Winter's Solstice

The Didgeridoo

Climb the light the color of love
Aligned with the sign of the beautiful desire
One and other you and I
Entwined in the finest beautiful, beautiful, beautiful desire
--Beautiful Desire  Telesma


Vaycay is always filled with activities & usually the summer is the non-stop activity trip but I this vaycay, as it is inevitably & unfortunately drawing to a hasty close, has been chock full of stuff going on.  I wrote about the beach trip but I didn't share another part of the winter break--stuff that Xing Fu & I did alone.  

On the solstice, and the day after the world was about to end, Xing Fu & I went to a warehouse way out near Arbutus in a clearly huge industrial park to listen to a band we enjoy a great deal--Telesma.  For me, Telesma has some history.  Way back I've written about how each year there was a solstice party featuring Alex Gray painting & Telesma playing with lots of other performance artists.  The first year that I wanted to go, I ended up with the bizarre ex-preacher with 11 kids who couldn't even make it to the show.  The following year, Xing Fu & I were going to go but it snowed on the solstice & the show was pushed to February.  We eventually saw the show & it was amazing & wonderful.  It was great to go to see them on the solstice once again, three years later. 

It was definitely freaky-deaky driving there because it was in a warehouse way back of row after row of gray, squat buildings with minimal lighting.  Obviously not designed for a concert....but we found it & with a bit of trepidation, climbed the stairs into the nondescript warehouse--inside was Orion Studios--a practice/soundstage/studio for artists & bands. The room opened up with cool lighting & posters, a stage, artists painting, & lots of folk of all ages, types, milling about. There was even a cool face painter so I sat down & had her put lots of sparkle on my face (along with face paint). Also amongst the folk was an artist very similar to Alex Gray--Adam Scott Miller.  Kinda the trippy vibe that Alex Gray has--we looked over his prints & decided that one was perfect for our house--so we bought a reproduction painting entitled "Celestial Shore"  which Adam personally signed to me.  

Celestial Shore

Telesma hit the stage & Xing Fu & I were immediately caught up in their sound.  Lucky to have such a cool local band around.  Hard to describe them but I've seen them described thusly, "electro-acoustic psychedelic world dance music".  And on their website they self-describe as being able "to taste the color of sound."  http://telesmaband.com/      Regardless, we were enjoying the vibe and everyone was grooving together.  A great night for us and we have a little bit of the evening hanging on our wall now. Looking forward to more nights like this one for 2013. 

Magical Moments

“There is some kiss we want with 

our whole lives, the touch of

 spirit on the body.  Sea water

begs the pearl to break its shell.

And the lily, how passionately

It needs some wild darling! At

Night, I open the window and ask

The moon to come and press its

Face against mine.  Breathe into

Me. Close the language-door and

Open the love-window.  The moon

Won’t use the door.  – Rumi

Last weekend, while at the beach, we had a moment that we both label as magical.  Xing Fu has a few of them that he likes to talk about & this one is on both of our lists.  We went up to the boardwalk in Rehobeth to get Thrashers & hot dogs.   We decided to sit on one of the benches up by the ocean.  As we were sitting there, all of a sudden a little paw appears between the dune & the boardwalk.  I get up & look between & there's a little tabby kitten (a lot like the one pictured above).  He was just sitting there so I decided to feed him some of my polish sausage.  I break off a piece & hold it out to him--his little paw swipes quickly like a piston & snags the meat out of my very surprised fingers.  He looked very healthy--eyes clear, coat shiny, ears clean, so obviously I wasn't the only sausage donor.  I continued to offer pieces of the sausage & he wouldn't allow me to hand it to him--I had to place it on the edge of the boardwalk but after he'd consumed each piece, his little face would pop up looking for more.  Piston paw each time until there was nothing left.  Then, it was as if he knew that it was all gone because when I looked over the edge, he's disappeared just as he'd appeared--I imagined him curled up in the sun somewhere licking his paws for the last taste of the sausage.  It was a small snippet of our time at the beach together but I have to agree with Xing Fu--it was magical because it unfolded only for us--our own shared memory.  Just like the pieces of shell with the purple insides that I collect every time I go to the beach.


