Napping on a Mysterious Monday...

Yes, it's Monday - so that means 'tis a Mysterious Monday.
No, there's no logo here. No worries. It will pop up now and again as a reminder about what all the fun is.
Right now, it's taking a nap. ;-) Which is what I did before logging on before posting this entry...which is why I'm inspired to write about them.
Naps.

The first mystery is why we humans go through a phase where we believe we don't need them once we're out of kindergarten. Seriously, all the other animals that compose the great Web of Life take naps. Long ones. Some longer than others. I'll put my cat against any other animal to compare how much napping gets done. She's 14, so I cut her a little slack, but still - I've never known any other cat to nap as much as she does...and there have been many cats in my life.

The second mystery is why they are so foreign to American culture. In Europe, for example, there are many place where napping is a national institution. La Siesta, anyone? Two hours of "doing nothing" in the middle of the day? Now that, my friends, is the sign of an advanced civilization! (lol)

Seriously, though, napping has benefits. It's a time where you can carve some solitude and serenity out of what may otherwise be a frentic, frantic day. It's a time when you can regather yourself before moving into the day ahead of you. It's a time to check in, and/or check out, for a little while. And to quote a line from The Princess Bride: "Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to sell you something."
So I go into my room, shut the door if I have to, undo my hair, remove my glasses, lie down on my bed, and shut my eyes. My breathing slows. My mind sighs, and will often slow down. My body stills. I go into that wonderous strange, mysterious place between full sleep and full wakefulness. Sensation bends and contorts itself in interesting shapes and patterns. Occasionally, I even dream. Half an hour later (most of the time, unless I'm in the Moon Lodge - then, gods only know), I wake up, oddly and mysteriously refreshed. I'm ready to return to Life.

In a sense, I need this recharging respite during the day, since I work deep into the night, and unfold in my yoga practice when I get home...at least, in theory. In practice, not always, but I'm working on that. ;-) So when I got tired of feeling, well, too tired to do yoga when I got home, I set my intention to bring La Siesta into my life. So far, so good. :-)

I'm not the only one who favors naps. Ask around. Or you can ask SARK. She loves napping so much, she wrote an entire book about it! Check it out on her website if you don't believe me. One of her sayings is, "the more naps you take, the more money you make." My pursestrings are open. :-)

Giving Thanks (pagan style)

It's the fall equinox in my neck of the woods - the Second Harvest. This is when we (as followers of Earth-centered spiritual paths) partake fully and completely in the blessings and the bounty of the Great Mother. We reflect upon what we have harvested so far in this year, and give thanks for it.

Today, I give thanks for...
~my health, which has never been better.

~my chiropractor, who has helped me feel this way.

~my friends, both close and distant, who walk with me on this journey. Thank you SO very much for being a part of my life! :-D

~the roof over my head, the food in my pantry, the money in my bank account. It is enough, and a little bit more. ;-)

~discovering yoga. I'm not practicing it consistently yet, but my body is in bliss after I have moved - and gently reminds me that it's really time to move again. Now. (lol)

~being a citizen of a country where I can BE openly pagan, and not have to look over my shoulder all the time, for fear of my liberty or my life. May that remain the same, even as all else changes!

~being alive, awake, and aware in this very moment, at this very place. It is truly a marvelous time to be alive, during this season of significant Change! :-)

~and lastly, but far from least, to the Changes I see arising in my life in the future, both sooner and later. She changes everything She touches; everything She touches, changes. I am touched, and changed...and changing.

Or, perhaps, to sum it all up simply:
More, Please - and Thank You. :-)

Harvest blessings to all of my friends. Ho.

All in good fun, but not always in good TASTE!

