Maebius Musings

No deep musings for this post, simply a list of links to photos and youtube videos from the recent whale watching trip, soccer game, and such…

The sharks smile as they swim past in the big tank at Boston Aquarium:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsyRTXJeEs4

Jellyfish (Pacific Sea Nettles).  The photo didn’t turn out nearly as well, which is sad, since I wanted it as a potential background for my PC.  Very relaxing to watch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JcKna8bnAo

A whale feeding, just off the starboard side. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYBS1fJZJpw

Another whale, making the bubble net and feeding, then diving back underwater. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZAthIq3UZk

The kid, playing in the fountain near Quincy Market, Boston.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT2oVbcZ_bM

Sprogling’s first soccer game.  We were “Those parents” who yelled and cheered, and I even tried to get the others to do ‘The Wave‘.  Sadly, the other parents tended to mostly sit on their chairs watching, or chatting on cell-phones, or reading. *sigh*    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARh3qX_tes

Kid throwing the ball back in-play after it went out-of-bounds.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O75XtDRQxhg

Photos:   During the Soccer game.
The penguins at the aquarium.
A seal, at the aquarium.
Happy Kid, after playing in the fountain.
Happy Maebius, eating with a tasty brew.

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Yes, the typo is intentional in the topic.

Photos and pictures to come later, but we returned from a really fun time in Boston for a whale watch.  I’ll summarize here, and post links and photos in a second blog entry this week.  Work’s busy and the evenings are still filled with barn de-construction. 

The bus left at 4:30am on Saturday, and we returned home just after midnight.   Loooong day.

Once we arrived at the harbor, we boarded the large catamaran boat and headed out to sea.   I liked all the little islands we passed in the harbor, and the view of Fort Warren.  The trip out to sea took about an hour or so, and the waves were somewhat choppy (2ft chop, they said) so there was a bit of a mini-game we played inside the seating area.   I’ll simply describe it as anti-Twister, where you tried to Avoid putting hands and feet in the coloured spots on the floor.  (I was surprised just how many people get seasick, since it is exciting to me, not illness-inducing at all)

When we got out approximately 25 miles from shore, we saw whales!!!!   The humpbacks were feeding, which was really neat.  They would blow little ‘bubble nets’ underwater, to encircle the schools of krill and little fish, then swim up into the circle of bubbles and fill their mouths before diving back down and doing it again elsewhere.   All told, we saw what the captain estimated at 15-20 whales in the surrounding area,  and at least 7 individual whales in our immediate location.   They identified one as “Anvil” but did not have too many clear fluke-shots from the bridge to positively ID others.

On the way back, around 1pm, the kid slept after finally crashing from being up since 3:30am.  The return trip to shore was much calmer as we were traveling with the waves, and a steady tailwind. Returned to port around 2:30.

After this, we went to the Boston Aquarium.  That is a really neat place, with a huge, HUGE tank in the middle, full of fish and sharks, and a few eels, and the usual “big tank” sort of occupants.  (video of shark to come!)

All around the bottom were four species of penguin, which was really neat.  The African penguin sounds almost exactly like a burro/donkey, which was very funny.

After the aquarium, we played in a big fountain in the area, which was probably my son’s favorite part of the whole trip.  Shows once again that the best things are [relatively] free!   The fountain was a big flat tiled area, with little holes all around it.  From time to time, jets of water would come shooting out of the holes, in somewhat random patterns, to heights around 15 feet or so.   The kids in the area loved running through the jets, or dashing under the spouts as they rained down again.   Luckily, we had spare clothes in the bus, but for a short time, the kid got to wear my wife’s very over-sized sweatshirt in order to cover his soaking bottom.

After the fountain, we realized we had about an hour or so before the bus arrived to take us home, so we visited Kitty O’Shea’s Irish Pub.  I had the most delicious Fish&Chips I think I’ve ever eaten in my entire life, topped by a frosty Guinness from the tap.  YUMMM!!

The bus arrived a bit late (around 7pm instead of 6:30), and most of the scouts drifted off pretty quickly.   I fell asleep for a little bit, but very restlessly due to the uncomfortable seats.   Still, when we arrived back home around midnight, I consider the trip a successful adventure.

And that real bed felt extra-welcoming when we finally sprawled into it at, fast asleep almost before our heads hit the pillow.

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Forgive the somewhat cliche and lengthy title, but it sums up my mood today (monday).

This weekend, we took the long five hour+ journey to PA to help out a friend and get some things done that needed done. It involved shopping, and sawing, and such, but was not overly strenuous in terms of physical chores.  Still, there was much productivity and Things Got Done(tm).

