Animal totems - Wolf, dolphin, cardinal, horse, grizzly bear, owl. (most previously, bear currently)

      Solitary or group - Solitary, but do occasionally meet with tribe for sabbats

      In the Broom Closet or Out - Out to most.

      Favorite pagan holiday - Samhain

      Deities - Brigid, Lugh, Airmid, Cernunnos

     What element do you associate most with - Earth and Water (weird since I am a fire sign) although I do love my thunderstorms

      Do you perform formal ritual - Not often, very free-form when doing solitary ritual, more formal when having ritual with tribe.

      Do you read tarot - Yes, but not well

      Cast runes - Yes, for twenty plus years

      Work with crystals - Absolutely

      Work with herbs - Ditto.

      Sacred Place you need to see - I would like to see Serpent Mound, Stonehenge and visit Ireland

      Zodiac signs - Sagittarius sun,  Leo moon, Virgo rising (although I have had a friend who is very good with charts say that my rising is Capricorn with Aquarius as influence)

      Birth Month - December

      Siblings - 5 sisters.

      Children/grandchildren - 5 children, 5 grandchildren.

      Pets - 3 cats (Isis, Bastet, Asherah)

      Tattoos/piercings - No tats yet (working on that), four piercings (3 on one ear, one on the other).

      favorite vacation spo t- What the heck  is a vacation?  Have I ever had a vacation? Hmmmm.

      Talents - Art (portraiture), writing, cooking.

      Are you a collector - Sun-Moon-Stars anything, cobalt glass,  precious and semi-precious stones and crystals

      Do you sing, dance, play any musical instruments - I sing, dance as well as I can and play drums (also some guitar)

      City, Suburbia or Country - Currently in suburbia but long to be in the country.

      Favorite season - Autumn

      Favorite month - September

      Favorite exercise - Yoga

      Favorite outdoor activity - Camping.

      Favorite board games - don't play board games much

      Favorite card games - Uno (with my son)

      Favorite Foods: 

      Mexican - Rudy's cheese smothered shredded beef burritoes

      Italian-- angel hair and Alfredo

      Chinese - Sesame Chicken

      American - Fried Chicken,

      Tea - Celestial Seasons Wild Berry Zinger (good hot or cold)

      Alcohol - don't drink much but love lavender mead

      Shot - none

     Herb/spice/seasoning - Rosemary, Lavender, Cinnamon, Chives

      How do you like your eggs - Sunny-side up, or over easy.

      What are your cooking specialties - fried chicken, pot roast, potato salad

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Solstice tomorrow. 

I'm off to go for our annual Solstice camping trip.  My son and I will head out early tomorrow and be back Sunday.  We're meeting the rest of our pagan tribe there so we are anticipating that there will be about twenty or twenty five of us camping together.

My daughter is going to come up and stay at the house while we're gone.  It will give her some much needed alone time.  She'll feed the cats and veg ... something she desperately needs.

Hopefully when I get back I'll have some wonderful photos to post.

May your Solstice be spectacular!

Do you have a name for your path?  What is it?
Hearth/green witch

How long have you been on your path?
20 years at least

Is your path a religion, spirituality, both, neither, something else?
It's a life style.

Are you part of a Coven, Grove, or group of some kind?
Part of a tribe

Do you have a sacred space inside or outside your house?
Currently have sacred space inside ... in the process of creating it outside as well.

What is your favorite part of your path?
Living it and teaching it by example.

Do you cast spells?
Very rarely

Have you ever drawn down the moon?
No

Are you empathic, clairvoyant, clairaudiant, precog. dreamer, intuitive/prophetic, something else?
Sometimes clairvoyant, usually intuitive, empathetic

What's your favorite holiday?
Samhain

What's your favorite season?
Autumn

What's your favorite moon phase?
Summer full moon so that I can be out and enjoy her.

What's your favorite element?
Earth

What kind/s of magic do you do (ie candle, divination, knot, ceremonial, etc.?)
Usually candle, sometimes stone

What kind/s of magic do you excel at (ie healing, love, prosperity, etc.?)
Don't know that I excel at any, but when I do magic it is usually for healing.

How far out of the broom closet are you? Moderately.  All friends, most family (except mom and siblings) and neighbors know.

What five words best say who you really are?
Spiritual, compassionate, loyal, protective, dependable

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there. May your day be filled with love, family gatherings, fun and gratefulness for all you do for your family!

Today is always kind of bittersweet for my family. My dad died in 1973 when he was only 43 years old. He never lived to see 4 of his 5 daughters grow up and see their accomplishments, he never saw his grandchildren born. I miss the quiet hours we spent when I was a teen, playing chess on the back patio, taking long twilight walks listening to the birds and pondering life's questions. Those are the memories of him that I cherish.

