right about the capturing of the ring. It doesn't always happen.

Astrologically, the Outer Planets (those with a collective impact) Saturn and Pluto are slowly and over long periods of time making their way through my 12th House, and Pete's 4th House. Major questions and answers are challenging us: who am i(12th House); where is my home(4th House). These planetary influences manifest in the messy but interesting forms of life-as-art that show up as a braid of expression through my blogs. There is this blog (kilo) where pics and observations tell most of the story; then, the Vardo's blog fleshes and queries a broader angle; but it is the medicine story that allows the border world its due. Though I love all three versions of storytelling, I admit to loving the story medicine best of all. It's the ring around the moon, a place where those who "can hear in color" find safety in an imaged world.

My favorite astrologer, Elsa P. writes about navigating while Saturn and Pluto move through the 12th House: "I also avoid people who vex the spirit. When your boundaries are porous, you’ve really got to watch who you interact with. I’m sure some of you know what I mean...I would not have chosen my circumstances but seeing as I’ve been thrown into them, I just try to use all the skills and intelligence; the knowledge I’ve been able to acquire throughout my life.  It seems this will be enough. I live in hope." 

For those who love story medicine too, there is a new segment of Black Leather Lace-ups for the border witch that might be you, written yesterday. It is called Five of Diamonds.

Red sky at Night and a First freeze

Last night we had a red sky

this morning we woke to a clear sky and bright sunshine

Water catcher is frozen solid

The cob house is frosty white

Fun ice sculpture at the back of the rest rooms

The Chickadees will have to wait for a bath today

Late apples linger
Red
Enough to attract
Hungry birds
Hollowed
them
Neat
to
Eat

The Ten-day forecast says, "Sunny" or "Mostly Sunny" 

What is happening at your place today?