The amazing thing about the whole weekend, was the transformation that overcame our family (or at least my wife and I) over the course of it.  Lately, things have been a bit grey and mundane.  We dealt with a death in the family, a relative’s unrelated auto accident, and one of those every project at work deadlines Today times that crop up.  The fact I had to miss my herb class made the weekend seem initially like just another Chore.
(no insult intended to those we visited, we still were going to come regardless. *grin*)

In reality, with such an unexpectedly relaxed atmosphere, and high productivity, it felt like this was a weekend quite well spent!  The trip down was made in record time, so much so that I am almost convinced that my joking comment about “taking the moon roads” (a ley-line shortcut) was partially correct.

The shopping resulted in new shoes that make walking comfortable, and thus firming the foundations of my family.   We ate tasty food that nourished our bodies as well as my heart (huevos rancheros = divinity on a plate!).   I played at the park and watched my usually shy son wander right up and get himself involved with both a pick-up Baseball game, and a Soccer match!

It was one of those weekends that just worked. Things went right, the sun shone unseasonably bright and warm, and a myriad of magical minutiae happened.

Even the ride home, usually long and arduous, was filled with the three of us howling at the moon when it peeked from the clouds, interspersed with an unusually chatty kid who put away his video game to play “alphabet games”.  I’m sure any bystanders seeing a family of 3 driving slowly with faces suddenly stretched upwards to the window in a long Awwrroooooo, would think we were nuts.   But we had fun, darn it.

The root beer?   A tasty treat from Trader Joes, to ease parched throats along the ride. Nothing less, but perchance more.  It was magic potion faerie root elixir if the kid is to be believed.

I couldn’t have asked for a better vacation!

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Due to some mis-planned lack of vacation over the course of the year, I found myself with over four weeks of paid time for work, which I needed to use up before the end of September.   The end result of this is I’ve been working either half-days at night-shift, or staying home completely for the last two weeks.

I noticed some interesting personal habits during this time, not least of which is that this vacation-time has been filled by camping, travel, and a surprising lack of actual “stay at home time”, which I had expected.

Initially, I spent the first day or two just lounging around.  I played on the computer late at night, I slept in (relatively speaking) with the kid during the day, and otherwise didn’t do a whole lot of anything that might be easily called “productive”.

Then the cabin fever started to kick in.  Either that or the guilt of letting dishes pile up.

The few days I was at work (today and tomorrow) actually feels enjoyable, which surprised me.   I also had found myself spontaneously making plans for chores around the house, like vacuuming the upstairs, mowing the lawn on my day off, and other such stuff that usually gets reserved for weekend free-time.

It’s actually kind-of neat, and strangely telling, how once the initial joy of non-work fades away after a few days, I naturally try to fill the time again with stuff resembling ‘work’ that is usually avoided when hip-deep in “real job” daily life schedules.

I’m not alone in this, according to many many anecdotal stories of self-employd people, retired family&friends, and other blogs.

Must be a natural part of the human condition, to constantly adapt to change, and fill that time with “stuff”.

It makes me realize a bit how before the modern 9-5 job was forced upon us as a societal norm, the old artisans could afford to spend hours and hours of their craftmenship.  Perhaps it was more than just working for a living, with a pride in their craft.   Perhaps it’s human nature to “do stuff”.

It’s just a matter of making sure the “stuff” we do is healthy, beneficial, and encouraging, lest we fall into bad habits.

Habits, after all, are habit-forming.  

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Another wall-of-text about recent events more than Spiritual Musings.  Consider yourself warned!

Recently, I took a week off work, and we camped out in my in-law’s trailer near home, and the wonderfully scenic Adirondack Gateway Campground.  Also, this tuesday, we decided to beat the recent 90+ degree heat and go cave-exploring (Howe Caverns and the awesome Secret Caverns) near Albany.

Camping-wise, Other than a bit of uncomfortable sleeping arrangements (I got the floor), it was a lovely relaxing time.   Particularly mid-week it was quiet with only 3-4 other people in the nearby campsites, and thus the pool and trails were empty for us to enjoy whenever we felt like it.

The hiking was my favorite part, with a looping self-contained series of trails mowed into the sandy landscape, and including three (two easily accessible) small ponds.  The kid brought his fishing rod and enjoyed a few hours of hook-less casting and reeling in invisible Pokemon.  There was a small shed-barn converted to game-room with an old skii-ball, pong-pong, 2 billiard tables, and similarly free entertaining resources.