My mom remarried over ten years after he died. My step-dad is the greatest, he's the best stepdad ever ... and not to take away from his gift to us .. but there are times I just miss my own dad... the man I look like (sometimes scarily so), the man from which my love of journalism springs. My mom and stepdad just embarked on a cruise ... a gift from my stepdad's sister to her brother for Father's Day. The four of them (mom, stepdad, his sister and her husband) are currently cruising the eastern Caribbean.

My oldest daughter's father died when she was three, my two middle daughters' father opted out of their lives when they were toddlers. Only Justin sees his father with any regularity. He will be leaving shortly to spend a couple of hours with his dad (amount of time dad's choice).

As a quick aside, I got (to me) the ultimate complement this morning. A friend called to wish me a Happy Fathers Day (as she said ... because I am a single mom and therefore have to fill both roles on a regular basis.)

So ... Happy Fathers Day to all who fit the role ... to my friends, my family (father, grandfathers, forefathers) ... may the day shine for you!

so am going to do the "75 things" list.

1. First thing you wash in the shower? Hair so the conditioner stays in to make hair less tangled.

2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Grey

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Absolutely

4.Do you plan outfits? Usually, especially work outfits.

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Wired. Storms always do it to me and tonight is especially stormy.

6. Whats the closest thing to you thats red? The button on my mouse.

7. Do you say aim or a-i-m? Aim

8. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? Dreamt about driving down a highway I don't recognize.

9. Did you meet anybody new today? No

10. What are you craving right now? Ice cream

11. Do you floss? Not always

12. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Coleslaw

13. When was the last time you talked on aim? Never

14. Are you emotional? Probably.

15. Would you dance to the taco song? Not likely

16. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Often.

17. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Lick at first and bite when it gets down to the cone

18. Do you like your hair? Sometimes, but it's too thin to wear the way I'd like to.

19. Do you like yourself? More than I used to.

20. Have you ever met a celebrity? Yes ... several

21. Do you like cottage cheese? Yes

22. What are you listening to right now? Weather Channel ... keeping track of the storms

23. How many countries have you visited? One

24. Are your parents strict? They were.

25. Would you go sky diving? Yes

26. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Not on a bet.

27. Would you throw potatoes at him? Perhaps

28. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in? The crystals on my desk

29. Have you ever been in a castle? No

30. Do you rent movies often? Very rarely

31. Who sits in behind you in your math class? Too long ago to remember.

Where's 32?

33. Do you own a gun? NO

34. Can you count backwards from 74? Yes

35. Who are you going to be with tonight? My son, waiting for the storms to be over

36. Brown or white eggs? either

37. Do you own something from Hot Topic? No

38. Ever been on a train? yes, when I was a child

39. Ever been in love? yes

Where's 40?

41. Are you too forgiving? yes

42. Do you use chapstick? occasionally

43. What is your best friend doing tomorrow? being at the hospital with her 18 month old son

44. Can you use chop sticks? barely

45. Ever have cream puffs? yes

46. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? Yes

47. What was the last question you asked? Will you please come inside (to son who was standing out on the front porch in the middle of a tornado warning)

48. What was the last CD you bought? so long ago can't remember ... probably Loreena.

49. Boys or girls? three daughters two sons

50. What is your bus number for school? so long ago can't remember

51. Is your hair curly? Curly - no. Wavy - yes

52. Last time you cried? This morning

53. Ever walked into a wall? couple of times (and no - I wasn't drunk)

54. Do looks matter? I suppose. First impressions matter and looks seem to be a part of that.

55. Have you ever bought anything from Pac Sun? No

56. Have you ever slapped someone? Yes

57. Favorite time of the year? Autumn

58. Favorite color? Cobalt blue

59. Are you sarcastic? No

60. Do you have any tattoos? Not yet, but soon.

61. The last person you held hands with? My granddaughter

62. Do you sleep with the TV on? No

63. Where was your default picture taken at? At the hotel my daughter used to manage

64. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? No

65. Do you like your life right now? More than I did a couple of months ago

Where's 66?

67. What is your favorite animal? Cats

68. What was the most recent thing you bought? Cat food and litter

69. Do you have good vision? Fair

70. Can you hula hoop? Used to be very good at it ... now don't know. Haven't tried in a while

71. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Doubt it

72. Do you have a job? Yes

73. Can you handle the truth? yes and usually demand it

74. What are you wearing? yellow check capris and yellow teeshirt

75. Have you ever crawled through a window? Not recently. Last time was a couple of decades ago when my young daughter locked herself in a neighbors house, I had to climb in the basement window and rescue her as she was too short to unlock the door once she was inside.