2008-10-15

As I donned my sandals and summer-weight pants this morning, I thought, “This is farewell!” A cold front is moving through tonight, and I made sure to get out in the yard and enjoy the day. I am happy to say that Dan D. is becoming hard to find, venturing far and wide and producing his first mouse for our approval.

I worked all day on the UPI article on spiritual hierarchies, this concluding part on the archetypal mind as articulated by the Ra group. It is a thoughtful piece and may not appeal to everyone. But it belonged as a part of the answer to JoyousChee question. It felt good to have it written and posted at last. Usually I can work on preparing an article and then write it in one day. This week, feeling a bit rough, it took me from Monday until Wednesday!

Michele sent a mock-up of the cover for 101. It is just lovely. My only request was to add to the front cover the publisher’s name and logo – L/L Research and the Picasso drawing of Don Quixote. She checked on the web and did not find a high-resolution drawing there, so I asked Gary to send her the one he scanned for Ian some time ago directly from the big print we have hanging in our living room – the very same print that I had hanging over my desk in 1970 when Don and I first decided to use the print as our little symbol of intent: “We dream impossible dreams!”

I also sent her a couple of choices for an author photo for the back cover. She asked me if I would like them cropped and I acknowledged that a head shot would probably make a better appearance than a half-shot. She will send me some possible choices tomorrow.

I still have not received any blurbs for the back cover! I really need them. Perhaps I will write a reminder note tomorrow to those I asked. It is exciting to see the final details of the book coming together.

I did a half-dozen personal e-mails before Mick called bath time and rounded out my work day by collecting a very nice Somalian stew recipe from the newspaper. I was tickled, also, to pick up a new hint on an old dish – mashed potatoes. The recipe in the paper included two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar along with the usual butter, garlic and sour cream. We’ll have to try that!

After Morning Offering, Mick started his day by taking our third raccoon, which he is trapping in Have-A-Heart traps, fifteen miles south of here where there is a large wilderness habitat directly off the expressway. Since Dan D. went outside to live, they have been eating his food, tame and bold enough to walk up on the porch with us standing on it.

After setting it on the porch one night, during which we had to keep Mr. Lion-Cat in the basement overnight to avoid catching him in the trap instead of the critters, Mick began setting the trap up on our bird-feeding station, which is outside our living room window and well off the ground. That works just as well, and Dan D. Lion McCarty Cat can remain outdoors, where he likes to be. He was mightily upset to be kept in the basement and set up an unholy howl at an unholy hour, about which both Mick and Gary told me. I wonder how many coons there are to catch! We’ll see.

Mick's day was mostly spent in gardening. His customer's planting plans keep growing! And he is almost finished now with the full-yard clean-up for another customer. This has been a massive job, and he is tickled to have only one more afternoon of work on a wild area at the very back of the estate which is piled with ancient debris and choked with weeds, to have his masterwork complete at last.

After a refreshing bath and some cuddle-time with Mick I went to choir practice while Mick did all sorts of domestic chores like taking out the garbage, sacking the recyclables and sorting out my pills for the week ahead – I use little pill holders that give you a week’s worth already sorted by day and time. We happily came together for a late supper and the Gaia Meditation, at which Mick offered the closing prayer.