We've had a few "magical memories"--Xing Fu recalls evenings at concerts that he found particularly noteworthy--Nada Surf when first we went to Full Kee for dinner, & arrived just as the band came on & then he caught the drum stick as we stood watching.  Another one he remembers is the night we saw Telesma at Sonar with Alex Gray painting his special brand of psychedelia.


I remember being down in North Carolina the night before we dropped my kid off at camp--we stood at the edge of the water on the dock of a marina, watching the water ripple & the moon reflect off of the masts of sailboats & the still water. The feeling of peace that night was just amazing.  

Magical Moments--we have quite a few--I like that he remembers these & refers to them often--bringing us yet closer--like our kitten.

And so I come to another "blogoversary".  I take these posts as a refection point from the previous year.  A "where am I now?" kinda thing.  So where was I & where am I now?


Last year:
It has also been quite amusing to see the dating blunders I've written about--I think ultimately when I do find the right one it will be fun to go back & revisit it all from time to time just to appreciate the journey.

Overall I am happy with what I've experienced--a lot I would never have lived through if I were still married--it has been quite the adventure & I'm looking forward to many more along the way--

My commentary for this year (certainly my blog focus has changed quite a lot):

Have I found "the one"?  How can I think otherwise when we were getting ready for work this morning & he bursts into "Happy Blogoversary, Happy Blogoversary..."  So, I think so--certainly this time last year I was still filtering through the frogs for the prince.  Is Xing Fu my prince?  It certainly has been a dream of a romance--even today, with emails flying back & forth between us, he writes the most loving notes to me.  One phrase that he says to me often is most probably one of my favorites: "Are you as wonderful as I think you are?"  How can a woman not melt when she hears that?   I am a lucky woman that this wonderful man has chosen to be my partner--I hope next year I can write the exact same thing.  

Massively Busy

This weekend was a whirlwind of massive proportions--I don't think I checked Facebook or any other emails the entire weekend--just so much going on--I even meant to blog a little but just never got to it.  Being back at TKD is wonderful!  I am sore but I am just so happy to be back on the mat...feels like coming home.  That was Friday night.  Saturday brought the annual Bowing Ceremony--for some reason this year there were a lot of tears--it was very moving.  Both my son & I received a rare hug from our Grandmaster, which was very nice--a good feeling going into my son's Demo Team performance today.  I am always grateful to be part of this group of people--TKD isn't just a sport--it's a caring & supportive community--

Prior to the Bowing Ceremony it was the obligatory Wine Tasting with the best friends, although this time Xing Fu joined us.  This was also the first time BFF(A) met him so another test of a sort.  Also, since SM was also there, it was kind of a slightly awkward moment as I watched for reactions from both guys--they both knew of the other's existence--but in this case most of my attention was where it needed to be (of course the wine!) but mostly on Xing Fu.  My BFF(J) said that SM seemed a little like a lost puppy...not so sure about that, but what can I say?  Missed opportunity.  


Saturday evening Xing Fu & I had some fun music plans....the rescheduled Alex Gray Winter Solstice Festival.  No longer Winter Solstice but it was cool just the same.   A great local band, Telesma, with all types of musical instruments, including a didgeridoo,  played some intense music  while Alex Grey & his wife Allison painted original works.  Amazing talent was on serious display--super show & a lot of fun.

 After the concert Xing Fu & I found ourselves talking until 4 in the morning--we always have so much to say to each other & just laughing--he is so easy to be with--I always enjoy our time together--again I say, I am a lucky gal!  Even now as I write, I have a huge grin on my face...

Today was my son's Demo Team--they kicked ass!  I was so proud of the team--synchronized to the max--just awesome!  

Later dinner with Xing Fu & then home to wrap the weekend--it was massive--I was surrounded by the people I care about & am grateful for--again, lucky, lucky, lucky...Karma can be a very good thing!