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Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

January 17, 2016 by rurugby Leave a Comment

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There is something special about winter.

It’s a time of dark.

A time to be indoors.

A times to cherish warmth and fire.

A time to cook feasts.

A time to be inside.

A time for trees to be bare.

A time to sometimes not travel.

For one of my meditation teachers, it’s the time to be deep in the woods of Vermont on retreat for a month.

For me, it’s a time to think and ponder.

I really missed the winter when I was in Southern California for a few years.

And we all need to learn to love what is in us.

And to just appreciate the sounds of silence.

Filed Under: acceptance, Ansonia, Spirit of Sunday, Whispering Deer Tagged With: Simon and Garfunkel, spirit of Sunday, winter

Called to Coywolf

March 25, 2015 by rurugby Leave a Comment

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After being in The EarthSpirit Community​ and Rites of Spring since 2003, I have finally decided to lead a discussion group about what the Coywolf, the breeding of the coyotes and wolves especially 200 miles north of Toronto deep in the woods.

I have been watching and being with the 3 beautiful Mexican Gray Wolves and have had cokopelli as part of my deities for some time. And I put it around a created doll that randomly looked the hoodoo magic on a shelf over a clown that looks like Mr. Bill from Saturday Night Live and one with a blue hat that carries a mushroom as umbrella and a child on it’s side. Very similar to very limited amount online on the kokopelli. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kokopelli I plan possibly around the time of Twilight Covening to wander the deserts of the American Southwest and Mexico and search for more. My grandmother lived in the Coachella Valley of Califronia for all of her 90 years.

And when I was a toddler, my collie Misty stopped my with her body from rolling into the road down ice. Canines have been my guardian for a long time.

Due to these deep bonds of wolf and coyote and after spending a lot of time with Lobos of the Bridgeport/Beardsley Zoo, I realized that the coywolf has spoken to me.

And as someone who just banished my 7 seasons of trials with Odin, I feel like the Coywolf brings the sons of Odin together. Thor the Guardian/Wolf; Loki the trickster/Kokopelli/Coyote.

It feels like very powerful magic to me I am just beginning to explore as is science. The Eastern Coyote is the official name for Coywolves of the North East but there have also been much more limit pairings with Lobos (Mexican Gray Wolves), and it worked to captive breed the Western Coyote and Gray Wolves in 2013. This is very new animism: Northwestern gray wolf-coyote hybrids[edit]
In 2013, a captive breeding experiment conducted in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services National Wildlife Research Center Predator Research Facility in Logan, Utah between gray wolves from British Columbia and western coyotes produced six hybrids, making this the very first hybridization case between pure coyotes and northwestern gray wolves. The experiment used artificial insemination and was aimed with the intention of determining whether or not if the sperms of the larger gray wolves in the west are capable of fertilizing the egg cells in the western coyotes. Aside from the historical hybridizations between coyotes and the smaller Mexican gray wolves in the south as well as with eastern wolves and red wolves, grays wolves from the northwestern USA and western provinces of Canada are not known to interbreed with coyotes in the wild, thus prompting the experiment. The six resulting hybrids included four males and two females. At six months of age, the hybrids were closely monitored and were shown to display both physical and behavioral characteristics from both species, as well as some physical similarities to the eastern wolves, whose status as a distinct wolf species or as a genetically distinct subspecies of the gray wolf is controversial. Regardless, the result of this experiment concluded that northwestern gray wolves, much like the eastern wolves, red wolves, Mexican gray wolves, and domestic dogs, are capable of hybridizing with coyotes.[3]

I am feeling very called to this new creature of the northeast bringing balance to nature and lowering rodent, goose, roadkill and eggs as it often rambles the suburbs of Toronto.

The Eastern Coyote/Coywolf is both scavenger and watcher and can hide in plain sight on golf courses, sidewalks, streets, sheep farms …

I really do feel like we undervalue the trickster in modern society. Things need to be shaken up right now. People who are very wealthy in places like Greenwich, CT only 45 minutes away need to realize they don’t need to compete for spots on the richest billionares list. He who dies with the most toys leaves their heirs with a lot of crap. The little things are what matter.

I like that where i live in Ansonia has strong working class values. It is also a place that shows the folly of removing tariffs. Corporate profits is not the responsibility of government. This town was founded by John Anson in the 19th Century …

Filed Under: Ansonia, greed, greenwich

Things I Miss About Portland, ME

February 5, 2015 by rurugby Leave a Comment

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Lots and lots of people. I made a lot of good friendships. There is a genuine quality to Mainers. Ayuh

My therapist
Pei Men Miyake, especially at lunch. I loved getting ramen and fried brussel sprouts
The potato pancakes, rye bread with delicious spread, beets and soups at Schulte and Herr. Such a treasure of Portland, Maine and BYOB.
The atmosphere and food at Saigon on Outer Forest Ave. If you haven’t been there you need to go. Lanna craved their spring rolls so much she is now making them since we moved.
The pork fried dumplings at China Villa in Westbrook. There is much better Chinese in Connecticut, with very good takeout American chinese, and fantastic and legit Chinese places like Iron Chef that is cash only and is what Taiwanese people would call food.
The atmosphere at work, going remote is not the same.
Seeing the Presumpcot Falls in Westbrook through my window, although my view across the Naugatuck Valley in Connecticut is spectacular.

The wonderful drive down the Fore River Parkway and down Commercial Street into Portland.
Tennis on the Eastern Promenade, there isn’t too many views better than that for a free park.
The atmosphere in Portland, Maine, it’s just so comfortable.
Having a car. Trying to share one is not the same.

Having family nearby, it was nice to have the in-laws crosstown.
Having that connection, and having dinner once a week was really nice. Also having someone to watch the cats.

Ansonia and the Naugatuck Valley is beautiful but I often miss Maine. It’s a special place.

Filed Under: Ansonia, Connecticut, Maine, portland, restaurant

Tuesdays in Connecticut

October 7, 2014 by rurugby Leave a Comment

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Tuesday is one of my favorite days here.

A day off.

And a chance to have the car and explore. I got rid of the 99 Mercury Sable before leaving Maine due to a myraid of repair reasons.

But on Tuesday, I wake up, drop off Lanna at work, often go for a walk and eat breakfast.

So far I have discovered the Seaside Park in Bridgeport, the beaches in Stratford, CT, the Shelton Lakes Recreation Path at several points, the Ansonia Nature Center and adjoining Naugatuck State Forest.

Also the wacky Roosevelt Tower and the cool Books at the Falls both in Derby. The gorgeous fields of the Osbornedale State Park. The delicious bagels of Royal Bakery in Shelton, the amazing corned beef hash at Pagliaro’s Lunch. The little hole in the wall Jamiacan place, the Rootsman Kitchen in Bridgeport, CT.

Connecticut is a wonderful place to explore.

I would love to have a car again and eventually will, but the act of dropping Lanna off gives me the chance to explore. Maybe the Indian Well State Park in Shelton this morning after a delicious bagel at the Royal Bakery.

Tuesdays are good days for me. Although I do miss going to the Port Veritas poetry reading. I still get the invites and see a bunch of poets I would like to hear. Like John Sinclair tonight and my friend Robin Merrill last week.

Filed Under: Ansonia, Bridgeport, Connecticut, Derby, food, Shelton, The Ecq Review, woods

For We Have Been Touched by Magic

October 5, 2014 by rurugby 1 Comment

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There is a line in a chant we using at the closing circle at Rites of Spring, a pagan gathering we go to every Memorial Day weekend in the Berkshires called Rites of Spring. “For we have been touched by magic, and the magic will make us whole.”

Maine is beautiful, it’s a special place. Portland is a magical city.

But since we have moved to North State Street in Ansonia, CT the place ahs been touched by magic. When my wife saw the two benches in the gravel she immediately thought it was a Fairie garden. It seemed touched with something special.

The song of crickets at night makes my soul happy. All of the beautiful rocks. The old trees. The old houses. It’s beautiful.

The amazing view across the valley, special. Seeing insects lit up by the late evening sun looking like little fairies.

Bees loving the wildflowers, playing with the pollen and being happy.

The world would be a better place if we planted gardens over grass. Better for the local wildlife. Prettier. Food during the harvest. Canning. Old ways.

Also less gas used, less sameness, less blah.

Not sure when planned communities in beige with bizarre homeowners association rules and sameness became desirable.

Feeling touched by magic in the local forest. I am a forest person.

Going from the beautiful Ansonia Nature Center and exploring off trail into the Naugatuck State Forest. Getting lost, feeling the spirit of the trees, stumps and old rocks. Feeling the energy of the land. I am feeling deeply connected here.

Who know I may have some roots here. My ancestors in America go back a long way, a lot fo them in the 17th and 18th Century. I know I have some roots in Mexico, Maine wondering if I have roots in the valley.

This area built things. Rivers like the Naugatuck, and the Presumpcot which goes through Westbrook, Maine and was the most dammed river in the US per mile not long ago, were industrial corridors. The United States, used to build things. Ansonia was a copper center, Waterbury a center of Brass, Westbrook a paper town, tires made in the Valley working people.

Beautiful old mills, sometimes destroyed, sometimes converted to beautiful use. Like the North Dam Mill in Biddeford, ME and the Dana Warp Mill in Westbrook, Maine.

I heard a rumor while fixing my car that the huge copper mills in Ansonia are due to be torn down too. I hope they are made into a park. I would rather they were converted into something cool and beautiful. I need to ride the Metro North to Waterbury and go through them before they go.

I have heard everyone in Derby and Ansonia knows each other. I need to get into those circles and I think I will be a lot happier. It’s a matter of time.

I do like the neighborhood and it’s a special place. And touched by magic.

eddie

Filed Under: Ansonia, Blogtober, Connecticut, Derby, hiking, meditations, nature, Naugatuck, No Filter, quiet, running water, Spirit of Sunday, The Blog, Waterbury, westbrook, woods

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