Hexan Biest Die(t)

I've been a fan of horror stories and the supernatural since I was a kid, avidly ordering ghost stories and "The Guinness Book of World Records" whenever the classroom's book club catalog came around. It shouldn't be a surprise to you, then, that I follow a similar theme on t.v. My favorite shows to watch, in 2016, are: Grimm, The Walking Dead, Sleepy Hollow, and Once Upon A Time. I also love science fiction, like Stephen King's "Under the Dome" (also a longtime reader) and "Extant"; both aliens-from-outer-space dramas.

But, the fables and fairy tales are my "hands-down" childhood favorites. "Grimm" even has a handsome Indian boy from the reservation doing a cameo as a wendigo*: the forest-haunting alter-ego of our evil and inhuman selves. Characters on the show change under stress into their animal spirits, like the rabbity office worker and the terrified mole-rat who prefers sneaking around underground to any type of contact, be it animal or human. People feel free (or not so free) to reveal their inner demons, like the weaselly back-stabber just waiting for an opportunity to get you alone in the company conference room, so he can turn his twitchy neurosis into a feeding frenzy to your deadly detriment.

Even the generic bitchy blond gets a turn at being a collosal bad-ass, by becoming the hideous decrepit witch she'd really be without all that makeup and surgery. In truth, she has rotting flesh and decaying teeth from typical show-business starvation. Half her hair is gone, too, lost to the stress and competition that goes with maintaining the dramatic lead, covered over by wigs and sew-on human hair that cost her thousands of dollars and years off her life sitting in salons. When we finally see her true soul-sucking form, it actually makes sense; now, there's a look that matches her behavior!

True to my form, I also like cooking shows, and for awhile I was a regular watcher of a timed contest utilizing funky basket ingredients that change with every episode. Sure enough, a "star" allowed the contestants from one episode to make her and her hippie friends a bratty Hollywood luncheon, with a few caveats. Ready? Okay, here it goes: the menu had to be carbohydrate free, fat free, organic, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, macrobiotic, and acceptable to the lactose-intolerant. She called it "compassionate eating",  a phrase designed by her much-beleagured publicist, no doubt. Oh, and no alcohol (too many calories). One of the competing chefs practically drained an entire bottle of booze in the pantry, wondering what the fuck this crazy bitch with her amount "food allergies" <cough anorexic> actually eats? Here's a hint, maestro: she doesn't. That's the challenge.

* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo

Spring Flowers (Easter 2015)

A small, star-shaped, five-point Campanula.

I saw my first spring flower this week: a tiny pale purple Campanula revealed by my neighbor's patient, gentle gardening hand. 

It was so exciting to see, particularly when our spring calendar days are full of temperature "ups-and-downs". Sometimes we lose sight of the bigger picture that warmer days are ahead, but they certainly are.

Bright yellow star! A crocus finally blooms.

Then a bright yellow Crocus appeared, so bright that at first I thought it was a fake flower fallen off an Easter wreath from someone's door, blown by the strong winds to land in the yard beneath my apartment. 

It was shockingly yellow, beyond what you remember about nature after winters' color palette. After that first yellow flower, they broke out in small patches throughout the lawn the next day and all around town. It's official. Spring has arrived.

 Happy Easter, 2015.

A bunch of cheerful, wildly purple Crocuses.

Two perfect blooms of the native Crocus flower.

Aha! Spring is afoot!

Crocuses are here, there, everywhere! Enjoy the sights and scents of Spring.

Sunlight Series (Before Christmas)

Three Christmas trees (real and man-made), and a Hanukkah bush.

(Pearl River, N.Y., December 2014)

The Dragonfly

Hungry is the lone hunter; here sits "Brother Dragonfly".

I've always loved dragonflies. My middle brother hated them when we were kids because they're big and scary, but he's also highly allergic to bee stings, so pretty much all bugs are on his "no" list. But, I love them: their gossamer wings, their iridescent and sleekly bejeweled bodies, their swooping, precise aerobatics... I think they are so beautiful and strong. Many other cultures feel that way, too. 

The Dragonfly, up close: a study in beauty and aerodynamics.

Years ago, I was inspired to draft and draw a children's story about a dragonfly (http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-isle-of-dragonfly-on-pubslush.html), using the noble, high-flying hunter as a symbol and metaphor that would also speak to an adults' poetic sensibilities. I usually see them flying and dipping high above my head, but the other afternoon, I was privileged (and very surprised) to see a young beauty perched on an old yellow house that sits high on a hill in the lower Hudson Valley. I consider it a very good sign on this year's last, warm 68° day in New York.  

So close! I hold my breath, and take another picture.

http://www.dragonfly-site.com/meaning-symbolize.html

Crescent Moon

Sunset and Moon, tied together forever: "Anaksunamun!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankhesenamun

 

The Crow

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus_%28heraldry%29

Faith: The Assumption of Mary

Birds in flight, on Assumption Thursday 2013.

Mary is THE Mother figure in our Catholic faith, because she represents all women, the one woman who, above all others, understands the most a woman's particular pains: they begin at labor and continue as she suffers and cares for her family until the end of her life. Women don't get a lot of help in the Old Testament (the book that is the Torah in Judaism), but the New Testament casts us in a slightly better light. We still have to be sacrificial virgins, but the good news is it's an angel who gives the news to Mary that the Almighty Force of the Universe is the baby daddy, and that instead of a bloody sacrifice, Mary is risen body and soul into His Arms in Heaven. Oh. 

Plane in flight, on Assumption Thursday.

It kinda makes our every day pains seems trivial, right? But that's what the really big myths do. They cast our woes into perspective by showing us that throughout human time, women have always had big burdens to bear, because we bear the entire human race. That's a big deal, and we have the holidays to honor this essential truth: the most important thing we have in this world (and the next) is love, because love is the answer, and the power of a mother's love is the love that drives this whole ship called Earth. Honor her well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary