Cathy's Blog!

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Stepping Deeply

Each day a little more darkness, a little more velvet in which to wrap. The trees may be bare but inside we decorate with exuberance. For over forty years we’ve met with a group of friends for an early brunch and a journey to a Christmas tree farm to cut down a tree. Covid put an end to that but we did risk a smaller meeting on Saturday. These people love to decorate for Christmas. I share some photos from their home and this quote on which to lift even as our roots nestle even closer together to warm these long, cold nights.

I once asked a bird,

“How do you fly in this gravity of darkness?”

And she replied, “Love lifts me.”

– Hafiz

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

The Season

We enter awareness of passage more deeply this time of year.

As I observe the memories of some friends slip apart, I wonder about construction. What memories come together, and why, and how. What stays and what departs?

Meanwhile, I await the birth of a friend’s grandchild. My heart beats with excitement for the journey before him, and for how the entry of a little one affects each one of us.

I keep returning to the image and support of this wooden Christmas tree puzzle, considering how we each stand with our center support as pieces gather around and in us to make a whole.

Posted on December 6, 2022December 6, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

December Weather

We’ve been delighting in rain, rain, rain, and then yesterday despite sprinkles, we headed out with our three year old grandson to Muir Beach. He chattered all along the way, both coming and going, and then, we crossed the bridge, and heard the waves, and then saw the bliss of a winter-time beach when the sun shines down and warms the wet sand to a perfect consistency for sand castles and construction for roads for boats.

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

This Time of Year

I’m reveling in memories as I pull out recipes and decorations. The weather adds to the mood as it’s cold and rainy. We’ll have a fire in the fireplace tonight. Candles are lit and music is playing.

My sons and I, and now my grandson, love the scented book The Sweet Smell of Christmas. Grandson is coming to stay with us, so I’ve filled the house with scent: pumpkin pie, pine, candy canes, and oranges. Grandson and his dad made gingerbread cookies today so they arrive tomorrow with the scent of ginger and spice. Lights are twinkling around the windows and along the fireplace mantel and in my heart.

Posted on December 1, 2022December 14, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Advent Calendar

I titled my last post Birthing the Light.

It comes from the title of the Advent Calendar at the Community Congregational Church in Tiburon where last evening I attended the ordination of a friend to become a Zen Buddhist priest. If you are looking for inspiration for this time of year, check this out:

Click to access birthing_the_light_2022.final.pdf

Posted on December 1, 2022December 1, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Birthing the Light

It’s the first day of the last month of the year. I open my Advent Calendar as I listen to the wind and rain.

Yesterday I was at the Community Congregational Church in Tiburon attending the ordination ceremony for a friend becoming a Zen priest. It was an interesting juxtaposition as the ancient ceremony was shown on Zoom so on one side of the altar was a huge screen and on the other a nativity scene. In the middle was the ceremony with rituals handed down for centuries.

Behind the altar is a view of the bay and through the ceremony the sky moved from light to dark, from seeing outside to seeing the reflection of what was happening within.

This is a sacred time of year no matter what our beliefs, a time to light candles and swell in trust that dark turns to light and all revolves as One.

View from outside the church at 4:25 in the evening looking southwest

Posted on November 29, 2022November 29, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Hidden and Not-so-Hidden Treasures

What I love about where I live is that after 45 years, I can still discover something new, and that is also true everywhere. My friend Elaine Chanscherer and I met by the bay on the East side of the Golden Gate bridge on Sunday. We discovered a bar/restaurant with a view and thrilled to the up and down dance of a sea lion. These are some of Elaine’s photos from our day.

Today I curl and unfold within the words of Alan Watts:

In the process of growth the oak is not better than the acorn.

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Nature’s Gifts

It was a wonderful four days with the gifts of Nature exuberant and generous everywhere.

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Blessings

How could anyone ever tell you …

Posted on November 23, 2022November 23, 2022 by Cathy Edgett

Thanksgiving Eve

In the United States, it’s Thanksgiving Eve, a time to gather even as we honor historical complexity.

This is my day to cook as memories jog, and yet before beginning the mixing of flour, butter, salt, and water for pie crust, I read the news.

Shocking, and yet there’s a video on You Tube of a dog and sea lion playing catch at a beach in Santa Cruz.

May we all give thanks for diversity, curiosity, enthusiasm, and heroism on land and sea, especially where they meet.