The part that I enjoyed most was wildcrafting some snacks along our hikes.  The long blackberries were just coming into ripeness, and I discovered two patches of low-bush blueberries which made delicious pancake-additions one of the mornings we were there.

Another really nice musing I had was how our closest neighbors, being obvious fans of Nascar, Huge trucks, and vague incomprehension regarding wildcrafting (Ya can eat those weeds? Ya sure it’s not poison? Won’t they make ya sick?!), we still were able to laugh at all our kids’ joyful antics, swim in the pool together, and connect with the commonalities we DID share.    It was something I wish the rest of the world could do more regularly. (Granted, I admit I first saw the enormous Hummer truck and Loud Country music with a bit of pre-judging myself, but got over that quickly.)

Additionally, it was nice just sitting back and relaxing with no work or stress on our mind beyond “are we getting hungry yet?”.  Evenings were fillled with the obligatory campfire and marshmallow roasting.  The kid even got a real thrill out of being ‘old enough to help’ build and actually light the campfire (thanks to a fuse of newspaper strips lightly sprinkled with BBQ lighter fluid).  Oh no, I’m starting the pyro habit too early, aren’t I?  

* * *

As far as the caverns go, it was interesting to see the difference between the two adjacent cave systems, both in terms of actual geological make-up and in marketing and presentation.

Howe Caverns we went to first, being our main goal for the day.   It has the usual large rooms, pretty formations, and strategic lighting commonly seen in commercial cave systems.  I enjoyed the little boat ride into the deepest section of the cave, which gave our feet a rest and allowed you to simply sit back and watch the rocks.

The drawback to this cave is that it is really REALLY commercialized.  They are quite efficient at getting tour-groups of approx 15-20 people moving through the stops along the tour every 10 minutes.   The entire tour area is paved with smooth brick walkways with secure handrails and other tour groups moving past yours every few minutes (the tour is essentially one way in, one way out, so groups are constantly shuffling past each other in between the wider “scenic stop” points.   You also were reminded often and regularly that in the narrower sections, you can NOT touch anything besides the handrails, as you will kill the cave rock system, no coins in the water, and no touching the water as the oils in your hands will ruin the cave forever.  However, this warning didn’t stop our guide, plus three others from excitedly taking a break from our tour to go climb over the railings and fish out a salamander in one of the closer pools of water so it could be brought back “to the surface where it should live”.   Uh-huh…  *shrug*

(I also understand very well the concept of a living cave, and that the oils and dirt in our hands Does affect the formation of calcite and flowstone can be ‘killed’ by inappropriate contact.  I just thought it sadly funny how the necessary warning to at least minimize such exposure among such a huge touring population was discarded rather thoughtlessly by the staff people, even if they were allowed to do such things. It seemed slightly hypocritical, and could have at least been done in-between groups by a lone staff member without such attention-drawing antics.)

The second cavern system we visited, mainly due to the quirky Billboards, was Secret Caverns.  This was a much smaller, quirky place with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor on the signs, and from the guides.  We bought our tickets (cheaper than Howe’s and the kid was free!) and waityed with about 4 other people outside for a few moments.  The guy behind the counter selling tickets came out to say that the tour would start soon, after he unlocked the cage our guide was kept in, then proceeded to go back inside and immediately come out a small rusty backdoor, extending his hand “Hi, I’m Zarlak, your tourguide, but you can call me Steve”.  I loved the place already!

You went down a winding flight of rocky formations, (known as “concrete steps”) and the actual cavern itself was more a giant crack in the rocks, with a few chimneys and smaller grottos with the usual formations. It definitely was not as glamorous and ‘pretty’ as Howe Caverns, but the fact that the walkway was rough concrete mixed from the actual rocks of the cave opening, and was on the physical floor of the cave gave it a much more intimate immersive feel.   We were heartily welcomed to touch the walls (you couldn’t really help it in many places) and our guide kept a flow of funny puns, and historical anecdotes flowing as we explored the system.  The fewer notable formations were neat since they were considerably more up-close and personal, if smaller and less dramatic than the larger Howe’s attractions, and the final 100ft waterfall was actually much more impressive than the boat ride elsewhere.

One thing I can say, is to not wear any Italian leather or Prada in Secret Caverns.  It’s not as sterile, and the floor in one part had a decent puddle we tip-toed through where a steadily dripping formation above us had started growing a few years ago.   Yet, this made it more real and visceral to me, making it my favorite of the two cave systems.   It also helped that in Secret Caverns, and its lone-tour-at-a-time made the groups more personal, and allowed us to really appreciate the “moments of darkness” when all the lights were turned off deep within the cave (Steve started cackling quietly when he first turned them out, then laughed nervously when they came on again: “Did you all hear that?!”).