What's this all about, you ask? Click on the picture and find out - after you read this entry, natch ;-)

According to my calendar, it's Monday, so I'm going to return to my romp through the senses. I started out with smell; closely related to that is taste, since the two have a very subtle, yet profound, connection. One will confirm the other, good or bad, in the arena of food - and both can be knocked askew with a strong head cold. Believe me, I know. (lol)

Although one's tastes, both physical and mental, can and do change over time, our taste receptors (aka taste buds) are changing and regenerating constantly. I forget the actual timeline, but I think we have a whole new spectrum on the tongue, ready to mix and match taste, every two weeks or so. This comes in very hand when you take a bite of something scalding hot! (which is the very reason I like the water for my tea just beginning to boil, instead of boiling fast and furiously. This, then, would be an example of "mental" taste.)

To further combine the two tastes: growing up, macaroni and cheese, a traditional staple of childhood, was not only my favorite food, it was my sustenance. Looking back now, sometimes I wonder how I managed to subsist on it and it alone! (lol) I did manage to get of the mac-n-cheese rut in college, but it wasn't until after I'd graduated, and discovered this lovely company called Sunrider, that my taste buds were cleansed, and my preferences exploded. My father's genetic legacy unlocked within me, and I dove headlong into the world of Real Food. The one thing I didn't inherit from him was his love of ultra-spicy food. I prefer to let my taste buds heal naturally, and not to short-circuit them prematurely! (lol)
This year has seen/is seeing a significant shift in the way I'm eating. Although the smell of meat (cooking) still appeals to my olfactory sense, the taste of it is, well, rather "meh." Honestly? I can take it or leave it - and I'd rather leave it. Even tuna fish. Now that's saying something, since tuna fish stayed with me throughout my initial foray into vegetarianism. Sugar, now, is a bigger challenge. I still love sweet stuff, but I have to be way more selective about what, and how much, I ingest these days. The consequences of "overindulgence" are NOT pleasant...and now that I'm thinking about it, are starting to feel more like I did when I ingested alcohol for the first (and only!) time of my life!
As I've doubtless mentioned earlier, my watchwords these days are fresh and organic. Raw? Not really, though I rather enjoyed my raw food diet for a week, I must say. SOLE? Working on it. :-)

Now, as for the other taste, that of personal preference - the title of this little Mysterious Monday missive is my tag line in several of the online forums I frequent. Personal preference is wider ranging, and can be rather hit-and-miss at times; hence, my little "disclaimer." What I want to know is: what has happened to people's personal preferences? On the one hand, so many people seem to get SO bent out of shape over things that are actually quite funny. On the other hand, what people can consider "funny" these days makes me want to roll my eyeballs back into my head, now and again! (For examples of both in action, in the same forum, see Borat. If you dare.)

One final mystery to consider: how on earth can you take such widely, wildly varying and vibrant flavors and break them down into the four "simple" components of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter? Surely there is more to chicken curry and spotted dick, my dear Horatio, than is dreamt of in your kitchen!

With apologies to Shakespeare (and fingers crossed behind my back), I will leave it at that... ;-)

My Bucket/Life/Master "To-Do" List :-)

This idea has been spinning around in my head for quite a while now.
Recently, while going through my email files, I came across one of the many gentle prompts I've received to write it. So, for whatever reason, pen finally found paper and transcribed it.

Of course, I reserve the right to come back and update/edit/ change it wholesale, however many times I want to. So, in no particular order, here we go...

travel:
~a succulent week in Hawaii (done! as of January 2010!).

~Japan, September, 2011 (for my 40th birthday, which is actually in October 2011, but I want to take in part of a sumo tournament)

~returning to Australia (with a short jaunt over to New Zealand), Canada, Salem (MA), New Orleans, San Francisco (done a few times, but there's still yummy things to do, like Chinatown, in depth!)

~visiting England, France, Germany, Italy, and my parents' birth cities: Independence, MO (for my mom) and Sanderson, TX (for my dad).
~revisiting my grandmother's resting place in Flemingsburg, KY

~going on a sea cruise (I don't care where.)

everything else:
~living outside of my mother's influence! (this is really beginning to gather momentum!)

