A Child is Born

Walking in the Woods

Walking in the Woods © 2014 Bo Mackison

Grace and I walk early on the morning of your birth day.

A few siskins chitter, hidden high in the pine trees, but raindrops patter their song with greater insistence.

The skies, gray for days, remain the color of slate. The winds are silent, though.

Our walk in the neighborhood woods is quiet, peaceful; I hold great hope as I await your birth.

Anticipation. Wonder. The most common is the most exquisite, the ultimate in miracles.

We know you are on your way, making ready your entrance into this unknown world.
And though we have yet to meet, the love that connects is deep and wide.

The day passes, a few messages.
Slow progress, discussions continue throughout the day –
keep going, change procedures, or move to the OR for a C-section.

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Whitaker Reid © 2014 Grandma Bo

 

Finally, good progress in early evening
and on December 23, 2014 at 6:25 pm
this wee one, Whitaker Reid, arrives,
almost a month early.

Weighing in at 5 pounds, 4 ounces,
hello, grandson.
Welcome to the world.

Thirty-One Thresholds – Memories of Ginger Cookies and Grandmothers

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Making Cookies © 2014 Bo Mackison

I started a new photo/travel project a few weeks ago, a project, called Thirty One Thresholds.

Quite basic in its undertaking, the project encourages me to get out of the house. (A coping method when life gets a bit overwhelming, I morph into a hermit!)

Once out of the house, I go somewhere, almost anywhere, camera in tow, and consider the many thresholds I cross – literal or metaphorical…  Not a lot of rules. Keeping this low pressure and easy…

As I wrote in the first post when exploring the start of this project, I’m not sure what nuggets of wisdom I’ll discover or exactly what  I’m looking for… but I’m willing to believe I’ll find what I need to find — or it will find me!

Since I began on December 1st, I have visited a Mustard Museum (for fun and amusement), a tropical paradise in Madison’s Olbrich Gardens (for the illusion of summer and warmth), a walk in the neighborhood (which is as far as I could make it that day!) and a state capitol building (in search of spaciousness and the grand gilded art of an earlier time in architectural decor.)

Fun. Warmth. Tiny steps. Space. Art. A good start!

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Gingerbread Cookies © 2014 Bo Mackison

Last weekend I went to Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor history park that offers a glimpse of Wisconsin life — historic farms, artisan handcrafts, heirloom gardens, daily routines in rural Wisconsin in the mid to late 1800s.

A docent was baking gingerbread cookies at an old wooden table, the surface scattered with flour, a treasured rolling pin, cookie cutters hand fashioned from scraps of tin, and dark gingery dough! Though the time period was off by a few decades, the ginger cookie baking scene was reminiscent of the countless days I spent baking with my grandmother and great-grandmother.

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Keeping Warm © 2014 Bo Mackison

What a perfect threshold to walk across.

Hands warmed by an open fire. Hearts warmed by memories of the best of childhood times. And, as a bonus,  just-baked ginger cookies to enhance the memories.

Practicing Conversational Skills — Gracie and Her Friend

 

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Negotiation © 2014 Bo Mackison

This is how the conversation goes, interpreted in adult English for everyone’s benefit. Most of the conversation was in, as to be expected, dog and baby talk…

“Grandpa! Dog has a toy!”

“Mmm.”

“Grandpa! DOGGIE has a TOY!

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“May I Play?” © 2014 Bo Mackison

“I really, really want Gracie’s toy!”

“You have toys all over the house. Get one of your toys, sweetie.”

“But Gracie’s toy is MOST fun!”

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“Drop” © 2014 Bo Mackison

“Ask nicely and see if she’ll give it to you?”

“Drop, Gracie. Drop.”

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“Good Doggie” © 2014 Bo Mackison

“Good doggie, Grace. Thank you for sharing!”

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” Gracie’s Toy!” © 2014 Bo Mackison

“See, Grandpa? Grace gave me her TOY!”

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“I love Grace!”

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Love! © 2014 Bo Mackison

“GOOD DOGGIE!”

My Word of the Year for 2015 – and an Invitation Extended

Cross the Threshold ©2012 Bo Mackison

The invitation . . .

. . . the invitation to cross the threshold,  to listen to one’s intuition and wisdom.

Water Lilies and Reflection

Reflection of Skies in the Midst of Water Lilies ©2014 Bo Mackison

. . . the invitation to encourage those thoughts, feelings, and emotions, buried in the depths, to rise to the surface.

Open Way

The Open Passage ©2014 Bo Mackison

. . . the invitation to be open to, and accepting of, that which strengthens.

Debi's Tree

Fog and Sunlight © 2013 Bo Mackison

. . . the invitation to listen to that which offers hope.

Sumac Flags Flying

Sumac in Autumn – Nature’s Prayer Flags ©2013 Bo Mackison

. . . the invitation to embrace and embody love and respect.

Choosing my Word for the Year using the Desert Wisdom Cards — Part II

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Setting Words © 2014 Bo Mackison

Every year for the last six years I have chosen a word for the coming year – a word to guide me, inspire me, encourage me.

After working with three of the Desert Wisdom Cards in Choosing my Word Part I,  I shuffled the 52 card deck again and pulled a new card for each of five categories – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and trans-personal. James Wells writes about these categories and their use on his Evolutionary Tarot site and I adapted the categories to work with my needs.

PHYSICAL  (health, basic needs, sexuality, living spaces) — VITALITY

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Nurturance – Desert Wisdom Card © 2014 Bo Mackison

MENTAL  (thoughts, beliefs, conversations, writings)  —  NURTURANCE

Openness

Openness – Desert Wisdom Card © 2014 Bo Mackison

EMOTIONAL (feelings, intuition, intimacy, friendships, family)  —  OPENNESS

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Hope – Desert Wisdom Card © 2014 Bo Mackison

SPIRITUAL  (soul, essence, self-esteem, personal energy) — HOPE

Reverence

Reverence – Desert Wisdom Card © 2014 Bo Mackison

TRANS-PERSONAL (community, culture, world, cosmos, the web of life)  — REVERENCE

As I consider each pair of words, and journal about them, I love how my ideas coalesce – the emphasis of vitality and the physical, an invitation to come alive; nurturance and my mind, an invitation to nurture my thoughts, my studies, my writings; spirituality and hope, an invitation to hold hope with precious intention; reverence and community, the world, the cosmos, an invitation to treat the world and all in it with respect and reverence.

An INVITATION…

Invitation

Invitation – Desert Wisdom Card © 2014 Bo Mackison

— the INVITATION to live each day with vitality and awareness, with generosity and openness, with reverence and hope.

So my new word for the coming year is INVITATION. The invitation to be present, to live fully. May it be so.