Plus, the nearby woods and pond around Secret Cave were the perfect places for a few Fae to live, with such quirky fun-loving energy and respect for the land that was hinted at by the owners and more felt than spoken.  I’m sure of it.

The kid says he enjoyed Howe Caverns more for the bigger scenery and the boat ride, but had gotten really cold by the end of that tour.  He did really like being able to splash around and touch the walls of Secret Cavern though, so it was a Draw for his favorite.

If you get to that area of upstate, NY anytime soon, I recommend visiting at least one of these attractions, depending on your level of quirky acceptance.  It’s a great place to see under the earth, and appreciate how Big and Old it all is.

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Been off work for the last week, and camping with the in-laws and their 5th wheel camper.

Musings to follow once I recover from the 90+ humid days and unpacking, but in summary:

• The floor is a rather uncomfortable place to sleep, even with 4 comforters under you.  I enjoyed the early mornings when Mrs Maebius went to work and I snuck into the spare bed for a few hours before the kid woke up. 
• The dog is good for about 10+ miles of hiking trails.  Limits of canine Stamina were not quite reached after prolonged activity.   The stamina of a 5yr old is considerably less, and thus our hikes were limited to 1 mile durations.  Still, it’s an awesome picture to see the boy and his dog running along the trails hunting wild blackberries and huckleberries!!
• The place we stayed is really nice and quiet and out of the way, and would be Awesome property for a festival full of drumming and dancing, secluded enough to allow skyclad camping in the back half.
• Speaking of skyclad, it’s such a hassle dealing with swimsuits in the pool.  I miss 4Quarter Farm and Starwood dress-codes. 

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This weekend we attended a wedding reception for a good friend of my wife.   We unfortunately missed the actual wedding due to prior schedules for a cousin’s 4yr old twins’  birthday bash, and the horrid traffic which turned our hour drive between the events into a bit longer than we anticipated.  Le Sigh. 

The reception though, was awesome.   I’ll keep names out, since they really won’t matter to most of my readers, but the events were nice enough to blog about here.

We arrived and the kid immediately ran out of the car to go wrestle and run with a group of other young boys around 4-10 years old.  This was a nice change of pace, since usually our son tends to be shy and hover around us for the first 45 minutes of any party and only then gets the courage to interact more.   This time, he ran off, listened half-heartedly as we told him where We would be, then vanished among the woods and fields.

The weather was warm and sunny, perfect for outdoor festivities, and there was a local band setup under the pavilion tent.  Great music, gobs of smiling people, and kids running around on the outskirts of the party.  Couldn’t have asked for a better setup.

The happy couple, of course, were glowing and beautiful/handsome, and all the guests chatted easily, and snacked on the delicious TexMex Grill food.

We chatted quite a lot with some friends who we hadn’t seen for years, trading stories of recent life, and feasting “more than we needed to eat”.   The chatter eventually drifted toherbal studies, nature spirituality, and various sundry topic, and we traded blog addresses.  Shameless plug: Go visit the lovely Lisa and her herbal supplies over by Earth, Root, and Flower.

From time to time, our little one wandered near us to check in, ask for a snack/drink, or otherwise relate some story of adventure he was having with another boy, then dashed off to play again.  His clothes were rather grass-stained and muddy, but I wouldn’t have traded clean clothes for that smile in his eyes.  It was nice to see, and reminded me that we really do need to get out more and socialize with friendly kids outside of school.  The campouts and pagan-friendly festivals are nice, but local friends are important too.

As the sky darkened, the kids started to get closer to home-base, and a huge batch of sparklers appeared from some wise woman.    Suddenly, the backyard field was filled with swirling flames, glittering sparks, and a haze of blue-tinged smoke which held the band’s music and laughter of myriad kids and young-at-heart.   This particular moment struck me as powerful Magic.  Probably not intentionally, but I had to stop and smile in awe.  No better ritual of prosperity could have been formulated, than that group of happy kids and the hand-help fireworks.   Our kid loved it!

Eventually, the band played the “first dance” (by Jack Johnson, I forget the actual song), then struck up a rousing rendition of The Who’s “The Seeker”, and rolled onward from there.   Sadly, it was rather dark then, nad our little one was starting to stagger sleepily into us when he came over for another drink or snack.   We decided to call it a night.