~swimming with the hammerheads (something that's been added and removed several times! lol)

~ridding myself of all polyester/nylon clothing in my life by age 40. Having only natural (cotton) clothing by age 50.

~finding my Beloved and entering into Right Relationship.

~experiencing a non-autoerotic orgasm. (Go ahead, take a moment to figure that one out. I'll wait...)

~owning my own business. (I've had various ideas at times, but now I'm thinking something where I can get my mojo working - and having it work for me, ya know?)

~deepening my abundance: health, prosperity, friendships, travel (I am already blessed with all these things; to which I say, "more please, and thank you." That's why it's here.)

~making out my will (I really need to make sure my stuff doesn't get trashed or burned after I depart this plane...which might happen if my family happens to get a hold of it! boo hiss!)

~shaving my head. (Seriously. I want to do this one time. When my mother dies, I'll have my "excuse." lol)

~seeing my non-fiction work published. (I've seen my fiction published, in the art magazine my college put out while I was there. Now time to get the non-fiction out. I have the outlet, just need the material!)

~Meeting two people who I adore online in real life: Miss Leonie and Madame Maitri. (I've plugged 'em both on here; I have badges for their sites on here. I've heard both of them talk. Now I just need to see them with my own eyeballs in ze flesh!)

...and here are a few things that I've scratched OFF my list:
~visiting the hammerhead in Vegas. (Did that on my birthday in 2004, back when they had an honest-to-the-Gods hammerhead in the main tank at Mandalay Bay. Saw the Star Trek Experience while I was there as a bonus.)

~learning to bellydance. (Learn, not really...took some courses though, and integrated what I learned into my own rhythms.)

~Visiting San Francisco (first time: February 2004), Austrailia (February 2007)

~Meeting SARK in person (a very lovely woman in ze flesh! Trust me.)

So you see, if you envision it, it will manifest! :-) Although the exact form may take you by surprise... ;-)

We like da mooooon - full or new - on Monday

What's this all about, you ask? Click on the picture and find out - after you read this entry, natch ;-)

Well, I was planning to continue my romp through the senses, but the moon has been rising and setting in the back of my mind, and as she disappears into the mystery of Darkness, she has been pulling me to write about her. So. Here we are.

Monday is actually the moon's day, for this was Moon's Day once upon a time, back in the days that are surrounded by mists and memory in the human collective awareness. Fitting, really, since the moon's day follows the sun's day, just as the moon follows the sun in the sky. The rest of the days of the week are shared by various Norse deities, save for old man Saturn, who refused to cede his Day to these younger upstarts! (Saturn is the Roman name for the Greek god Kronos, who came to be associated with matters of chronos, or time itself. No wonder he wanted to stay pat!) Since I'm in danger of wandering very far off topic, I think I'll save this discussion for another time. Help me remember that I've bookmarked this...? (lol)

Anyway, back to the moon: she illustrates the greater mystery of life, in her emergence from the Darkness, only to return to it. Her cycles are constant and unchanging - although the occasional lunar eclipse throws a bit of spicy variety into the mix. Unlike the sun, with his unchanging form, the moon is continually shifting her shape. She speaks of the mysteries of birth, growth, maturing, decline, and death - and the changing one constantly does through all these phases of life. But after she disappears, she doesn't stay "disappeared" forever; no, she returns again, to start a new cycle, whispering of the mystery of re*birth! Same old moon, but a new cycle. More food for deep contemplation...

(Now, back in those misty days of memory, some will recall the moon was more likely to be referred to as "he," and the sun as "she." Over the centuries, the genders have been reassigned. I resonate more with the current assignations, but I respect those who want to kick it old-school, if you will. Just flip-flop it in your mind and you'll be fine. That's what I do quite often.) ;-)

When you look up at the moon, what do you see?
For a long time, I saw a face in the moon - the wo/man of the moon. As I started reading Chinese and Chinese-inspired literature (translated - I don't speak or read it in this lifetime! lol), I came across the idea of the hare in the moon. So I looked again, with new eyes, and there it was! Now I see the hare instead of the face. For those who are interested, you'll need to turn your head sideways to see it. When the moon wanes, the ears of the hare disappear first.

