Solstice Watch

The days have grown shorter and darker.

The weather, colder and starker.

Leaf colors have changed in progression,
Then each leaf has left in succession.

We huddle close, to thwart the chill.

But the world grows colder and dimmer still.

We long for warmth, a cheerful glow...

But we are met with gloom and snow.

When things seem bleak as they can get...

We realize it's not even WINTER yet!

And we have many months ahead,

When all is deep and dark and dead.

The powers of night and ice are combined,

And seem inextricably intertwined.

Nature led their paths to merge--

But now she leads them to diverge.

When Winter's sleigh arrives in dark,

Its icy runners emit a spark:

And we see that Winter's frosty trail 

Will take us through ice and storm and hail,

Where the temperatures plunge, and wild winds bite--

But it also brings us back the light.

Beastly Solstice, all!

Beastly Shadows

Do not deny your Shadow.

However huge it may seem.

No need to fear your Shadows,

However many there be.

Your Shadow sides are part of you,
Connected to the rest.

If you turn from them, so you see only light,
Others see them, nonetheless.

Beasts know it's better to dance with them,
To learn from Shadow play.

Tonight is a night for Shadows.
Let them out! Let them have their way!

Beasts know that embracing Shadow
Is not forsaking what's right.

For Shadows are not of the Dark.

The only exist in the Light.

 

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

BeFriend the shadow,

And the shadow will be friend.

The Beasts Learn More Vile Facts About the US Government Shutdown

Here we are, 12 days in, and the Beasts and magical Beings I live with are still trying to understand the Shutdown.

They have even more trouble getting it than the human "Giants" in our household. After all, we "Giants"--as they call us humans--at least have some context. We (sadly) are used to politics--and the politicians who perpetrate them.

But this idiocy is completely alien to Beasts. See, in the Beastly world, it is understood that no one can go it alone.

So everyone helps each other.

They share.

They want everyone to be happy and well-cared-for.

They know, instinctively, that this is the key to survival.

And just as importantly, it's the key to happiness.

Most of the Beasts and magical Beings have thrown up their hands about the Giant Eejits in Washington, assuming (correctly) that they will never understand.

But Friend hasn't.

(And not just because he doesn't have hands. 
He thinks he can BeFriend Congress, 
and get them to act Beastly. 
How I wish he could!)

Burlie hasn't given up, either.

He is determined to understand...

...no matter how stupid it is.

My housemates and I were watching the news, and he came in and asked us about the Shutdown.

Are we SURE, he asked us, that the Giant Eejits shut down the government on purpose??? They didn't do it by mistake?

They may yet decide it was a mistake, one of my housemates told him, but they definitely did it on purpose. They planned it for months. Dave then read to Burlie from the New York Times: In a lovely Valentine to America, dozens of "conservative" groups (who are anything but) signed on to a February 14 letter outlining the plan to derail the Affordable Care Act at all costs.

Are we SURE, he asked us, that the Giant Eejits shut down the government...because they wanted to stop everyone from getting healthcare?

Yes, we told him. That's what they said. Unless the president agreed to defund the Affordable Care Act, they would defund the government.

He didn't, so they did.

What's that about? Burlie wondered. Don't they believe in healthcare? Healthcare is good!

(See  "Beastly Ears" for more on this.)

They do believe in healthcare, we told him. They all have excellent healthcare.

So...they are just against OTHERS having healthcare? THAT can't be.

We told him that, yes, that was really pretty much it. Basically, they think it costs too much for everyone to have healthcare. They also believe -- as indicated in that self-same letter (and for reasons they do not bother to explain) -- that the Affordable Care Act "is an unprecedented attack on life and religious liberty."

This left Burlie stunned. 

(That's hard to do.)

But it never lasts long. He was soon hopping mad.

(We decided to tell him about the whole debt-limit thing another day.)

US Government Shutdown: A Beastly Take

Trying to explain the concept of "government" to free Beasts is...challenging.

They finally (sort of) got it when one of my housemates explained that we "Giants" (as they call us humans) empower other Giants to:


(1) Get Things Done.

-and- 

(2) Help Americans.

THAT made sense.

So they were mystified when the US Government "shut down." They clearly saw that Shutdown means:

(1) Things DON'T Get Done. 

-and-

(2) This HURTS Americans.

And when the Beasts heard that the reason the government shut down was because one gang of American Giants with healthcare didn't like a Law designed to Help all American Giants get healthcare, they were incensed!

So, they asked...you mean the Help-American-Giants-Get-Healthcare Law was STOPPED by a few Giant Eejits who didn't want it to be a Law?

No, we told them. The Law went into effect, as scheduled, at Midnight, October 1....

...at exactly the same moment those Giants shut down the government.

So, shutting down the government...didn't get the Giant Eejits what they wanted...AND hurt those they are supposed to Help?

Right, we told them. 

They tried to make sense of this...

...and failed. 

At this rate, they will never understand our world.

(I can't say they are alone in that. Neither do many of us "Giants.")

Beastly Ears

Our friend Fia has a problem. A few weeks ago, she suddenly lost her hearing in her right ear.

She has been to many, many doctors and had many, many tests. This was not caused by a loud noise or an infection. It is a kind of hearing loss called "sensorineural" (doctor-speak for "either sensory or neural; we don't know"). The cause was "idiopathic" (doctor-speak for "we have no clue").

Burlie is sympathetic. He is surprisingly gentle with the afflicted, even though he is a Mighty Beast. 

Besides, he can relate. He's lost his own hearing once...

...or twice.

Both times he lost his whole ear! Though in his case, the cause was not so mysterious...

He does tend to be rather daredevil...

...and a tad reckless in other ways...

So, it's not too surprising when he loses an ear.

He tends to start his healing process with "the hair of the dog."

He's quite nonchalant about it.

He knows he just has to get himself back to the Enchanted Emerald Isle, so the Goddess who created him can heal him.

For Very Special Beasts, like Burlie, sometimes the Goddess makes housecalls.

He finds the magical healing process fascinating...

"How does THAT become an ear?"

...and he enjoys it all very much: the Magic...

 

...the healing...

 ...and, of course, basking in the attention of his Goddess.

Each time the Goddess heals him, he is none the worse for wear...

(And not a whit more cautious.)

Burlie thought Fia should go to the Island, that the Goddess would fix her right up.

Fia was not so sure that would work, as she is a human. (Or, as Burlie would say, a "Giant.")

But Burlie can be very persuasive.

And so can the others.

So Fia agreed to try.  (It certainly sounded pleasanter and more soothing than all the medical offices she's been going to, and all the pills she's been taking.) 

And the Goddess agreed, because Fia is a FoB ("Friend of Beasts"), to make a house call.

She got right to work (for Goddesses have a lot on Their plates):

And, voilá!

Fia is much better!

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

Whether "Giant" or Beast,

and whatever your woe...

...don't discount magic:

It's there more than we know.