On the way home, as we traveled down the Parkway, we saw more fireworks directly ahead of us.  We found a nice pull-over spot in the parking lot of a nearby business, close enough to see the shadow of the people with flares actually launching the rockets, which meant the aerial explosions were huge and overhead.   The kid hopped into the front seat of the car, we rolled down the windows, and gazed sleepily into the night sky.   Once the finale had boomed all around us, we started back home.  The kid was asleep before I even re-buckled him up from the firework display.

My wife and I smiled on the way home, sending happy wishes and firework awesomeness to the happy couple we had just left.    All in all, a great and festive day, full of love and joy and a bit of magic.

Ain’t life grand!?! 

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I’ve hesitated to keep this entry private, or post it for commentary, because it’s a bit more personal and still feels a bit scary for me.  Paradigm shifts are tough.     Forgive any rambling uncoordinated phrasing and paragraph structure. I’ve re-written it twice now since last Tuesday…    It’s a wall of text.

I’ve always loved fire circles.  Sitting around a campfire,whether roasting marshmallows with friends and family, or drumming and dancing for alchemical transformation, are soothing and soul-healing events in any flavour. Continue Reading »

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As a followup to this post, I’d like to describe a bit of the awesome magical experiences that were, well, experienced there.

First, let me just say that the Four Quarter Farm is one of the nicest places I’ve ever attended a festival, both mundane or pagan-friendly.  It’s a bit hilly, and my legs were a bit put off by the walking on Friday, but it was a good kind of sore. Continue Reading »

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We just returned from a weekend at Four Quarter Farm, as regular readers of this blog have already known, so I won’t keep re-linking the page.   Suffice it to say it was, by far, the best festival experience we had ever attended.  Seriously.

For this post, I’ll stick to the mundane summary.  Further details and some pictures to follow once I get a bit more free time to dump the camera and blur out any necessary faces and such (we had permission to take photos of the group events, but some people didn’t want their faces on public forums, so I need to edit images slightly before uploading).

We left the house on Friday morning just before 4am and drove to pick up our friend Nettle at the Harrisburg train station, arriving just after 9am.  Made it to 4QF a little bit before noon, and setup the camp, tend and kitchen pavilion.

Friday, we mostly just hung around touring the place, swimming in the swimming hole (awesome!), grilling hot dogs for lunch, and making more finalized plans for what things to do on Saturday, then a steak feast from the grill for dinner.  The area we camped had a giant swing setup between two trees, that was continually occupied by kids or families, and hte shower house was a very short walk to the opposite side of the little circle we camped at.  All very nice and local, with the main area of merchants and stone circle a short climb uphill to those areas.

Friday night, we slept the deep sleep of the relaxed and over-tired in our tent. 

Saturday, we shopped a bit, met some new friends (Sprogling particularly enjoyed meeting Yellow Bear, who was an awesome grinning 2yr old still learning to talk, and had a totally Kodak-moment with the two of them holding hands and running off to some adventure while his mother and I chatted our introductions) and just enjoyed the festivities.

My wife and our friend Nettle went to do their own things for Saturday afternoon while the kid and I did some kids workshops and jsut wandered around swimming/playing.  We both painted a dragon scale for the evening’s Chinese “Dream Dragon”, and generally hung out at the poi/hula-hoop stand for about two hours playing with the toys and other kids who accumulated in that field.

Later, I attended one of the workshops with Nettle, and then we all ate dinner, the two women went and did some more stuff together, and then it was evening.    The kid and I wandered up to the top of the hill for the evening festivities, which included all the kids helping carry the Dream Dragon, or large puppets or decorated poles for a parade.

Following the parade was fireworks (Literally! the last group of the parade was slinging firecrackers and sparklers) which were pretty nice.  I’ve seen some small-town displays that didn’t quite get as impressive as these, which was a nice surprise.

Then, after the fireworks, we met up with “mom” again and the kid went back to the tent very sleepy and content.

Darkness brought another round of awesome drumming from the fire circle, which I joined until about 4am the next morning.  Whoo!

Sunday, we basically woke up, ate breakfast, and started the process of breaking camp.   There was much crying from numerous kids across camp, whcih I suppose is a good sign that things were fun for them too.

We left around 2-ish, bought 10 bottles of wine from the local on-site vintner, and dropped our friend back at the train station, then turned north for home.   We arrived back to Everthorn Farm around 10:30 pm.    Long weekend, but totally worth it.

So, more deeply pondering posts will be made.  There was a lot to integrate from this weekend.  but they will have to wait until I get a bit more sleep, and job-work lets me collect my thoughts. 

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