I have found myself aligning more and more with the moon and her cycles of shapeshifting over these last few years, particularly with my studies of (Divine) Feminism. I find myself counting the months more by the moon, rather than the formal, solar-anchored (and much altered!) calendar. Not surprising, since the months used to be meted out by the constant waxing and waning of the moon.
All the other female mammals have solar-based estrus cycles; human females are the only mammal to have lunar menstrual cycles. We freed ourselves from the cycles of the sun to gain a competitive edge, perhaps...or perhaps to enable ourselves to experience pleasure when it comes to procreation! Either way, this was the first shape-shifting of the human species, and the opening of the gate of human evolution. The second shape-shifting has yet to take hold fully - and that will be another topic of discussion.

For now, I will keep an eye on the little lunar advisor I've added to my blog, since the seasons are changing, and the marine layer has returned, thick and gray and dense, obscuring the sky and blocking the view. I feel my energies re-aligning themselves with her gentle, constant waxing and waning...even if my menstrual cycle feels like keeping its own rhythm. Ah, the quirks of being something entirely else in the world! (lol)

Considering smelly mysteries today...

What's this all about, you ask? Click on the picture and find out - after you read this entry, natch ;-)

My sense of smell was not knocked completely out of commission with this last cold/allergy attack/whatever the sam-hill it was that I experienced. This is entirely a good thing.
As I have been rather focused on my nose for this past week or so, I thought it would be entirely appropriate to have a smell-o-rama version of Mysterious Mondays.

So let us consider the sense of smell...It has the unique and mysterious capacity, out of all the senses, to transport us instantly back in time, and to another place, at the first whiff of a familiar scent. When we are mindful, it warns us of danger; alternatively, it invites us to relax and experience bliss. Since smell is so simple, yet so profound, I suspect it's deeply connected to our more intuitive, instinctive natures (from which our appreciation of mystery and miracle arises).

My top six fave smells - subject to shift at a moment's notice:
~Woodsmoke. This scent can calm me and excite me all in the same breath. I feel most Authentic and Power*full and Mysterious when I take it in. I joke that "eau d'woodsmoke" is the preferred perfume for pagans. ;-)
~Rose. If woodsmoke brings out my inner pagan, then rose awakens my inner Goddess. Rose is the scent most affiliated with the Great Mother. I am at my most yin when I am resplendent with Rose.
~Lavender. My "go-to" summer scent. It cools, calms, refreshes.
~Vanilla. My "go-to" winter scent. It warms, calms, soothes.
~Pine. The scent of pine trees in the breeze stirs feelings of freedom within me. Between their delicious smell and the sound the breeze makes as it passes through their needles, I could stay in a pine grove for hours.
~Ocean. Often imitated but never truly duplicated. The smell of the sea also stirs feelings of freedom within me. It clears me out and lifts me up, when I'm in need of a boost. Combine the scent with the sound, and here's another place I could stay for hours.

Now for a couple of personal mysteries around smell...
~I have a pair of "eco-friendly" candles that say they're lavender. Yet when I sniff at 'em, I catch the distinct smell of patchouli mixed in. I am not fond of patchouli. Nowhere does it say that patchouli is a part of the candle scent. So why do I smell patchouli? :-o
~My mother and I are "triggered" by different sets of smells. By "triggered," I mean at the first whiff of something, the immediate reaction goes along the lines of "ye-gods-get-that-offensive-odor-out-of-nasal-range-Right-NOW!" Mother reacts most adversely to nature-based smells (we have a cat, so I think I don't need to elaborate too much on that! lol). I, on the other hand, react most adversely to artificial chemical smells. Mother's favorite cleaner, for example, is this stuff called BAM. Yes, it's really good - but when she starts using it, I have to leave the room. Sometimes I have to leave the house.
Certain chemical cleansers just set me off, and I have to remove myself from their vicinity. I think it goes back to a lab-session in an Organic Chemistry class, when I mixed two things together, got overwhelmed by the fumes, and had to all-but-run from the room to inhale some fresh air At Once!

