A Beastly Equinox

The Beasts and Beings tell us that the Equinox is a time to Notice and Celebrate:

BALANCE

and

EQUALITY

of all beings

of all colors

and

to savor the moment...

...knowing it will Change.

May you have a Beastly Equinox!

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Yolanta says, "This time of year is called the SummerFall. Many meanings. All are true."

FOAF

Friend is friendly to all: Man, Beast, Plant, Rock...Everything. It is part of his charm. We were a little startled, though, when he invited home his latest friend.


I was washing the dishes when Friend popped in...

...and made a rather startling introduction:







(We're very used to his dragonfly friend, Jade. But she, you know, flies around OUTSIDE.)


Friend was clearly delighted with his new friend.

He was sure we would be, too!

My housemates and I explained gently that, yes, "Grassy" was lovely...but that he'd probably be much happier outside than in.


So Friend guided Grassy back outside.

Where he DID seem happier...

Friend agreed. He likes it Outside, too.

But the thing about Grasshoppers is...

They HOP.

?

I thought Friend might be disappointed.

But he just thought it was cool. Being able to FLY like that.

I left him outside to enjoy the twilight. I went in and finished the dishes, and then my housemates and I sat down and opened a bottle of wine. We were relaxing when Friend came back in, very excited. 

He'd brought home a new friend he couldn't wait for us to meet:

"Skeeter!"

Oh, dear...


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Friends are great. They're loyal. They love you.

But you might find a friend of a Friend can bug you.

Celebrating Jade, a Special Friend of Friend

The Beasts have been a trifle blue lately (to the degree that is possible) due to witnessing the distress of the "Giants" (a/k/a "humans") following Hurricane Irene. But they wisely know that in Hard Times, it is all the more important to celebrate what is Good.


And what is more Good than a Good Friend?

Friend, as his name suggests, has many friends. He finds friends everywhere--including where the rest of us see "plant" or "rock" or "unidentifiable object."


But Friend has a few Very Special Friends. Like Jade.

Jade

Jade is not only a Very Special Friend, she is a Very Special Dragonfly. 

For one thing, she used to be a Butterfly.

She was beautiful, and beloved. But she wanted to stop fluttering (however gracefully) and go after things directly.


Since she already had experience spinning a cocoon (from her earlier transformation from caterpillar), she decided to spin another, and transform herself...

Into a Dragonfly.

With her Dragonfly eyes, she learned to see beautiful, incredible, magical things that other beings did not. And -- with astonishing brilliance -- she found a way to share her vision, to teach the world to see through her gorgeous green Dragonfly Eyes.


And over time -- as all great Artists do -- she felt the need to transform again.  Green was no longer her color. She needed to be bolder, stronger, easier to see.


So she spun yet another cocoon and became:

RED!

Today, the Beasts and Bugs and other Beings whose lives have been transformed by Jade join together to celebrate her.

Happy birthday, Jade!

O Loveliest-Visioned Dragonfly!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Beastly thought: If you have a Dear Friend who has helped you see new beauties in the world, it might be nice to express your appreciation today--even if it's not your friend's birthday.

A Beastly Response to Irene

The Beasts really enjoyed Hurricane Irene at first. All that Water, all that Wind! All that Nature!!! 

But then they saw its effect on us Giants. (A/k/a "humans.")

And while Beasts love Nature in all its moods, they also love Others. (Even humans.) Many human "Giants" were devastated. And while Beasts don't get the whole idea of having "homes" (and they really don't get the idea of having "businesses"), they feel for those who had these things and then lost them in the flood.

It was hard to travel through the water and destruction for several days, but what the Beasts saw and heard shocked them.

  
Burlie knew he had to DO something. He had to HELP.

 Burlie set out for the devastated Catskills Region...and learned it wasn't just "Giants" who lost their homes. Some Magical Beings did, too.

Yolanta is a Being from an enchanted Caribbean Island. (She weathered many a hurricane there!) Yolanta is an herbalist; she moved to the Hudson Valley several years ago to learn about our flora. (She got fond of our fauna, too.)

Unlike Beasts, Beings sometimes have houses. Yolanta had one. HAD.

Had.

She shook her head in wonder.

When Burlie found her, of course he invited her to stay with us.

A place where Beasts and Beings and Giants all got along? She happily agreed!

"See," she said. "One path washes away, another one rises up." (As I said, she's been through hurricanes before.)

 


On the path to our home, she plied her craft.

"This weather...bad for houses, good for plants."

By the time they got home, she had quite a pharmacopeia.

She likes it here. 

(And we're delighted to have her.)

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Beastly thoughts:

When all you own washes away, it's comforting to do what you love, and to be reminded of what you still have left: What you know, and what you are. 

(And what may be...)  

And while Nature is Bigger than even a Mighty Beast, a Beast can be a Mighty Big help.