An interesting "side effect" of my journey has been a greater appreciation of food. I find myself attracted more and more to the scents of cooking, and will often stop in a doorway and inhale deeply, throwing my head back so that I can take in the scent fully through both nostrils. It doesn't matter what's cooking, really; I love most all the food scents. I even still appreciate the smell of meat on the grill. I have been known to stop in my tracks and breathe deeply, now and again, to pay homage to the rich and tangy scent of meat as it wafts by. Eat it, though? No thanks, not these days.
Maybe I won't be completely vegan until the pleasure I derive from smelling cooking meat disappears from my being. There's a Mystery for you to ponder...! ;-)

So on that note, toodles, peeps!

~but first, i am a drummer~

As I've made my way through this decade-plus of my glorious Re*Invention and Real*I*Zation, there has always been one touchstone on this journey that I've been able to return to, again and again, on a regular basis. It is the drum. Before I was a Witch, an Energy Worker, a Priestess in the World...first, I was a drummer, and in a very real sense, it opened up all the other doors.

I changed jobs in January of 1998, the year I began my Journey of Spirit. Through this change, I kept in touch with a co-worker in my previous job (at a photography studio). Miss W. and I had struck up a friendship, because both of us had a quirky view of the world around us - and we each recognized this. Without even knowing it at the time, she would be my first pathfinder. It was at Miss W's invitation that I went Sufi-dancing at Questhaven to ring in the new year that was 1998, and received my first exposure to Something More that was present in life. She would later introduce me to a marvelous circle of women who gather monthly, on the Saturday nearest the new moon, and I would experience my first feelings of homecoming. But, I digress...

In May of '98, Miss W. invited me to meet a woman who was teaching a drumming class at the Philosophical Library. Miss Verdante had set up shop in a back room, with a variety of drums. So at that class, I was joined by W. and a few other folks. We drummed. We changed rhythms now and again. There were times when I would make a mistake and (gasp!) lose the rhythm, or (gasp again!) change rhythms midstream...and it was completely okay. No one critiqued me. No one judged me. I was allowed to find the rhythms that suited me, and change rhythms now and again. For a woman just beginning to make her way through Shadows, this was huge.
But wait, there's more! Miss Verdante saw how I was struggling a bit with the small gourd drums, and suggested to me, "Why don't you try this drum?" She gave me a taller, larger drum, with a large head adorned with spirals, with thick black ropes securing the ring around the head and meeting in a large cable close to its base. So I played this drum, and found a part of myself. I played this drum, and found an aspect of my Voice that had been silent. I played this drum, and knew that I had always had this rhythm inside me; now was the time to remember it.

I was sad to see the drum go back home with her.
When we crossed paths again at the new moon circle, she brought that drum to the gathering. Soon enough, it came home with me. "Azaethlin" was the first drum I bought, and has been with me the longest. I still take it to the new moon gatherings, when I can go.
I started with one drum in 1998. Now I have six drums.
I started with one circle in 1998. Now I have two, and have drifted in and out of several others.

I had an awesome experience in 2003, at a Renaissance Faire, when I was with my coven: we had driven up to the Faire to look around. By and by, I found myself a group of drummers wailing away. I tried to resist the pull, but it was too much. I eventually had to excuse myself for a time and walk over, find a resting drum, and join in with the rhythm. I was part of a group of perfect strangers - men and women who didn't know each other from Adam's cats - yet we meshed our individual rhythms perfectly. When we finally came to a collective stop, we thanked each other with wide grins (and sore hands! lol) and dispersed back to our own lives. This taught me how people can come together in true community...the first lesson I was to receive in this, but far from the last. :-)

There is one drum circle that I gather with most consistently. It meets on the first Saturday of each month. It is a women's circle. It is a fantastic circle. I drum there, with two of my drum posse: "Chanel No. 5" (a djimbe that I purchased at that circle), and my hand drum, Anna Sexta. (You can check them out here.)
Now and again, I'm known to put down the drums and dance. I started dancing at the drum circle (I think) in 2002...which has also proven to be extraordinarily liberating.
But always, I return to the drum, and the playing of the drum, and the evocation of my own rhythm.

For first, you see, I am a drummer...and that, unlike everything else in my life, has not changed.

Props for my Peeps #3

I've bragged on Miss Leonie before. I love her website so much, she's one of my featured posse. (She's the one who can "see the Goddess in you.") And now she's serving up another slice of beyond awesome to the global peepulation.

I took this e-Course the first time around. It was something of a last-minute choice; I'd been hemming and hawing about taking it for a few weeks beforehand. So finally I said yes...and it started a bit after the NorCal retreat I attended - you know, the one that's changed my life as I know it. ;-)
I wound up taking this six-week course in eight weeks. It also changed my life, but in different, more subtle ways...
I've always considered myself a Creatrix, but this course solidified a few things. I also stretched my creative muscles in media I hadn't explored before - like working on a 3-D piece. And painting. On canvas. Freehand! Considering I am rather challenged in drawing a straight line with a ruler, this was significant! (lol)
The biggest breakthrough I had, though, came at the end. I won't spoil anything for anyone, but suffice it to say that this e-course provided just the inspiration I needed to get my CD online for public consumption. When I had finished uploading all the audio tracks onto Lulu, I literally squealed in my chair, then leapt up and did a happy dance. The rest, as they say, was gravy.

So if you've lost your creative spark, or need a little somethin' to fan your spark back into a flame, take this e-course. Miss Leonie is offering this e-course at a ridiculously great price: six weeks for $67. Where else are you going to find someone offering a globally available course for a smidge more than $11 per week? Really? It's worth every penny, I can assure you!

PS - because of this course, I was also inspired to go through all my art supplies and consolidate them into one place. Who knew I had gathered so many variations on sky blue alone? (lol)

Play Date #2...or should I call it a "Pray-Date"?

For the last several weeks, I've been feeling a pull in my spirit. The pull has been westward. The pull has been to the coast - to the beach - to the sea. And it's taken these past several weeks for me to hit critical mass and just do it! like the famous slogan says.

Last week, I was all set to go...until I stepped into the Moon Lodge, and profound spells of sleeping. I emerged - into a nasal blockage, and more sleeping. So I went slowly for a while.

Today, wouldn't you know, I had to go to the coast. I've been wanting to re-book myself at the Well Within, so I could have more fun with people and establish that thing called presence in the community. So I got myself up, got food in my tummy, got myself dressed, got my bag packed with what I wanted to take, and got out of the house. Let the adventure begin!

Do you know, every time I've been to the Well Within, there has been a parking spot waiting for me? Every single blessed time? Talk about your pronoiac co-creations! (lol) And the people who run this place are totally made of awesome! :-) So, I am now re-booked for 10/17! Don't worry, I'll remind y'all again, several times over. ;-)

Once I was done there...I loosed myself from the bonds of time and slipped along the Now, free of "obligations." Now it was time to take care of the Real Business. So my next stop was the SRF Meditation Garden, a stone's throw away down the 101. It is an oasis in this dry land, both literally and metaphorically. (This is the former home of The Ambassador, the stone that will be accompanying me to Joshua Tree in a bit less than two months. Points for you if you remember that little detail! lol)

I visited a few spots in the Garden and, well, prayed. I took my juju bundle with the Sparks of Hope into my hands, feeling its energy merge with the energies surrounding me. (The Garden is a major high-frequency place, yet grounding at the same time. All the flowing water, methinks.) At one particular spot, which is a pepper tree dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, I released the last bits of the Transformation Arrow - the pennies and crystals that I could not burn in the fire. I had planned to take pictures of the tree and the offerings, but I was strongly advised against it, so I left well enough alone. So I took oodles of pictures of the main koi pond instead. (Note to self: look up koi fish! This is the second time I've been drawn to them!) I did some serious meditative prayer at this pond, before I affirmed it was time to move on, to my principal destination; the sea was waiting patiently for me...

I skipped up to Moonlight Beach, and lo! Miracle of miracles, there were parking spaces open! I secured one, grabbed my beach chair, and went down to the beach. My sandals came off the moment I hit the sand. Along with feeling absolutely delicious on your feet, beach sand is an excellent exfoliant - and believe me, the soles of my feet needed some exfoliating at that point! I found a suitable patch, plonked my chair down, and sighed in bliss. Just as I can feel myself open up in the silence at Questhaven, I felt myself open up here. This was another part of me that had needed refueling for a long while, and again, I didn't realize how much I'd really needed to sit at the beach and Do Nothing (okay, I read a couple of chapters of my current book) until I was sitting at the beach and Doing Nothing. I sat. I prayed a little more with my juju bundle. I walked along the beach and gathered a few treasures...how can you NOT gather treasures when you're at the beach? I even sang a little as I walked.

When it became obvious that the sunset would not be visible due to the encroaching marine layer, I folded myself up and went back to my car. Dinner was al fresco at a little place in The Lumberyard (a somewhat modest outdoor mall) called 3rd Corner: a goat-cheese salad and a cup of skinny, parmesean-enhanced, fresh fries. Yes, fries. With catsup. That didn't make me sick! That's how fresh they were! Dessert followed, from a little gelato place a few doors down. A small cup of chocolate fudge was mine...and it didn't make me sick, either. :-)

With the last of the sunset, after some more walking and nosing about, I was finally ready to return home. The loveliest of sights greeted me as I nosed the car eastward: the Harvest Moon, full and bright, rising majestically in the deepening night. I think I grinned all the way home.

So there's my play/pray date.
Tomorrow is the fun date - drumming!

The "Trippy Tuesday" edition of...

What's this all about, you ask? Click on the picture and find out - after you read this entry, natch ;-)

Yah, I know it's Tuesday, and not Monday, but there's a good reason for this.
I've had a cold in my nose. I hinted at this in the last blog entry I made, but it became official on Sunday. Lovely times...NOT!
(Here's a mystery for you: how do people get/pass along colds in the middle of the hot weather season? Don't colds thrive in cold weather? Just thinkin...)

Yet this is the happiest time I've ever had while completely congested - because I didn't fight it. It was, okay, I've got a cold. I've already slowed down; I guess I'm continuing in the slow lane for a while. And the weather being absolutely gorgeous (for dragons like me) hasn't hurt at all. I dined "al fresco" last night at work, in fact, enjoying the cricket symphony in the lovely balmy evening. Delicious! :-)

During this nasal experience, I stumbled across a massively mysterious item which has been a great help to me: Breathe Right nasal strips.
It's just a Band-Aid with a spring in it, basically. How could such a small little thing help with my congestion? Yet it does! I put it on, and within a few seconds, I can breathe again! :-o Your nostrils are pulled just slightly wider, and that seems to make all the difference. Magical! Mysterious! and Most Appreciated!
And here's a little bonus Mystery, if you find yourself in need of one of these little nasal strips...
If you peel the outer wrapping off of it in the dark, it will spark blue-green! The quicker you peel, the bluer the luminescence is! Try it! (and yes, you can turn the light on after you peel off the outer wrapping; this way, you'll be able to put the strip on your nose instead of, say, your third eye. lol)

Next week, I'll be back on Monday, with more mysteries to ponder, and perhaps solve. Hopefully I'll be breathing nicely without the aid of one of my nasal strips...but I'll never open one in the light of day again! ;-)